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Worshipful coverage of the U.S. military

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Dick Whitman, Nov 10, 2012.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Terrific piece in The Guardian about how muffled reaction to Petraeus reflects the larger problem of the reverence that the United States media has for the nation's armed forces:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/10/petraeus-scandal-media-military

    Reminds me a bit of this recent story in The Atlantic about how U.S. generals are not held to any degree of accountability since World War II, essentially:

    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/general-failure/309148/

    I like the reference in the Guardian piece to the U.S. sporting world's militaristic tributes before seemingly every contest. We had a hum-dinger of a thread on here about that after a Super Bowl a couple years ago.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Not enough journalists are sufficiently qualified to properly cover the military.

    When you can't critique an operation from a position of authority, it's easier to be a cheerleader.
     
  3. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    I started a thread a while back on Michael Hastings and his story on McCrystal in Rolling Stone. He got a lot of grief from the main steam media for that story.
     
  4. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    Two things:

    (a) I think the ho-hum response to the Petraeus story isn't because of deference to the military; it's because no one cares who Petraeus is diddling. (If her picture came out and she was wearing a hijab, that would change.)

    (b) I suspect a lot of the worshipful coverage is a general public swing from the end of the Vietnam War. After a ugly reaction to the returning veterans, the public now makes a point of celebrating everything the military does, regardless of whether it deserves it.
     
  5. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Hasting made the point that a lot of the main stream media was concerned about losing access after his story came out.
     
  6. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    I agree. The way the average Joe reacts to the military puzzles me.

    Hey, you wanna join the Army, go overseas and blow up stuff and kill people? Fine. Your call. But I am not convinced MY life is any safer or better, so please don't act like I owe you a damn thing.
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I thought of MLB when I saw the thread title. I'm surprised God Bless America isn't played every half-inning.
     
  8. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Thank you for your service.
     
  9. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    The sentiment has gone up a hundredfold since 9/11, and it was indeed propagated first by the NFL. The return to action after a week off, and really that whole season, was a military recruiting video.
     
  10. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    The military does propaganda better than just about anyone this side of ESPN.
     
  11. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    You realize of course that the "hippies-spitting-on-Vietnam-veterans" meme has been largely debunked, right?
     
  12. PCLoadLetter

    PCLoadLetter Well-Known Member

    You realize that in terms of public perception that doesn't mean a thing, right?
     
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