Question: Is the media responsible for the war in Iraq?
Philippe Cayla: Certainly it was. I don’t remember how long it lasted, but CNN titled it “War on Terror” for a while. I suppose they don’t do it anymore now, but it lasted at least for one year, I think. And then there’s the fact that there is war on terror. It’s simple wording. Everybody understands what it is, but it creates the idea that you have to wage war in order to solve the terrorist problem, which is not conspicuous to say the least. And that there is no other possibility that the … have no way … . So it’s certainly created in the U.S. the feeling that war was the only solution. And after that, of course, they had war. It was easy for … to wage war, since everybody thought they had to make war. Because an alternative was not presented, so I think it is the responsibility of media to … possibilities and … the one that maybe they would like, or they think would be good. And there was at the time – and I don’t know if it is the case now – a lack of alternatives in media coverage in the U.S. And I think if I can preach from my perch, your news presents such alternatives. In some way, … the U.S. And we are the only international news channel other than the U.S. Because the CNN you have is not CNN International. As far as I know, it’s CNN National, CNN U.S. And Fox News is very national. Euro News is the only international news channel. And so we hope we … We hope we have some audience in the U.S. in the future as well.
Recorded on: 7/2/07
Discuss
Colin Evans on January 9, 2008, 10:00 AM
Congress committed the US to war, not the media, not the man in the street. I would like to think that it was after a period of debate on the evidence at hand. that it was the appropriate response to events. (The evidence at hand may well have been faulty but that is a different issue).
Colin Evans on January 9, 2008, 3:00 PM
Congress committed the US to war, not the media, not the man in the street. I would like to think that it was after a period of debate on the evidence at hand. that it was the appropriate response to events. (The evidence at hand may well have been faulty but that is a different issue).
Joe M on January 24, 2008, 3:40 PM
The evidence at hand is provided by the media. That is exactly the point, and it is the reason the founders took great care to ensure that the press would be free and independent. The media's job is to keep government in check by (among other things) fact-checking their assertions. The founders were quite concerned, and rightly so, about the media becoming an outlet for government propaganda. Congress responds to the will of the people, and the people are informed by the media. The media dropped the ball on providing us with the information necessary to exert our political will in the form of opposing the war before it was too late. You have missed the point entirely.
Joe M on January 24, 2008, 8:40 PM
The evidence at hand is provided by the media. That is exactly the point, and it is the reason the founders took great care to ensure that the press would be free and independent. The media’s job is to keep government in check by (among other things) fact-checking their assertions. The founders were quite concerned, and rightly so, about the media becoming an outlet for government propaganda. Congress responds to the will of the people, and the people are informed by the media. The media dropped the ball on providing us with the information necessary to exert our political will in the form of opposing the war before it was too late. You have missed the point entirely.
Inigo Amescua on January 26, 2008, 4:52 AM
No, I don't think is entirely responsible but it is true that they, in the USA, mostly forgot the commitment to "to keep government in check by (among other things) fact-checking their assertions" as Tospik said. No mass destruction weapons, no peace, no democracy, no freedom… no Afghanistan either… no Osama, no stability… "They Thought They Were Free"… the spiral of silence, in this case the spiral of blindness and paranoia…
Inigo Amescua on January 26, 2008, 9:52 AM
No, I don’t think is entirely responsible but it is true that they, in the USA, mostly forgot the commitment to “to keep government in check by (among other things) fact-checking their assertions” as Tospik said. No mass destruction weapons, no peace, no democracy, no freedom… no Afghanistan either… no Osama, no stability… “They Thought They Were Free”… the spiral of silence, in this case the spiral of blindness and paranoia…
Meredith W on January 31, 2008, 2:40 PM
Actually, cjfevans, Congress authorized the President to invade Iraq with the proviso that other options were to be exhausted, which they were not… But the fact is that the media sold the war to the American people. And they did so at the expense of their own credibility. True, US news consumers failed to think as critically as they should have (as usual), but being on the receiving end of bad information is hardly the same as being in the middle of it. Yes. The media shares much of the responsibility.
Meredith W on January 31, 2008, 2:40 PM
Actually, cjfevans, Congress authorized the President to invade Iraq with the proviso that other options were to be exhausted, which they were not… But the fact is that the media sold the war to the American people. And they did so at the expense of their own credibility. True, US news consumers failed to think as critically as they should have (as usual), but being on the receiving end of bad information is hardly the same as being in the middle of it. Yes. The media shares much of the responsibility.
Meredith W on January 31, 2008, 7:40 PM
Actually, cjfevans, Congress authorized the President to invade Iraq with the proviso that other options were to be exhausted, which they were not… But the fact is that the media sold the war to the American people. And they did so at the expense of their own credibility. True, US news consumers failed to think as critically as they should have (as usual), but being on the receiving end of bad information is hardly the same as being in the middle of it. Yes. The media shares much of the responsibility.
Meredith W on January 31, 2008, 7:40 PM
Actually, cjfevans, Congress authorized the President to invade Iraq with the proviso that other options were to be exhausted, which they were not… But the fact is that the media sold the war to the American people. And they did so at the expense of their own credibility. True, US news consumers failed to think as critically as they should have (as usual), but being on the receiving end of bad information is hardly the same as being in the middle of it. Yes. The media shares much of the responsibility.
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