Sociology 243, Spring 2002
Annotated bibliographies
Theme: media and war
This is a book full of detailed maps showing all the major locations of major events during the Holocaust. I think this will be helpful in verifying how close some concentration camps were to major towns, and where the train tracks were located that carried six million innocent Jews to their death. This book also has large maps showing where many of the Jews fled to escape persecution and many detailed maps of the populations of the Jews in any certain country.
This is a book that looks at the moral and ethical issues that surround the Holocaust. It assesses the blameworthiness of the bystanders that were able to let such a tragic event occur. The author is taking the side of the Jews and at times it seems they are pointing the finger at different groups throughout history. Instead of talking about events with emotionless terms, the author uses case studies and talks about their emotions as it was taking place.
This is going to be one of my major contributors to my paper topic. It has many different articles about how much the United States government already knew about what really was going on in Europe during the Holocaust. It way the book was written makes me believe that the author is pointing the finger of blame at both Roosevelt as the U.S. president at the government as a whole. It does make some good points about the problems and concerns that the United States was facing at the time, but I think in general, this book will be helpful in supporting my paper's argument that we as a country could have done more.
This book contains many official government documents that were circulating during the time of the Holocaust. It shows the personal and moral struggles that many U.S. government officials went through in trying to lend a helping hand to the Jews in Europe. It has many personal letters that were not seen by the public containing some obvious material that shows how many people in the government did not want any more emigrants, especially Jewish emigrants in our country and their reasons why.
This book contains personal articles and letters to the editor about what they felt should be done to help out the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. Most of the articles are being sympathetic towards the cause and offer some really good ideas about what both the U.S government as well as the population could do to help. I think that this will show some public opinion in America during the Holocaust.
This book lays out an overview of what was going on in the world before and during the time of the Holocaust. It defends the side of the U.S. not taking any major actions to stop the Nazi war machine, and claims that ideas to bomb the train tracks, and the gas chambers of Auschwitz were preposterous. These are ideas that I personally disagree with but it is good to get both sides of the argument.
part 8, vol.1, Meckler, London, 1989
This is a large encyclopedia type book full of facts about the amount of information that people had involving the concentration camps. This book puts forth ideas from both sides of the argument on why the United States did nothing, but also why they should have. It has chapters on the United States government, the Jews in both Europe and in America, and even a section on the different church denominations and what position they took and why. This will be a major reference for my paper, and will help me present all sides of the argument.
This is a book that goes into great depth on the controversial issue of bombing the largest concentration camp in Europe. It supplies the reader with reason why they should have, but also why they didn't. It supports the United States decision not to, and gives many reasons why. This will be a helpful book because I want to talk about all of the options that the United States had in ending such a tragic event as the Holocaust.
This book focuses on the emigration laws in the United States at the time of the Holocaust. It shows how hard it was to escape Europe and how limited the options were for the many Jews at that time. It takes the side of the United States by presenting the problems the country was having with the Great Depression and the high unemployment rate. It supports the U.S. citizen's dislike for any kind of emigrant and shows why they could be a threat to a citizen in search for employment. This will be helpful in my paper because I want to focus on the emigration laws and how the U.S. government purposefully made it more and more difficult to enter the United States during a time when people were desperate to escape.
This book is made up of many different articles about who know the Holocaust was going on the whole time. There is a tone running through the whole chapter that makes it seem crazy that there could have been people at the time that didn't know what was going on. They explained that people just didn't want to pry into the matters, and didn't question the thousands and thousands of people leaving their town in cattle cars never to be seen from again.
This book focuses on the American Jews at the time of the Holocaust. The author puts fourth an idea that their ambivalent nature as bystanders can not be put into a special category for this situation occurs all around the world to this day. Deals with the human morals and how it's important to stand up for what you think is right without worrying about the consequences. I think this will be important in my paper, and will explain a lot about the sociology of these events.
This book talks about how the American public kept denying that the Holocaust was really going on during the war. They had a hard time realizing that these gristly stories could actually be a reality. The authors presents how obvious the information was and questions how anyone could think this information was a rumor.
This book focuses on the American Jew's lack of action during the Holocaust. The author criticizes them for not doing more to help out their European brothers. He does talk about the small things that they did do to help out but it's more looking down at what they didn't do.
This book is all about the publications in the Protestant Press and how early on they were releasing information about the Holocaust. It focuses on how America had a high amount of Anti-Semitism as it was and chose not to act on these reports. Discus certain events like the S.S. St. Louis and how it was turned away from both Cuba and the United States and ended up returning to Europe with it's full ship of Jewish people trying to leave. Takes the side of the Jews and sympathizes with their hardships during the Holocaust.
