I was recently disquieted when I watched a film from 2006 called “War Made Easy.” It is based on a book by the same name by former columnist Norman Solomon and narrated by Sean Penn.
RootsAction
The film was offered by a group, RootsAction, that works to promote equal justice and end war. On its website, the group promises it “is dedicated to galvanizing people who are committed to economic fairness, equal rights for all, civil liberties, environmental protection — and defunding endless wars.”
War Made Easy
The film and a panel discussion that followed can be seen, at least for a while, at War Made Easy. It’s worth a view. It’s also worth considering what RootsAction says about our country. In its “about” section on the webpage, RootsAction notes, “We need a fresh approach to defend the public interest and expand social justice. Our country faces an increasingly extremist Republican Party that is largely a subsidiary of corporate America, and a Democratic Party whose leadership is enmeshed with and compromised by corporate power.” It’s hard to disagree from my perspective.
War and Media
And a sore point for me in all of this is that the subtitle of Mr. Solomon’s book is “How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.” That’s tough for me as a journalist and journalism educator. But some of the points made ring true.
Made in 2006
The event I attended online was on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq war. I think many people feel this was a horrible mistake for America, for our troops and for the Iraqi people. I know I do. There were, of course, no “weapons of mass destruction,” which the government claimed and which led to the war. But the media, in covering the news of the invasion and the words of our leaders, were complicit in what happened.
Embedded journalists
It was all the rage to be a journalist embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq to get a supposed full picture. But what happened? Did the media become duped by the Pentagon into support for a needless war? It’s great the journalists made friends with the soldiers they traveled with. But did this help them tell a true story? It appears not.
Afghanistan and Yemen
Lack of media oversight has been true of the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. role in the war in Yemen. How many innocent people are being killed and displaced and starved? And for what real purpose? Many can argue with the Biden administration’s blunders in leaving Afghanistan and many of our Afghan friends behind to who knows what fate. That was a terrible thing to do. But most feel it was time to withdraw most of our troops.
And then Ukraine
While Ukraine seems to be a different matter and different circumstances, I sometimes wonder if we have a full story. Are the media digging enough? Have we been interfering in Ukraine for many years behind the scenes and needlessly prodding a dangerous Vladimir Putin? We see provocation now with Syria, North Korea and even China.
The Media
RootsAction is right in the respect that the media covers the news, the run-up to a war and then the war itself. Conflict is news. Media cover news. War makes news. Reporters like news. And their corporate owners like readership and viewership. But is there sufficient questioning? In one part of the presentation, narrators said CNN ran a list of possible retired general commentator candidates by the Pentagon to see who Pentagon officials thought might be the best. How inappropriate! CNN should be able to interview commentator job candidates on its own to determine the best temperament and fit. Would a media owner have asked former President Trump who to assign to cover the White House? It’s the same thing.
Since WWII
Solomon says such news media collusion (my word, not his) has been going on since the end of World War II. He pointed out, for example, that President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s claim about the Gulf of Tonkin attack in Vietnam was exaggerated and led to escalation of that war. The untruth was passed along to the American public by the news media. And this cost thousands of American and Vietnamese lives.
My father
My late father, who published a weekly newspaper in Northwest Missouri for 50 years, often was critical of the national media. He felt Washington reporters especially should be rotated out of the capital every couple of years. He felt reporters became too close to their sources and lost objectivity. He’s right.
My advice
My advice to media consumers is to look at various outlets. While I typically rely on ABC, the local affiliate, along with CNN, I watch MSNBC and Fox as well (though I don’t consider Fox reliable at all). I also rely on The Washington Post and The New York Times, along with the state’s major daily and two weeklies in my community. I can’t read every word, of course. But it provides some balance, I hope.
We have to be somewhat skeptical about what we read and hear. We need to be savvy news consumers. Question what may be unreported or under-reported. Is the story behind the story ignored? At least sometimes, it seems to be.