The Media and the War in Iraq

The fourth anniversary of the War in Iraq has just passed, and support for the war has been becoming less and less by the day. As the popular consensus becomes more negative, the news media has a way of exploiting it. How are we supposed to win or be supportive of a war when all we are constantly confronted with are government disappointments and images of death. As the war has changed, the way it has been presented through television has also changed. Four years ago news programs remained optimistic and patriotic in regards to the war. Now they are more skeptical, and it seems that you can't even turn on your TV without seeing images of violence. Even television programs such as "Grey's Anatomy" and "24" are making references to the war. This article from The New York Times even brings up the notion that the concept of people being tortured has been turned into a joke on shows such as "Saturday Night Live".

The media is echoing the public's disappointment with the military and our government. My question to you though is that, if the media has such an influence on public opinion, and the public's opinion is negative which the media mirrors, then isn't it just one big vicious circle? I think that as long as the media keeps on with its non optimistic approach, and the population keeps taking everything the media says word for word, then there will never be any type of peaceful way to get out of this war. I personally don't agree with the war either, but I feel like a little less time should be spent by the media focusing on the mistakes and devastation that have occur ed, and more time should be used to broadcast about how things can be made better for the future. Maybe then the public opinion will start looking up as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/arts/television/20watc.html