This book presents some reasons why the Americans might think that the information they heard about the Jews might have been rumors inspired by their fears. Has a hint of sarcasm because the author presents so much information on how obvious all the facts were from the beginning.
This book discuses the different rescue attempts made by different countries during the Holocaust. Talks about the pressure that Roosevelt was getting to let more emigrants into the United States at this time and how we as a country were more concerned about maintaining the quality of our own life. The author takes the side of the Jews in how difficult it was to go anywhere, not just America but other countries as well were making it harder and harder to enter as the war went on.
This book talks about the high amount of Anti-Semitism and how most Americans thought of Jews as a major threat to their national security and well being as a country. The author points a finger at our country for increasing the strict rules of emigration at a time when people needed to escape certain death.
This book takes Americas side in our decision to hold off helping the Jews explaining that we were not in the war yet, and were trying to do everything that we could to stay out of it. The author explains that even though we knew what was happening to the Jews in the concentration camps we were pretty much helpless to help them out. I disagree with the author's opinion but like I said earlier on, it is good to get sources from both sides of the argument.
This is a movie about my paper topic. It is all about the many factors that were shaping our decision whether to help out or not. It makes it seem obvious how we were more concerned about ourselves then we were in helping to save six million innocent people. Shows lots of evidence of the many papers that our president got and refused to sign to help let more Jewish children into our country. And then after he turned down that bill, he signed the same bill only for children from war torn England. Makes it look like all Americans at that time were extremely Anti-Semitic.
Brothers makes the argument that due to the photographic freedom in Vietnam, the media created what was called a Òliving room war. This is to say that carefully selected images were broadcasted to the public via televisions creating the impression that the media was fundamentally against the war. In turn this resulted in a structurally and fundamentally ignorant public, whose only contextual concern was for an onslaught of ambiguous, gory combat photos. She states that Òphotograph plays a powerful role in arenas far from the scene of hostilityÓ, emphasizing the importance of the representation of an image over the presentation of the facts.
WilliamsÕ perspective is that female photojournalists are institutionally forced to dwell in the shadows of their male counterparts. In the case of the Vietnam War although there was a relatively even distribution of male and female photographers, the photos which have become iconography are predominantly taken of and by males. At the same time, she affirms Martha RoslersÕs series of photographs in House Beautiful as taking a completely new and fresh perspective which displays a kind of symbolic patriotism.
This is a compilation by and sometimes of the 135 photographers who died while shooting in Vietnam and Indochina. It contains hundreds of images as well as captions and commentary by the photographers who created the photographs. A bulk of the images show Vietnamese soldiers interrogating, capturing, and killing Viet Cong suspects, which creates a certain thematic framing throughout the book.
This book also contains little text. It is a photographic journal of images taken in Vietnam by the author. It is the evolution of the ÒsoldierÓ from initial entry into the armed forces, to the journey to Vietnam, to becoming a soldier, than to a warriorÉthen coming home. The perspective is inherently that of an insider. It really gives a precise feel what it was like to be a kid going over to fight a war you knew nothing about, and coming out a true soldier, or not coming out at all.
This is a record of the thousands of soldiers, sailors, marines, coast guardsmen, and airmen who were assigned as combat photographers. Not only is it a visual account of the Vietnam War, it is an account of being a soldier, or some affiliate ÒlivingÓ or at least attempting to survive in Vietnam during the war. While the book is separated into several categories, which do include combat, it is for the majority exclusive of that-including narrative text and photographs-outside of the mainstream bloody combat imagery.
This is a well-noted chronology of dramatic photos taken by the author throughout the course of the Vietnam Conflict. It is different from the above sources in that it is predominantly images portraying the strife of the [Vietnamese] people with virtually no attention to military combat. Besides captions, there is no text.
Cookman notes RiboudÕs use of Òphotographic humanismÓ in his series of photos in a 1969 Look Magazine article. Instead of shooting images of soldiers or the wounded, photographers like Riboud, a member of Magnum Photos, chose to construct a sequence of images of ordinary people, in order to capture a humanistic realism. Riboud approached aesthetics in a completely different way in that he was more concerned with the emotions and the plight of the Vietnamese people.
From data taken from a study, Sherer states that there were is a correlation of framing of war photographs and public opinion about the war, grouped into three stages. In the beginning of the war, when public opinion was the strongest, imagery was that of American forces and military equipment in combat related non-combat situations. When the support was more or less divided evenly, images were mostly long shots of American Forces in life threatening situations. Finally, when the support for the war dropped off, the style of the photos were much like the beginning, but instead of American forces, images were of allied personnel and such.
