Shooting the Messenger: The Political Impact of War Reporting (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781574889475)

As the literature on military-media relations grows, it is informed by antagonism either from journalists who report on wars or from ex-soldiers in their memoirs. Academics who attempt more judicious accounts rarely have any professional military or media experience. A working knowledge of the operational constraints of both professions underscores Shooting the Messenger. A veteran war correspondent and think tank director, Paul L. Moorcraft has served in the British Ministry of Defence, while historian-by-training Philip M. Taylor is a professor of international communications who has lectured widely to the U.S. military and at NATO institutions. Some of the topics they examine in this wide-ranging history of military-media relations are: - the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts - the sometimes grey area between reporters' right or need to know and the operational security constraints imposed by the military - the military's manipulation of journalists who accept it as a trade-off for safer battlefield access - the resultant gap between images of war and their reality - the evolving nature of media technology and the difficulties--and opportunities--this poses to the military - journalistic performance in reporting conflict as an observer or a participant Moorcraft and Taylor provide a bridge over which each side can pass and a path to mutual understanding.

Author: Paul L. Moorcraft, Philip M. Taylor
ISBN-10: 1574889478
ISBN-13: 9781574889475
Publisher: Potomac Books
Language: English
Published: 06/01/2008
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.06h x 6.32w x 1.16d

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2008 pg. 258