Iraq

Tutwiler, New Top Iraq Flack, May Take Beers' Old Job

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Margaret Tutwiler, the United States ambassador to Morocco, left Rabat for Baghdad today to assume a temporary position overseeing all public relations and information operations in postwar Iraq. Ms. Tutwiler, who was the State Department spokeswoman during the Persian Gulf war in 1991, ... also said she was still in discussions with Bush administration officials about a separate offer to return to Washington as the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. If Ms.

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, April 15, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Who Needs Movies? We've Got the FOX War Channel.

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Nearly every military-related film
to reach theaters this year has been a box-office
disappointment, leaving some in Hollywood to question how
much the 24-hour news coverage of the Iraq invasion has
dimmed the public appetite for images of combat," and "some critics suggest that
moviegoers are staying away because they have plenty of
real-time war action already on cable and network news
programs. 'When television came on with 24-hour news channels, it
changed what we needed,' said Jeanine Basinger, chairman of

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Main Source: 
New York Times, April 14, 2003
Topics: 
Right Wing
Iraq
Media

Americans Watching Their War on Cable, Not Networks

Submitted by John Stauber on

"With the most televised war in history winding down,
executives at TV news organizations are noticing one
startling detail in how Americans are watching the
coverage: viewers are increasingly tuning out the broadcast
networks' evening newscasts. ... The overall decline in the evening news programs' ratings,
coming at the same time as the three cable news networks
achieved gains of more than 300 percent, could be a
watershed moment in how Americans get their news on

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, April 14, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Media

TV Wraps Itself in the Flag and Sells the War

Submitted by John Stauber on

Columnist Frank Rich writes, "There's almost nothing in the war, it seems, that cannot be exploited as a network promo. ... When Victoria Clarke at the Pentagon says Saddam is responsible for 'decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression the likes of which I think the world has not ever seen before,' no one on Fox or MSNBC is going to gainsay her by bringing up Hitler and Stalin.

No
Main Source: 
New York Times, April 13, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Ethics
Media
Rhetoric

Sony, Others, Want to Market "Shock and Awe"

Submitted by John Stauber on

"A day after U.S. allied forces marched into Iraq, Sony applied for a trademark on the war's catchphrase, 'shock and awe,' for use as a video game title, according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It was unclear if Sony planned to make use of the name. The application, dated March 21, was first discovered by British publication Media Guardian. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has more than a dozen applications for uses of the phrase, including for fireworks, lingerie, baby toys, shampoo and consulting services.

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Main Source: 
St. Paul Pioneer Press, April 12, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Marketing
Rhetoric

Lack Of Dead Bodies On TV "PR Coup"

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"As the war seemingly comes to an end with US troops in the centre of Baghdad, the propaganda war from both sides has become even more desperate," writes Charles Whelan, a former New Labour flack, for PR Week's UK edition. "The Iraqi minister for information has had a job to do made more difficult by the hour. The poor man was forced into making statements at his daily press briefing about how the brave Iraqi troops had expelled the Americans from Saddam Hussein Airport.

No
Main Source: 
PR Week (UK), April 11, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Propaganda

US Flag Banned in Iraq

Submitted by John Stauber on

"Today, the Army, seeking to demonstrate that its troops in Iraq are 'liberators' and not 'conquerors' barred any display of the American flag on vehicles, buildings, statues, and command posts. The order, which effectively halts the display of the flag virtually anywhere in Iraq, except the United States Embassy, said that flying the flag on buildings in Iraq would only reenforce the anti-American message that the military was 'here to oppress the Iraqis.' "

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Main Source: 
New York Times, April 10, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
U.S. Government

The Rest of the World

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Round-the-clock coverage of the war in Iraq has eclipsed a host of bad-news stories from the rest of the world, including a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israeli killings and detentions in the West Bank, and a crackdown on dissidents in Cuba. According to Curt Goering of Amnesty International USA, the virtual exclusion of most other international news has provide an opportunity for repressive authorities to settle old scores. "That's been a fear that we had even before the war started," Goering said.

No
Main Source: 
Reuters, April 9, 2003
Topics: 
Iraq
Human Rights
International

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