Closeup images of American soldiersÕ Zippo lighters from the war. The lighters all have different engravings on them, such as ÒOnly the Heads SurviveÓ, among many other quotes, sayings, and anti-Vietnamese statements. Shot by famous photographer Larry Burrows, these images are completely different than any other from the war. They show a more personal side of the soldiers themselves, unlike other photos that only show them ambiguously, or are mugshots of the MIA.
LeroyÕs article shows the the pen and camera can sometimes be just as mighty as the ÒswordÓ in times of battle. She managed allowance into Hue in North Vietnam to document the enemy. As one of the only photographers who were granted close access to this part of Vietnam, LeroyÕs photo-essay is rather intetesting. Not only did she capture many images of civilians, she also talked with them and wrote down their accord. This article is a narrative essay of her experience.
Comparative, Representation, Analysis, Vietnam War Films, Interpretation
I. Analysis and Criticism of Vietnamese Conflict Films
- Gilbert Adair takes a look at the films in Hollywood created to represent the Vietnamese conflict. In his research, he explains how Vietnam was too multi-layered, too complicated to accurately grasp the closed plot structure of a film. He writes about the censorship, sexuality and the Vietnam War hero as they relate to films of the Vietnamese conflict.
- This collection of short essays about the films representing the Vietnamese conflict specifically takes a look at the unique relationship between the United States and Vietnam. The essays explain that the Vietnam War movie has been given an imaginative life like the literature and non-fiction representing the conflict.
- This book takes a closer look at the Vietnamese conflict and how it relates to the political, cultural and sociological specifics within the Vietnam War film narrative. This book takes a look at the war film and Vietnam, the wounded heroes, those who survived and America confronting the war itself.
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- This book is specific in its interpretations of films concerning Vietnam. Through thematic and symbolic analysis and criticisms, this book talks about the films themselves, the actorÕs portrayals, the directorÕs ideas for creating the film and the implications that these films had on society. With over 400 films listed, about 50 of these motion pictures can hold true arguments as to the reality of the war within the films.
- This book contains a collections of essays that look at the glorification of the Vietnam era through certain Americanized, Hollywood pictures. The essays talk about movies depicting one-man heroes, cultural myths, the rehabilitation of the Vietnam veterans and the politics surrounding the war.
- This collection of essays takes a close look at the literature and film of the Vietnamese conflict. More specifically, these essays cover a contemporary view of the Vietnamese conflict such as sexual violence, narratives, symbolism and the vocabularies of the experience of the war. Films that are critically examined in this text are Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter as well as the different genres of the time.
- Stephen Hunter takes a look at the violence on screen. His thoughts on war have to do with the Òcharisma of brutalityÓ and the representation of violence in Vietnam War movies. More specifically, Hunter talks about films such as Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, The Killing Fields, Casualties of War and Born on the 4th of July. His writing is concerned with the cruel nature of the war as it stands as a reflection of the war itself.
- This section of LevÕs book has to do with the film Apocalypse Now. He explains how the film expresses a complex and negative depiction of the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He states that the film contains contemporaneous issues of war and foreign policy and is a film that directly confronts the Vietnam experience.
- This book is a harsh criticism of the Vietnamese conflict. In his book, Wilson talks about the media distortions of the war, the literary distortions of the war and the Hollywood experience, which Wilson views as a de-realization of the war. His book also takes a look at Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Vietnam experience.
The Green Berets. 1968. Warner Bros. Pictures, Directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg.
The Deer Hunter. 1978. Directed by Michael Cimino.
The Boys in C Company. 1978. Directed by Sidney J. Furie.
Apocalypse Now. 1979. A Francis Coppola Film.
Uncommon Valor. 1983. Paramount Pictures, A Ted Kotcheff Film.
Purple Hearts. 1984. Directed by Sidney J. Furie.
Platoon. 1986. An Oliver Stone Film.
Full Metal Jacket. 1987. A Stanley Kubrick Film.
Good Morning Vietnam. 1987. A Barry Levinson Film.
Hamburger Hill. 1987. Directed by John Irvin.
Born on the 4th of July. 1989. Universal Pictures, An Oliver Stone Film.
Casualties of War. 1989. RCA/Columbia Pictures, A Brian DePalma Film.
Heaven and Earth. 1993. Warner Bros. Pictures, An Oliver Stone Film.
