Media propaganda is a major concern nowadays especially when it violates ethical standards. The media often does not realize that they are being used to forward the ideologies of some propagandist which, most of the time is the government itself trying to advance immoral political goals that, with the help of a propaganda, the people will view it differently. Propagandas have gained a negative connotation over the years. It is referred to as an exercise of deception rather than persuasion.
It is often related to advertising and public relations but is often associated with a certain political agenda. It is also considered as a common element of politics and war (Brahm, 2006). The general media is often used to forward propagandist goals which oftentimes go against moral and ethical standards. In the United States, the Administration of George W. Bush made full use of the media as a tool to expand its propaganda against terrorist insurgencies. Different media networks approached the war in different manners.
The Al Jazeera network live coverage of the bombing of a palace belonging to the Hussein’s struck fear to many but some Western audiences viewed the bombing as an act against “ evil. ” The Arab people on the other hand, viewed it as an attack aimed at the Muslims and Arabs similar to how Americans viewed the September 11 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center (Kellner). A part of the propaganda, US and British media men who are with the soldiers to document the progress of the war loss objectivity on its reporting.
But when the US and British forces came under attack, the reporters helped expose the chaos associated with war and “ deflated propaganda lies of the US or UK military. Documentation of the war questioned the official version of the events released by the military including propaganda and military spin and because the reports of the media people who have signed restrictions in order to embed themselves and gain protection from the military forces.
These documentations failed to go public because of the censorship and it is the independent journalists that laid more reliable accounts of the events. Reporters that relied on the military for protection often reported only incidents of friendly-fire and other unfortunate circumstances. These reporters are to be considered as propagandist forwarding the goals of Bush and the Pentagon resulting from censorship (Kellner).
The media indeed lost its objectivity because of the censorship, and objectivity is one part of media ethics that should be strictly followed to be considered as responsible journalists. US broadcast networks presented reports filtered by the military failing to recount deaths and other negative features of the war while BBC and CBC often recounted stories that show more critical aspects of war (Kellner). This censorship aims to manipulate the beliefs and outlook of people about the war by filtering broadcasts that show the negative effects of the war such as death and violence.
These actions by the US government are clear propaganda movements as it contains all the elements of a propaganda such as deception, creating fear, confusion and hatred by portraying the antagonist as an abomination, generalities and rationalizations (Brahm, 2006). The media must maintain accuracy, fairness and objectivity in reporting. It should not mislead the public to believe false, immoral and unethical ideological goals. The media must avoid being control from propagandist groups, be it the government or not and must at all times abide by ethical standards.
Reference
http://www. beyondintractability. org/essay/propaganda/? nid= 6791
