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Desert Storm Television Coverage

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Author: Ben

Desert Storm was the second "living-room war." Coverage was extensive, to say the least. Americans were glued to their television sets as American armed forces freed Kuwait and invaded southern Iraq.

Who arrived in Kuwait first, soldiers or TV crews? The answer is TV crews. The television cameras were rolling as the invasion began, and they continued rolling for the duration of Desert Storm. Never before in the history of the world had the masses been exposed to war as it was happening. The coverage of Desert Storm opened new doors for worldwide news coverage not only of war, but of all kinds of international events.

Television suddenly had unprecedented influence over intelligence, diplomacy, and, of course, public opinion.

The term "fourth estate" can be traced back at least to Thomas Carlyle in the early 19th century and refers to the power of the press to influence public opinion and frame political issues. The coverage of Desert Storm by what is known as the "fifth estate" (media that is opposed to the mainstream views) has prompted some heated debates regarding the growing power of the press to influence world events.

There are in-depth discussions at the highest levels of what can and should be done about how wars are covered by television news. So far, there is simply no consensus. Television news coverage of any event including war is protected by the Constitution. By law, our government cannot censor what is or is not aired on television. The government doesn't run television networks in a free society, and Americans deplore censorship in any form.

Avenues are opened for censorship when national security is threatened, and the military does still exercise control over what kind of information is released to the press, but televised war has changed the face of war.









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