Regret to Inform. 1998. A Barbara Sonneborn Film.
Return With Honor. 2001. A Film By Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders.
III. The Auteurs and Their Analysis of Film
- This book explores the mind of Martin Scorsese and his thoughts about filmmaking and cinema and Hollywood representations of cultural and sociological myths. He also talks about his films and their representation of the Vietnamese conflict.
- This book talks about Oliver Stone and his days as a filmmaker and producer of many Hollywood films. This book contains critical analysis of Stone as a director and what he envisions in his cinematic process. Stone created many films about the Vietnamese conflict and about different aspects of the war.
- This book examines the films of Stanley Kubrick and his unorthodox style of filmmaking. As an auteur, KubrickÕs visions become symbolic distortions of reality to gain an overall ambiguous perspective of the audience. Kubrick is responsible for one of the most sought after Vietnam War films, Full Metal Jacket.
- This book underlies the film techniques of three main Vietnamese conflict film directors. The criticisms in this book about Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick surround the utter uniqueness of film theory, film narrative and the structure of the Hollywood. The book also lends specific views to the directorsÕ war films and the basis behind their creation.
- This book covers another important director in the Vietnamese conflict genre and that man is Francis Coppola. Lewis specifically delves into the heart of CoppolaÕs films and the utter uniqueness in the way they represent reality. This book explores CoppolaÕs war films and the reality basis behind their symbolism and meaning.
This text is a compilation of articles devoted to the history of conflict between the U.S. and Vietnam as well as how the American's choose to remember it. The second part of the text pays specific attention to the role of mass media, providing articles (and various view points) from three different authors (though only two prove appropriate). The first article, titled "Military Propaganda: Defense Department Films from World War II and Vietnam" by author Claudia Springer, discusses the American military's use of films to [mis] represent the war in an effort to gain recruits. These films served two purposes: To motivate and educate the troops and to rally civilian support (although most of these films were shown exclusively to the troops). These films are credited with the introduction of the term "propaganda." The second article, titled "Losing Vietnam: Covering the War in an Age of Technology" by author Rick Berg, talks about the exploitation of the Vietnam conflict by the "American culture industry." This author believes that the growing body of fiction on Vietnam is the result of America's unfortunate dependency upon the media. These individual articles will serve as evidence that the media contributed to the anti-war movement.
This author wrote about the general role of media in society with emphasis on the influence of violence in entertainment. The article ÒMass Media in America,Ó focuses on the relationship between media and people. Berger argues that media has a heavy influence on society. She gives an example of an interview with a Vietnam infantryman, demonstrating the absurdity of media coverage in the Vietnam War. The soldier compared his experience in the army to that of being an extra on a movie scene; photographers constantly surrounded them. The author investigates the reaction of the American people to the media coverage during wartime.
One of the most complete chronicles of events surrounding the protests at Columbia University in the 1960Õs, this interactive Internet source covers ALL pertaining documents, articles and online pictures. The site is split into three sections: ÒThe Long HallÓ (dating back to Õ53 and including such documents as the abolishment of the UniversityÕs SGA and the beginning of the Free Speech Movement), ÒSpring 1968Ó (the section devoted to most of the protesting activity and largely centered around the SDS), and finally ÒThe Long Road BackÓ (the aftermath of chaos in the U.S. as a result of the student protests). There are over 100 links within this site that offer more details about each event. Documents drawn out by SDS leader Mark Rudd emerge as the most valuable information available, due to its credibility as an absolute primary source.
This site is a radio recording of the report covering the 30th Anniversary of the Columbia University student protests. Narrator Amy Goodman and co-host Juan Gonzalez (leader of the 1968 Columbia protest), interview Bill Sales (leader of the Black students at Columbia in 1968), and Nancy Bieberman (another leader of the strikes held at Columbia in 1986). The group discusses the strike that took place exactly 30 years prior to this report, emphasizing influential events like the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King (which occurred exactly 2 weeks previous to the strike) and the assassination of Robert Kennedy. They converse about the major leaders of the protest and how those leaders gained support. This recording is deemed essential because three major figures of the protests in 1968 recollect their own experiences as student resisters and eventually leaders of the movement.
