The Role of Media in War

Israel-Hamas war (Al Jazeera, 2023)

 

 In October 2023, the war began as the Palestinian militant group Hamas crossed the separation barrier from Gaza and launched an attack on southern Israel. The attacks on each other continued, and this led to horrible consequences that the lives of many innocent people sacrificed. In addition, the Russian-Ukrainian war is also making terrible situations. The question is, how do we get all this information? It's all through the media. In the case of the war in Gaza, the warring parties put a lot of effort into the media coverage, including fine-tuning the terminology used to describe the war. They use propaganda, which is not easily verifiable, to justify the purpose of the war and to attack their opponents.

 

 This is not just a recent trend. Even in the war between the US-led coalition and Iraq, which began with the 2003 bombing of Baghdad, media psychological warfare played an important role. CNN, the leading Western media, and Al Jazeera, the leading Arab media, were the main sources of coverage of the war. CNN emphasized the superiority of the advanced weapons and the achievements of the coalition forces in the war and tried to emphasize the positive aspects of the war to the global audience. Al Jazeera, on the other hand, sought to create anti-war sentiment around the world by reporting on the injustice and horrors of the war from their perspective. In a war situation, the media can be used to build support for a war by justifying it, or it can be used as a psychological tool to achieve strategic goals by deceiving the enemy and clouding their judgment.

 

 War is a horrific scene where the human rights of countless people are violated. Decisions made by those in power are costing innocent lives. Despite this, the media is often domesticated to suit the tastes of the power and used as a tool to represent their interests.

 

 The press exists to serve the people. It is necessary to fulfill the citizen's right to know, and to realize the values of democracy. As such, the media must uphold human rights and promote just and peaceful communities. It should not be used as a tool to manipulate public opinion, but should help citizens make right judgments through accurate and impartial reporting.

 

 A simple but fundamental solution would be to focus on introducing objective third-party perspectives from international organizations such as the United Nations to prevent the one-sided claims of warring parties from being reported in the global media.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Kwon Seorim (2-1)