States often employ the media to mobilize support for war efforts Essay

States often make use of the media to mobilize support for war efforts. Discuss the processes at stake in relation to Gulf struggle II - Essay ExampleThis phenomenon is obviously not new. The experience of the armed forces of the United States in the post-Cold warf ar illustrates that triumph on the combat zone is rarely as effortless as overpowering the obstructer by military might. From the time of the Civil War at least, subjective arguments related to the influence of the media on American wars have generated debate among journalists, scholars, the military, and government authorities as they carry on arguing the fictional character and solutions of the media (Katovsky & Carlson 2004). Traditionally, debate over the issue of the role and influence of the media has become especially serious when home(a) policies carrying out the conflict are seen as being either weakening, or very slow to build their political goals (Lewis & Rose 2002) to the detriment of increasing fatalit ies. Under such conditions, opponents of the media have been traditional in charging the put right of editorial prejudice that weakens public support for war efforts, whereas most journalists have been similarly traditional in justifying that they are only realistically presenting what they witness and observe (Smith 1992). This issue perhaps acquired its most rigorous judge and evaluation after the Vietnam War, when the influence of the media over national polity and public support became the topic of several(prenominal) concerned groups, conferences, academic conventions, and innumerable publications (Murphy & White 2007). Quite distressing was this series of stern examinations that the issue of media prejudices and its effect on public support and national policy throughout the Vietnam War persists to emerge as a permanent point of comparison (Murphy & White 2007) at once every time the United States has engage in later conflicts. This controversial debate is again apparent i n present-day comparisons of the news reporting of the Vietnam War with that of the second Persian Gulf War, awakening new discussions concerning media influence over national policy and public support (Katovsky & Carlson 2004). Due to this resurfacing debate, it is suitable and important to reevaluate the influence and role of the media in modern conflicts. This paper focuses on the function of the media as an instrument to mobilize public support for war efforts, specifically focusing on the second Persian Gulf War. The Process of Political Persuasion or overt Support Mobilization Persuasion is essential to the discipline of Media and International Relations because a great have of it concerns persuasion. Scholars investigate persuasion by examining attitudinal mechanisms after disclosure of certain information (Johansen & Joslyn 2008). A major squeeze of persuasion takes place when transformations in the information setting are followed by attitudinal changes. Opinions about President bush and his campaign against Iraq altered significantly prior and during the preliminary stages of the war as the government justified its design (Johansen & Joslyn 2008). What spurred these attitudinal changes was public recognition of particular information circulated by the administration of Bush and extensively covered by the news media. Apparently, the source of information is vital in persuasion. Information sources deemed as truthful, sincere, or credible are more influential than doubtful