The Gulf War and Television: An Annotated Bibliography

FUm & History, Vol. XXII, Nos. 1 & 2, February/May 199263 The Gulf War and Television: An Annotated Bibliography Scott Surber and Peter C. Rollins GEOPOLITICS Dannreuther, Roland. The Gulf Conflict: A Political and Strategic Analysis (London: International Institute for Strategic Studies, 1992). A succinct and balanced account of the diplomatic aspects of a military campaign. Sympathetic to the UN effort. Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War (New York: Routledge, 1992). An excellent, detailed narrative approach through both phases of the involvement. Excellent chronology and reprints of UN resolutions as appendix items. Joyner, Christopher C. The Persian Gulf: Lessons for Strategy, Law, and Diplomacy. (Greenwood Press, 1990). Diplomatic and military tensions prior to Desert Storm. Good focus on issues which media should have covered in "backgrounders." VIETNAM PARALLELS AND LESSONS Herz, Martin F. The Vietnam War in Retrospect (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1984). Lecture number three focuses on visual paradigms and the impact of visual reports during the Tet offensive of 1968. Short, but to the point about the misuse of "microcosms." Herz (d.1983) was a much respected US diplomat. Summers, Harry. On Strategy II: A Critical Analysis of the Gulf War (Dell, 1992). An update from his previous work on Vietnam, showing how the American Establishment shaped its policies and tactics to avoid the pitfalls of Vietnam. Three chapters on "the Vietnam Syndrome." Lamb, David. "Pentagon Hardball," Washington Journalism Review 13:3 (1991), p. 33-36. Journalists suffer due to military's memories of Vietnam coverage. Monroe, Bill. "How the Generals Outdid the Journalists," Washington Journalism Review 13:3 (1991), p. 6. Editorial. Press briefings bring out adversarial attitudes in press and military. Scott Surber is a graduate student in Film Studies at Oklahoma State University where he will be writing a feature film script as his M.A. thesis. Peter C. Rollins is Regents Professor ofEnglish and American/Film Studies at Oklahoma State University and a member of the Editorial Board of Film and History. 64 Scott Surber and Peter C. Rollins Muravchik, Joshua. The End of the Vietnam Paradigm?" Commentary (May 1991), p. 17-23. Pre-War predictions of dead and discussion of war issues. CENSORSHIP AND PRESS REGULATION Battle Lines: Report of the 20th Century Fund Task Force on the Military and the Media, Ed. Peter Braestrup. (New York: Priority Press, 1985). Braestrup's essay traces the history of press restrictions from World War II up to the Gulf War. Braestrup is a particularly insightful source due to his indepth study of the Vietnam precedents in Big Story (Westview, 1976). Contains the recommendations ofthe "Sidle Panel" which established the guidelines for Desert Storm (165-78). The Media at War: The Press and the Persian Gulf Conflict (New York: Gannett Foundation Media Center at Columbia University, 1991). Chapters on technology of news reporting, the fluctuations of public opinion in relation to reporting. A roundtable discussion explores the frustrations of the press, along the way, making many allusions to Vietnam. Lots of graphs and charts. An excellent companion to Braestrup's historical study, but skewed in many places. Bibliography. Andrews, Peter. 'The Media and the Military," American Heritage (July, 1987), p. 78-85. Discussion of friction between media and military historically. Blanchard, Margaret A. "Free Expression and Wartime: Lessons from the Past, Hopes for the Future," Journalism Quarterly 69:1 (1992), p. 5-17. History of media/military restriction conflicts. Fialka, John J. Hotel Warriors: Covering the Gulf War (Johns Hopkins UP, 1991). A personal narrative which tries to draw conclusions about problems of coverage while pointing to how the relationship of the military and the press could be improved in the interests of both parties. Describes the different press styles of the services. Good personal reportage. MacArthur, John R. Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War (New York: Hill and Wang, 1992). Backs up to Grenada and Panama and then explodes into a diatribe about press restrictions imposed by the government to prevent competing information from reaching the public. Faults press executives for lack of leadership. Ruttman, Gordon with Steve Sherman and Scott Summers. The Official Lite History (and Cookbook) of the Gulf War (Houston: Electric Strawberry Press [7911 West...