Yellow Journalism in Action: Fox Beats the War Drums
When I teach my students about the Spanish-American War they’re amazed at the impact William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer had on many Americans’ attitudes toward the war. They’re amazed that the press can jump on a dubious justification for war and make almost everyone buy into it.
Then they get a sense of relief when they realize that that was all in the past, and we’re not that stupid anymore. It’s like that feeling they get when Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks wave their magic wands, then all of a suddenly everybody’s equal. That’s where I come in.
For those of you who weren’t paying attention in history class that day, the United States had been itching to start an empire to keep up with the Joneses in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Therefore, the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor provided the perfect amount of feul for the fire. Nobody is really positive why the Maine sank, only that it was the result of an internal explosion that most likely started in the engine room. If it hadn’t been the Miane, it would have been something else in a matter of days.
And then, of course, there’s Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin incident which, as near as anyone can figure, never happened. But that didn’t matter either as this trailer for “War Made Easy” points out.
Now let’s forward to Yellow Journalism 21st Century style and its greatest purveyor, Fox news. We’re all familiar with the administration’s line on the war with Iraq. First, weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist, then ties to Al Queda that didn’t exist. Just like a ship that didn’t get blown up by the Spanish. It didn’t matter
The fact that the war in Iraq is based on a great big lie seems to have escaped the consciousness of many Americans, or if it hasn’t not enough of us are doing anything about it. As Michael Moore says though, if you repeat a lie enough, people will beleive it. As long as the Bush Administration has Fox News and Rupert Hearst, errrrr, Murdoch around they can repeat the lie in bigger, better and more dramatic ways.
Now for the really scary and insidious role of yellow journalism. Now that more Americans are facing the truth of the war with Iraq, we see more and more of the administration’s attention focused on Iran. Not surprisingly, we also see Fox’s attention focused on Iraq as well. Fox is taking the words right out of the Iraq script, adding some new pictures of different Arabs and leaders, and are beating the drums at full volume to build the case for expanding the war for oil to Iran.
Watch, future yellow journalists, and take a lesson from the masters:
The press isn’t likely to stop spreading the lies of the administration. The press is downplaying the role of the anti-war movement, just like it’s repeating the administration line on the war in Iraq, and the likely war in Iran.
It’s up to us. Do something. Spread the truth.
Technorati Tags: Yellow Journalism, Fox news, war in Iraq
Filed under: Politics on September 3rd, 2007
On a minor note, it amazes me how few Americans can point out Iran on a map. I gave a blank map of the middle east to a friend who was about to go work on his PHD and asked him to find Iran. Admittedly geography was never his forte but when he then was unsure about Iraq I wanted to slap him. So few of us realize the simple fact that Iran is sandwiched between Iraq and Afghanistan. I fear that your correct, this administrations only response to mistakes has been to distract us with even bigger mistakes, Iran would be a much bigger mistake.
If you were the leader of Iran you’d probably be building a stock pile of WMDs as fast as you can, you’d assume your about to be attacked by the USA. If we don’t have riots in the streets prior to Iran then we don’t deserve to survive as a country, our spirit has been sold. Our modern spirit was bought at Wal-Mart, we got a good deal on it but it was chincy plastic that wore out quickly.