Though the entirety of this text will serve as background information on the Vietnam War, the sixth part encompasses the articles dedicated to the anti-war government. The editor labels society's objection to U.S. government actions as "One of the most complex and controversial elements of the Vietnam War." Similar to author Justin J. Gustainis, the editor of this text credits the organization Students for a Democratic Society, as a leading party in the social movement. Within this portion of the text, ten different examples are provided of war resistance. Each example is independent of the next, showing readers the different types of protesting in which students and left wing believers participated, including: Organized refusal to comply with U.S. military and armed forces drafts, anti-war poems, public statements issued by organizations such as SDS, published articles in popular media, etc. These anti-war protests lend further evidence towards the controversial relationship between American citizens and the media.
This text offers a detailed chronicle of events surrounding the human rights and anti-war protests of the 1960Õs. Focusing on the institutional frames of the media, Gitlin uncovers the inaccuracy of media coverage surrounding these protests. The organization, Students for a Democratic Society, is portrayed as the center point of media coverage concerning the voice of the ÒNew Left.Ó This text discusses the origin of the SDS and their role in assembling official public protests (via Columbia University and other college-based organizations) for international human rights.
Author Justin Gustainis argues that the essence of politics is human interaction. Lending support to Ralph White's interpretation of the anti-war movement, Gustainis agrees with the "Domino Theory," as a metaphor for the pattern of social up rise. Though the author includes historical background on other U.S. rhetoric, the focus remains on the anti-war movement. Acknowledged within this discussion is the impact of the organization, Students for a Democratic Society, and their role as leaders in the human rights protest. Details are given about the Port Huron Statement, adopted by the SDS at their first national convention in Port Huron, Michigan. Agreeing with Kirpatrick Sale (author of the most comprehensive history of SDS), Gustainis believes that this specific statement was "one of the most important political writings of the decade." He incorporates the ideology of youth in the 1960's and how the Port Huron Statement metaphorically tipped the first domino.
This section of Justin Gustainis' text gives a basic analysis of the media's role in the social movements of the 1960's. Three individual concepts are discussed surrounding the media's involvement: 1) B.D.'s comic, "Doonesbury," and it's depiction of the Vietnam War, 2) Various portrayals of the Vietnam War in films, specifically the changing roles and symbolism of the green beret, and 3) Controversy surrounding the film "Apocalypse Now," by Francis Ford Coppola, including an analysis of the filmmaker's numerous perspectives on the Vietnam War. The author sites multiple media-based references that indirectly affected the anti-war movement.
Provides historical background on the Vietnam War, specifically the political standpoint in Vietnam. This is another source explaining the communist party crisis, which caused political and social unrest. The author devotes an entire chapter ("Winning the War and Losing the Peace") to the aftermath of the war and how it affected both the Americans and the Vietnamese. Also included in the epilogue are comments on protests and social up rise. This section, titled "The Necessity and Risk of Resisting Injustice," gives the reasons why citizens on both sides of the conflict objected, noting the trend of minorities against institutional reform.
This text presents the history of revolution on the "other" side of the Vietnam War. This author explores social movement from the other perspective: Northern Vietnam. Included in the chronicle of the Northern Vietnam revolution is the rise of Marxist power and the eventssurround the declaration of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. This text will be useful is comparing and contrasting the social movements between the U.S. and Vietnam, giving further support towards the American student protests for human rights.
This novel provides a first-hand account of the Anti-war moment from the perspective of a student protestor. Written in first-person perspective, the author gives a detailed story on her personal development as a human rights activist. The author was involved in multiple protests, including the march in front of the White House in October of 1971. This text also includes the author's personal reaction to The New York Times and a local Michigan new station as they attempt to summarize the U.S. political situation during the Vietnam War.
This article, by author Arnaud de Brochgrave, is one of a collection of articles interpreting the two sides of the Vietnam and American conflict. The author argues that media attention chose to focus completely on the Right wing perspective of the Vietnam War, while denying the existence of the Left wing voice. Various major media sources are referred to as examples of misreporting the political situation, including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Washington Post Magazine, etc. De Brochgrave agrees with author Todd Gitlin, by partially blaming national media for stirring the social movement (through institutional frames).
This article, written by legendary civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., draws a connection between the fight for civil rights and the struggle for peace. Dr. King preaches that there is no true difference between the two causes of protest. He writes to an audience of Americans, rather than solely African Americans, about their responsibility as human beings to Òend conflict.Ó One example used by Dr. King was the collapse of the Poverty Program in America as a result of conflict in Vietnam. He argues that the Poverty Program, one of the first community activities organized without discrimination, failed because people averted their attention to the conflict overseas rather than the communityÕs needs. This document conveys the importance of participation from all Americans in the fight for peace, although minority groups such as African Americans and college-aged students received most media coverage.
