United States Needs Mass Media

Before going to war in Iraq several years ago, the people at large in the United States were prepared psychologically for war through the mass-media every day for about a year. Whenever there was "news" on the television, there were indications that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The United States has about 10,000 weapons of mass destruction, which must not be as newsworthy as speculation about other nations.

The case of Iraq makes clear that for the people at large to have any influence on international policy or decision-making in the United States, the people must reclaim the mass-media to educate the public and to communicate information and ideas instead of accepting rumors as truth and acting without knowledge - which is acting out of ignorance, much more dangerous for a nation than a single person.

While still fighting in Afghanistan, almost 300 million people in the United States were exposed to the idea and prospect of war with Iraq - war with Iraq it was. The psychological preparation in the United States was extensive and disturbing. The simple exposure, repetition, and increasing frequency of the idea of a dangerous Iraq convinced some. Few people exposed to the mass-media could have been excluded from the "concerns" of the administration.

The issue of war with Iraq was presented as a high-profile court-case in which there appeared to be two sides in the dispute for and against war. These two sides seemed incompatible. President Bush had already stated, "You are for us - or against us." The only judge in the matter appeared to be the administration, but what happened to the people, and what happened to the mass-media?

As it turned out, only the prosecution in the case for the war was able to present its case, and the defense (against the war) was nowhere to be found. This is not because the defense did not exist - it is because the defense was not portrayed in the mass-media except in a derogatory and degrading fashion. People who exercised their rights to protest were portrayed as "traitors" and "dissenters".