War and TelevisionThrough the alternately funny and tragic story of the struggle with an assortment of media executives, retired soldiers, bureaucrats from both Koreas and various public figures (including a hilarious account of an interview with Henry Kissinger), Cumings shows how the film was shaped by media managers on both sides of the Atlantic to conform to prevailing views of a war that few in the United States or Britain wish to remember with anything approaching accuracy. Today there is no shortage of prognostications - grim or otherwise - on the role of television. But there are few serious studies of the medium's everyday operations, let alone of its place in politics and warfare. With insight and clarity, Bruce Cumings provides that much-needed analysis. This is a vital book for those who want to understand how, and for whom, television works, and a sobering one for anyone who believes the medium can be used for radical ends. |
Contents
What is Television? | 19 |
Documentary and Docudrama | 49 |
A Television War? | 83 |
The Gulf War | 103 |
The Unknown War | 129 |
We Meet Rosa Kleb in Beijing | 173 |
Filming the Last Communists | 189 |
The Politics of The Unknown War | 231 |
Epilogue | 269 |
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academic Accuracy in Media American asked audience Austin Hoyt Beijing bias bombs Bruce Cumings called camera China Chinese communist Conant connotation consensus crew culture docudrama documentary documents enemy experience facts film filmmaker footage guerrilla Gulf Gulf War happened historian I.F. Stone Ibid images interview Iraqi Japanese Jon Halliday journalists judgement Kim Il Sung knew Korean War later liberal look McGhee medium memory military National never Nietzsche North Korean objective officer P'yôngyang patriotic peasants Pentagon perhaps Phillip Whitehead picture point of view politics postmodern produced Reagan reporters Richard Stilwell Rosenthal Rusk Saddam screen script seminar Seoul soundbites South Stilwell's story television's Thames Television things thought told truth victory Vietnam Vietnam War Vietnamese viewer visa wanted Washington watch WGBH WGBH's wrote York