Author Michael Ferber writes this article as a member of the ÒVietnam generation,Ó and as a former participant in the human rights movement. After hearing about the devastation of the Tonkin Bay Incident in 1965, Ferber and 20 thousand others joined the Students for a Democratic Society organization. The author admits that his story is much like that of many other activistsÕ of the time. He explains his reasons for joining the movement, including personal run-ins with national media. This exclusive anecdote of the social issues of the 1960Õs will be very helpful in identifying the reasons why students began to speak up and what they did to make the media listen.
This article gives a first-hand account of the Chicago protests in 1968, including how they started and where they directed the anti-war movement. Author Carl Oglesby, another member of the Students for a Democratic Society organization, credits the death of RFK to the stirring of riots in Chicago. Oglesby also recalls Tom Hayden, SDS leader at the time, quoting that Òviolence was no longer avoidable.Ó The author writes about using the media spotlight to promote their cause, but expressed that violence attracted much more enthusiasts. Like Michael FerberÕs first-hand report, OglesbyÕs article provides a further understanding of the protesters themselves and their motives for joining the anti-war movement. It also supplies another perspective of the relationship between protest participants and the media.
Although this text is based on the role of media in Britain, authors Ian Steward and Susan L. Carruthers do not exclude their thoughts on American media coverage. They analyze Òuninhibited television coverage,Ó during the Vietnam War. Particularly, the affect that this uncensored coverage had on AmericaÕs patriotism. The authors discuss the consequences of the AmericanÕs reaction: The introduction of Òmedia managementÓ in covering the Falklands and Gulf Wars. This text gives the ÒoutsiderÓ perspective of media coverage in the Vietnam War.
This site is based entirely on the Vietnam War and all associated aspects of the war. It includes the complete history of the Vietnam conflicts, as well as a collection of online publications and oral histories of Òboth those who served in and those who opposed those conflicts.Ó The site is split into 8 sections; the most resourceful section is titled ÒResource Index.Ó This section contains all the articles and documents pertaining to the war, concentrating on personal accounts by Veterans and protesters of that generation. Due to the extensiveness of this web site, it will serve as both a personal narrative and historical reference.
This site is based on the rise of violent protests in the late 60Õs as a result of media coverage. It consists of a chronicle of events surrounding the organization, Students for a Democratic Society, dating back to the founding of the organization in the spring of 1960. The site is a biography of the group and includes landmark events in the anti-war movement, like the ÒWeatherman StatementÓ made by SDS leader Mark Rudd in June of 1969. The site explains how Mark RuddÕs statement becomes a movement in itself, and Weathermen everywhere start to take part in violent protests. The chronology of events ends when the Weatherman movement goes underground, due to negative media exposure and trouble with the law. This is yet another example of the various types of protesting in which college-aged students took part.
The article from this Journal, written by Psychology Professor White from the George Washington University, talks about the importance of onlookers within a social movement. The author introduces the "Domino Theory," as a series of events leading to social up rise, creating a cause and effect chain. Also included within the text are the positive and negative approaches of U.S. foreign policy, and how they gave way to societal objection.
This is another article written by Professor White, regarding the social movement on the American side by those fighting for human rights and resisting military action in Vietnam. The word "militant" is used to refer to the "reclaimers and escalators" or the anti-war movement. The author discusses how society developed aggression over time towards U.S. political decisions and policies. In addition, Professor White explores possible communication distortions (surrounding the political situation) between Americans and Vietnamese, and the U.S. media and American protestors. He provides a detailed analysis of these misperceptions, and highlights the "pressures toward conformity and patriotism in the American media... and among the American people themselves."
In my research I have found that there is very little written on the subject of AmericaÕs framing of Cuba (surprisingly). I spend many nights in the library searching on every search engine, keeping tabs on my key words and authors with the help of the librarian but I found only four or five core studies. Using key words and authors sited in these core works I found four more but they are very obscure. They are mostly disertations. The interesting part is that out of all of these sources only a few actually look at U.S framing at the time of the revolution. So what my goal is, is to look at all the information that has been writen on the subject, and eventually do my own analysis based on the U.S news articles at the time of the revolution. I think this gives me a unique opportunity to do an analysis that know one has really done beforeÉfrom what I can tell. Anyways, here are the sources that I have collected.
