So far on this blog I have been covering misinformation committed by the Russians and Chinese in their wars and soon to be wars against other countries. Now, it is time to turn the lease back on ourselves because we are not free from war-time lies ourselves. There have been plenty of times in our own history when we have practiced censorship in war-contexts. The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 being the worst. However, in America censorship often takes a different pathway from those of outright-authoritarian regimes. Almost all of it comes in the form of self-censorship--where journalists and media outlets opt-out of publishing certain news stories out of fear of backlash and/or losing connections with state officials. Another form of self-censorship is when the owner of the media outlet (be it private or government) chooses not to publish stories that frame them in a negative light (or chooses to spin them in a way that makes them positive). The US has currently supported a plethora of lies and distortions about the war in the Ukraine links to (admittedly extremist leaning) sources are here.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-press-again-becomes-conduit-pro-war-propaganda
https://www.cato.org/commentary/us-press-again-becomes-conduit-pro-war-propaganda
Karen, I appreciate that you took the time to acknowledge that the US is also guilty of false reporting and straight up lying, particularly when it comes to war. I just recently learned about the US promoting extremist propaganda in relation to the war in Ukraine; I was probably a little too "in the dark" about the subject for a few months. I would be interested in your opinion about how this kind of action from the American government might shape public opinion about the war or other topics, and to what extent the government should be held accountable/criticized for this kind of behavior.
ReplyDeleteKaren, you make some interesting points. I thought this related back to our discussion about how president Trump influenced the media. In that case, rather than focusing on actual news stories and keeping the public informed, the focus was often solely on President Trump. This allowed his misinformation to have a bigger reach and certainly negatively impacted the public. There are many justifications for war from the media but they typically stay away from the truth that will sometimes implicate leaders. Well done in your analysis.
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