Clarence R. Wyatt

The Military and the Media Clarence R. Wyatt

From the rise of anti-war sentiment during the Vietnam War until today's situation in Iraq, in times of war, and especially in a society as open as that of the United States, the perceptions that the public forms about the morality, costs, benefits, and efficacy of military engagement are vitally important. Those perceptions have the potential to affect significantly the scope and direction of military engagement, as the history of American military conflict and the current commitment to Iraq, repeatedly demonstrate. Understanding the sources of the information that shapes those perceptions and the processes by which that information comes to the public is extremely important. Media/Military relations have grown more complicated with the dramatic changes that new technologies have wrought in news and information gathering and distribution. The topic of military-media relations has been examined, but those studies have tended to touch on the topic briefly as part of larger histories of journalism or have focused on particular conflicts, such as the war in Vietnam or Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. This reference handbook will provide a short but inclusive historical overview of the major issues and developments in the military-media relationship in the American context, an analysis of the current state of that relationship, and its larger political and social sources and consequences.