Key References:
Sources related directly to subject:
I chose this article because it consentrates on the powers that the U.S and Cuba possess over broadcasting capabilities. This article also looks at the affect of the radio, a media medium that is sometimes forgotten about. This article is a reactionary piece on the dangers of a broadcasting war with Cuba. He points out the vunerability of the U.S broadcasting system pointing out such cases as the man in Florida known only as, Captain Midnight. He Òbriefly wiped Home Box Office off U.s television screens using only basic transmitting equipment.Ó
T.V Marti was in reaction to the Cuban Missle Crisis where the U.S sent out a plane that broadcast propaganda into CubaÕs T.V programming. This was tested and but never really used on a regular basis. Regan wanted to reinstitute it. He was willing to spend 40 million dollars on it but retaliation from Cuba was feared. In 1988 it was approved by the Senate but Cuba turned up its largest radio transmitters as a warning and radio station in five different southern states experience interference.
The authors focus on the negative frame that the U.S news press has used to persuade the American public. It is understandable, CubaÕs whole existance as a socialist state is in spite of the U.S. Lenart and Targ point to the Òinitial seduction of the American press,Ó when Castro called himself a ÒdemocratÓ and how it went downhill from there because Castro then aligned with the Soviets. They found also following the Bay of Pigs disaster, ÒcriticalÓ reporting of U.S policy was reserved for Òliberal and gad-fly press,Ó and when the Cuban missle crisis happened it set in stone the cold war frame for stories about Cuba ever since.
The rest of the article talks about the frames used from 1982-1990. Refugee stories seemed to dominate the New York Times, along with stories about Cuba domestically. This is somewhat out of the range I wanted to concentrate on but still will help because there is little info on this subject. ÒResearch focusing on the portrayal of the Cuban revolution in the U.S media is scarceÓ (Lenart and Targ, p.345).
This article looks at the media stance on Cuba that Òbad news is good news.Ó They show how in fact good news about Cuba was systematically ignored. They found a statistic that out of 331 stories about Cuba the press, in 1986, only 10% didnÕt Òdisparage Cuba.Ó In 1986 there were a significant amount of stories that linked Cuba to the Soviets. This article mainly focuses on the news in 1986 so I can take some general themes from it.
This article looks just at the numbers of the news stories of Cuba in the 80Õs. They used data from ÒTropical GulagÓ and others to come up with three full pages of data and charts that convey the paticularities of the U.S news media.
Sources related directly to subject: On loan 1-2 weeks until arrival (disertations,papers):
Sources on general topic:
This sources talks about the power of the U.S news to be broadcast all over the world (through the Voice of America). This source says that over 20 million people tune in to American propaganda all over the world. What interested me most was that in the times of Cold War the VOA shifted its tageted audience to Eastern Europe and the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
This is some more general source information. This mostly talks about the U.S mediaÕs foreign policy. Hess argues that the media in-fact doesnÕt cover foreign media as much as it should. Hess blames editors and media in general and gives lots and lots of statistics.
Sources from Cuban perspective (directly related to topic):
This is one of the more interesting pieces I have because it is an interview with a former Cuban U.N diplomat. In this interview he talks about the U.S portrayal of Cuba from a different perspective altogether. He sees things from the otherside. ItÕs a very unique posistion and he has amazing things to say. And this provides mostly a comparison piece to the news articles in the U.S. I will be able to see contradictions and be able to understand the frame more thoroughly than most sociological studies done so far because this work is not availible in the U.S.
This another interesting piece for the same reasons above. It looks at the U.S media from a different perspective. This book is a little more bias than the one above, so I will have to be careful with it. But it does have very interesting information I can use as a comparison piece and also a general information piece.
Research Thesis: The medias portrayal of student protests during Vietnam. (1961-1970)
This book discusses different attitudes by different journalists about student protests on college campuses. The contents include topics of pro-war and anti-draft beliefs and the building of the Student Libertarian Movement (1968-1972). Also this book contains articles on different movements such as the nonviolent anti- Vietnam War Protests at Iowa State University, Ball State University, and the Southern Opposition to the Vietnam War. Other topics discussed are student revolt movies of the Vietnam era, American schisms and after war affects and beliefs on American attitudes.
This reference discusses concepts from sociology of news relating to the sociology of social movements. Also mentions hoe social movements are covered in different stages such as journalistsÕ preferences for coverage of concrete evidence, the need for centralized sources for reporters, coverage by general assignment or specialized reporters, and the amount of resources a news organization makes to a cover story. The model suggests how these factors can affect and help the growth of the movement and the movementÕs success.
The appearance of President Nixon on May 28, 1970 at the Eats Tennessee Billy Graham Crusade shows the conflicts that can occur by the use of politics, religion and media. The event occurred during widespread student protests over NixonÕs policy in Vietnam and a small group of students demonstrated against Nixon at the Billy Graham Crusade. This event brought conflicts of freedom of religion and freedom of expression. Also conflicts between political and evangelical attitudes and representation of the presidency and of protest are mentioned.
