The Media and the Persian Gulf War

Many scholars call the Persian Gulf conflict the first prime-time war. Certainly, the technologies, strategies, and skills of the military in managing the public agenda were equal to those of the television networks and major print organizations. The Media and the Persian Gulf War focuses on the processes and effects of the media, both leading up to and during the mother of all battles in 1990 and 1991.

Broad in scope and varied in methodologies, the chapters span the media of television, radio, print, and film. Chapters discuss such specific topics as the relationship between the press and the censoring military, CNN’s and C-SPAN’s coverage, how talk radio and television covered the war, the media’s depiction of women in the military, the Gulf War as a referent in advertising, and how popular culture legitimized the war. This work will be an important resource for scholars in political and mass communication, popular culture, and political science.