| | | Document Type | : | Latin Dissertation | | Language of Document | : | English | | Record Number | : | 53934 | | Doc. No | : | TL23888 | | Call number | : | EP21671 | | Main Entry | : | Karen L. Quinn | | Title & Author | : | Differences between electronic media coverage of the Vietnam War and of Operation Iraqi FreedomKaren L. Quinn | | College | : | Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | | Date | : | 2006 | | Degree | : | M.S. | | student score | : | 2006 | | Page No | : | 84 | | Abstract | : | In the 1960's the electronic media were in an infancy stage for covering news from Vietnam. During the more recent Iraqi Conflict of 2003 the electronic media has had far more advanced capabilities for war coverage that have altered the way we view war. This thesis explores the changes that have occurred over a 36-year period in the way the media covers war. A content analysis was conducted of war news stories from the months of August 1968 and August 2004 involving the three major television networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. Abstracts for war stories during this period were analyzed and coded in thirteen categories. Randomly selected news stories were viewed for more in-depth analysis and special broadcasts on media and war were viewed. An interview was conducted with Sergeant 1st Class David Zerbe, a member of the Coalition Press Information Center, who was directly involved in supervising the embedding process in Kuwait and Iraq in 2004. Analysis of the data yielded several significant findings. Three main areas of impact were identified: timing, format of newscasts, and content of war related stories. Timing was studied in relationship to when an event occurred compared to when it was reported. Format contained two sub-categories: location of a news story and source of the news story. Location is defined as origin of the news story: studio, field, or both. The source of a news story is defined as anchor, field reporter, or a combination of both. Content contained two sub-categories: the use of images in a story and the mention of casualties or wounded. In addition to these areas, the researcher also explored technological development. When comparing news stories from 1968 to 2004 the use of images within the story nearly quadrupled. The location and source of the story reversed completely from 1968 when roughly 30% of the newscasts originated in the field to 2004 when nearly 70% of the stories originated in the field. The researcher attributes both of these changes to advancements in technology. Another reversal occurred in the area of a news story mentioning casualties or wounded. In 1968 nearly 65% of the stories mentioned casualties or wounded and 35% did not. These figures for 2004 were 36% contained casualties or wounded and 63% did not. The researcher attributes this change to government or military control and network policies pertaining to the use of such information. Additional findings in the areas of day of the week in which war stories aired and number of stories carried by each network were also identified. The findings for day of the week in which stories aired were very significant but the researcher was unable to attribute them to any particular cause. The total number of war related stories for the networks studied nearly doubled from 1968 to 2004. This can be attributed to several factors: changes in format, advancements in technology, and modifications to government and network policies. | | Subject | : | Communication and the arts; Mass media; 0708:Mass media | | Added Entry | : | Kutztown University of Pennsylvania |
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