Pedagogical Uses 1: The Persian Gulf Media War

FUm & History, Vol. XXII, Nos. 1 & 2, February/May 199247 Pedagogical Uses 1: The Persian Gulf Media War Stephen Winzenburg Two wars began on January 16, 1991. One was in the Persian Gulf, a battle between American allies and Saddam Hussein. The other was in U.S. living rooms, fought between television networks attempting to be the first to report what was occurring in the Gulf. Television not only covered the Gulf War; it became an integral part of the conflict - from the opening moments of the war, with live telephone coverage of the bombing of Baghdad, to the final liberation of Kuwait. For the first time American viewers were able to learn war details at the same time our own State Department heard the reports. And Saddam Hussein attempted to use the media coverage to his advantage as he monitored U.S. reactions on CNN. Using a complex system of five satellites and two microwave relays that spanned half the globe, viewers were able to see the war with a delay of only one-and-one-half seconds. It made an immediate impression on the minds of those at home, particularly the younger audience members who had not experienced the filmed footage of the Vietnam War. Through the miracle oftechnology, this generation suddenly had its own war images, filtered through the lenses of television networks fighting a visual battle to be first with any piece of news. College students took an immediate interest in the Gulf War coverage. The live coverage became addicting to those majoring in broadcastjournalism, political science, history, or foreign affairs. And because the war ended in just six weeks, classroom perspective was needed to help convince students that what they saw was not just another TV mini-series broadcast to gain viewers during a key "sweeps" ratings period. Twice since the war ended, I have taught a senior seminar devoted to television coverage of the Persian Gulf War. The idea for the course had been in the back of my mind since seeing CNN's Bernard Shaw reporting live via phone from under his bed at a hotel in Baghdad on the night of the first U.S. air attack. With a spare blank VCR tape always ready to tape material for classroom use, I began taping over thirty hours of war coverage. Stephen Winzenburg is Associate Professor of Communications at Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa. In connection with recent research on televangelism (May 1993), he has been the only scholar or journalist allowed to interview the incarcerated Mm Bakker. 48 Stephen Winzenburg The first week was non-stop taping. When one network went to commercial, I switched to another network. The three broadcast networks, CNN and C-SPAN were included, and all times of the broadcast day were covered, from the morning talk shows to local newscasts to late-night specials. As that first week of the war went on, entertainment programs would deal with the war as well. So the taping included Arsenio Hall's serious discussion of prayer for the troops, a Saturday Night Live spoof of a military press conference, a report from A Current Affair on missing CBS reporter Bob Simon, The Weather Channel doing a forecast for Saudi Arabia and even the Home Shopping Network selling Desert Storm sweat shirts. Never spending more than ten minutes at a time on any channel allowed a unique perspective of war coverage. These tapes became the foundation for the seminar. Without the visual materials there would be no course, since mere discussion of what took place could not communicate the emotions of the competition between the networks. Yet the class was not totally dependent upon the tapes. There was a large volume of printed material that became available. A 116-page Gannett Foundation Report entitled "The Media at War: The Press and the Persian Gulf Conflict" including a history of war coverage, results of opinion polls, excerpts from editorials and content analyses of network war stories and experts.1 Also, Birch Scarborough Research released a 17-page report on American's attitudes toward the media that included polling material taken over the phone the night after the war began.2 And there...