Media and War: The Never ending Battle

 

                                                        Photo: Yesterday Channel 

Though out class and though out history we have seen peoples voices being silenced countless times. Specifically in times of war when tensions are high and Journalists have often been the target of this silencing. However on the other hand the relationship between the press and the government in times of war have been rather synchronized. As much as the two clash in war, the media has in the past has helped get people to enlist in wars such as WW1 and WW2.

 

In WW1 it was the first of its kind and no one had ever seen a war quite like it before. During the war journalists were sent over as correspondents to report on the war and relay it back to the people at home. This caused many journalists to see battle first hand and gain a true understand of what it was like to be on the first lines. They also had to place themselves in harms way just to get a story. 

Though they had been there to write carefully crafted massages back to the US. Although, how could they write a fairy tail story about a war when they saw bodies and tragedy everyday? As a journalist you are called to write the truth and to educate the people about the truth as best as you can. So this caused conflict between the way certain journalists saw the war and the way the US wanted them to report the war. 

 

In World War 2 journalists were publicly putting down our enemy side which was Germany. This was issue because Journalism isn’t  supposed to be biased so that the viewers are able to make up’s their own mind about the situation. 

However, when the media started to tell people how they should feel about something it creates a huge divide and also puts the publication in a box because they are then know to be either right Republican, Democratic, or Liberal. This is know as the objectivity standard which is what we have today in journalism. It makes sure that the stories are objective and as factual as possible.  

In an article by the Guardian They  spoke out about what it was like for journalists to speak out about war during WW2 and how it reached a point that journalists were just publishing things that were complete fiction. This speaks to our patriotism as a country. Especially in war times it it easy to see a whole country as the enemy when usually we are only at war with that countries leaders. So all of this defamation and fiction that was posted about Germany and its people most likely  had lasting effects on the people in the country who had nothing to do with the issue in any way. 

 

Though the media has always had a complicated relationship with war and with the government, the truth is that neither of them can survive without the other. If there is ever a war or a global conflict again the government would be free to make any decisions they want without the public knowing. 

However, this would lead to a lot more corrupt behavior and it would lead to the public being a lot more in the dark. On the other hand the government certain legal obligations keep the press in line as well and make sure that they are relaying the news properly.