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Contributions from
the Column
Books and Media
The power of the media in time of war
Taking stock of the HIPC initiative
Media and Democracy in Africa
Diversity in Development
05/2005 |
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Media: A call to scepticism
Bettina Gaus:
Frontberichte. Die Macht der Medien in Zeiten des Krieges
(Reports from the front lines. The power of the media in time of war).
Frankfurt/New York, Campus 2004,
193 pages, Euro 19.90, ISBN 3-593-37543-5
Bettina Gaus has written an absorbing assessment of how wars and crisis hotspots are reported on in the media. Avoiding conspiracy theories, the former East Africa correspondent from Germany uses numerous anecdotes to illustrate the deeper-seated reasons why many media no longer inform us, but only create the illusion of doing so. This is what makes her book so distressing.
Often journalists need the protection of one of the warring parties, soldiers or foreign relief organisations to be able to move about in war zones. “Embedding” was not invented by the US army, Gaus stresses. This mode of operation is absolutely necessary and valuable for reporters, although it implies having little access to information from the other side of the front. The problems begin with psychological difficulties of staying detached from the warring party one is with. Reporters often feel a need “to believe in the decency” of those people who have helped them, writes Gaus.
Gaus acknowledges that most of her colleagues try to report neutrally on what they see and what they hear, although she does quote a few diametrical examples. She sees the mechanisms of modern media as the core problem. Time pressure limits thorough investigation and frustrates aspirations of diligent researchers. The focus is normally on drama rather than on the big picture. Immediate side-effects are scarcely mentioned: the suffering of refugees, the war-disabled, et cetera. In addition, the dominant medium of television needs pictures. This leads on the one hand to blind spots – if there are no images, there is no report. Film clips, on the other hand, make viewers feel they are actually on the spot and can see for themselves what is going on.
Gaus complains that attempts to manipulate the general public are increasing, while the ability of the media to fend off such attempts is decreasing. This tendency is fostered by the need of both journalists and the public to identify with their “own” side. The “war against terror” has narrowed people’s perceptions to a basic distinction between friends and foes. The result is a more or less subtle bias. This diagnosis is surprising in view of the critical stance much of the German media took towards the war in Iraq. Nonetheless, Gaus maintains that “western” victims are of greater importance than others to Germans.
The journalist’s attacks on the political public constitute a second central theme of the book. She condemns the fact that wars are trivialised. She does not reject interventions in principle, but emphasises that they are, like all wars, bloody and claim the lives of innocent people. She finds it strange that the opponents, rather than the supporters, of military intervention have to justify their stance to the German public. She criticises the media’s failure to investigate whether earlier interventions brought the benefits promised.
The book is written in a gripping style and is full of vivid, sometimes touching stories. It is an appeal to stick to the professional standards of journalism.
Bernd Ludermann
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