In 1969 a questionnaire study sent to 640 psychologists, economicalists, social scientists and anthropologists who had signed one of the series of large newspaper published petitions protesting US policies in Vietnam. They were asked a number of questions involving their opinions of the war and the protests students were participating around them. Despite the similarity views regarding the war, a large majority of the social scientists petitioners were critical of campus demonstrations and of student demonstrators.
This journal article introduces factors of decisions in government that directly influence the flow of news. Also multiple peace research and movements of protests are discussed to demonstrate the ability of such events to become a major part of news. Protests and social movements directly effect the distribution of news to the public helping form public opinion.
In this journal article, the publicÕs reactions of student protests are shown. The public generally was concerned, yet the majority believed in the degree of what these protests were representing. In general the public is concerned and at most outraged with US policy.
This book makes reference to flag burning as a means of political protest. During Vietnam, the desecration of the flag became representative of a general protests against Òthe establishment,Ó made by students. These kinds of protests lead to moral panic to the general public. The importance of mass media is also discussed in the components of moral panic and the use of protecting the flag that caused public chaos.
This book is a detailed and clear representation of what occurred in Grenada in 1983. It is from an American point of view that is very good at not favoring any particular side, but gives simply the logistics of the event. Adkin does a very good job of being clear and unopinionated. He writes with great knowledge of the event starting from the beginning of October, straight through until the U.S. pulled out in December.
In this book, Beck covers the more political view of the Grenada invasion. Unlike Adkins, this writing is a little more opinionated. It also covers the point of view of the government on the events in Grenada. He writes about how the law and politics effected what occurred, and how it had a hand in it from the beginning. He then goes into detail explaining how foreign policy plays into it, and gives the reader a clear explanation of foreign policy.
Burrowes describes the very end of the Grenada invasion, and what it was like when the worst part of the invasion was over. He has a slightly negative perspective, but still explains very clearly to the reader what caused the event to come to an end, and how both sides handled it.
This website gives a very informational summary of what the Pentagonâs rules are concerning the media and conflicts. In the past there has been many concerns with reporters and photographers being to close to conflict, and whose responsibility it was to keep them safe. There was great conflict over what should be done, and how they went about it. This article clearly explains how it was gone about and what conclusions were reached. The reason I am looking at this article is to give myself a better background on what it is like to be a journalist covering such conflicts, and why their article may turn out as they do.
While this text does not touch on the Grenada Invasion it gives a good summary of textual analysis, and the proper way to go about reading an article that you are planning to analyze. It describes in detail discourse analysis, and how to go about it, what to look for, and how to present it. This is important to my paper considering this is exactly what I will be doing to the New York times articles, and the European Newspapers articles.
New York Times articles,
October 26, 1983-December 20, 1983.
European Newspaper Articles
October 26, 1983-July 4, 1984
At the Lexis Nexis website I found a number of articles written about the Grenada invasion in European newspapers, and in the New York Times. I am going to choose probably 5 articles from each, and do a textual analysis of them in order to compare and contrast how the invasion is presented in each.
The authors collected letters to the editor of five New England newspapers (1,655 total) and, by comparing the concerns expressed in them with statistical data, analyze and develop hypothetical contrasts in crime salience.
The authors explore the changing methods of journalistsÕ coverage styles. They cite several high-profile cases (O.J., Menendez, Rodney King, Lewinsky) to develop their argument that Journalists are sensationalizing and spinning the facts to produce Òtabloid justice.Ó They discuss how news has subsided from what is supposed to be information gathering into entertainment. IÕve barely perused this book but unfortunately it seems itself to be so devoid of useful analysis that it could be entertainment itself. But there are a couple chapters which explore the evolving relationship of public opinion and justice.
This book is not yet published.
The authors, Stober, a Pulitzer winner who writes for the San Jose Mercury-News, and Hoffman, from the Albuquerque Journal, attempt to draw conclusions and make judgements about the gaps in what is known about the case of Wen Ho Lee. They do this in an investigative manner, starting with a biography of Lee beginning in his childhood (in Taiwan) and continuing through his college years and up to his tumultuous engineering career in the U.S. The authors then explore the convoluted, abrasive relationships between politicians, government investigators and media organizations covering the case. This book tries admirably to develop and explore alternate hypotheses where information is scarce, and covers a lot of new ground in the process.