Occupation journalism: a comparison between American news coverage of Iraq and Japan

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Summarize

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content OCCUPATION JOURNALISM:
A COMPARISON BETWEEN AMERICAN NEWS COVERAGE OF IRAQ AND
JAPAN
by
Scott Huthmacher
A Professional Project Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(JOURNALISM)
May 2009
Copyright 2009 Scott Huthmacher
Table of Contents
Abstract iii
Introduction 1
The Analogy between Iraq and Japan 2
Coverage of new Constitutions 5
Education 7
The economy 9
Security 12
U.S. Public Opinion 15
Making Sense of the World 17
ii
Abstract
The occupation of Japan provides a historical analogy for comparing coverage of
the contemporary occupation of Iraq. By comparing news stories from the Los Angeles
Times about each occupation, the influence of New Journalism and human interest
coverage in the later occupation is illustrated and its effects on the coverage examined.
This paper focuses on five general story themes (new constitutions, the economy,
education, security, and American public opinion) to contrast reports from each country,
while also highlighting the literary and narrative elements used in each time period.
iii
War journalism has always provided ample coverage of invasion and
reconstruction, the two recurring stories generated by conflict. Some of the strongest and
most compelling journalism is produced while covering war, occupation, and rebuilding.
Readers place more faith in journalists during conflicts. After the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, the American public's approval of journalists spiked to nearly 90
percent, according to a Pew Research Center study.
1
However, reports on the occupation
of Iraq have not maintained the rigorous, fact-oriented style that usually characterizes
news reports about war. Journalists have avoided broad illustrations of efforts to rebuild
Iraq, focusing instead on human interest stories about disenfranchised Iraqis and
American casualties. “[Coverage of post-war Iraq devoted] considerably more attention
to American casualties than to the complex postwar political challenges and the
occasional signs of progress in Iraq and the rest of the region.”
2
This criticism is not
unique to the present conflict. Dating back to the earliest reported battles, war coverage
has been characterized by incomplete information. In earlier times, the media lacked the
technology to report wars completely or promptly. With the advent of technological
means to gather and transmit information more rapidly, the American military began to
take a more adversarial relationship to the press. While these changes in technology and
relations with the military have had a role in shaping coverage of the occupation of Iraq,
other factors have also influenced stories on this conflict.
1 Stephen Hess and Marvin Kalb, The Media and the War on Terrorism. 2003. p. 250-251
2 Philip Seib, How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War. 2004. p. 140.
1
The Analogy between Iraq and Japan
A comparison between coverage of the occupation of Japan and coverage of the
occupation of Iraq will demonstrate what has changed in news stories about the latter
events. Because of the evolving nature of journalism and story-telling techniques,
coverage of the reconstruction of Iraq has become less comprehensible to readers and
journalists. Admittedly, this is due in part to differences between the political situations
in each country. After World War II, there was a strong narrative background of good
versus evil underpinning the occupation. In Iraq, conflicts between different factions
have muddled coverage. The average reader cannot keep track of which faction the U.S.
supports, let alone which group has the moral authority in a given disagreement. Behind
this, however, differences in the presentation of news stories further confuse coverage of
reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The increased use of narrative techniques places more
emphasis on the role of individuals in the occupation, and thus less attention is directed
towards a cohesive understanding of events as a whole.
This trend towards a more literary form of news reporting can be traced back to
the “New Journalism” of the 1960s. At the time, well-known fiction writers such as Tom
Wolfe and Norman Mailer began writing non-fiction accounts of current events, bringing
literary techniques from fiction writing with them. Barry Siegel, director of the Literary
Journalism program at the University of California, Irvine, described this transition as a
response to current events. “The most striking thing is that the New Journalism came out
of a context: it was the 60s and it was a reaction to the 60s. Many of the writers of the
New Journalism movement were fiction writers, who looked out at what was happening
in the 60s... and found it a rich subject. The idea of writing non-fiction seemed a lot more
2
compelling than writing fiction at the time.”
3
This trend towards using narrative techniques in journalism has influenced
subsequent news writing, especially in the coverage of wars and reconstruction. To be
sure, exceptions to this tendency exist, such as coverage of the conflict in the former
Yugoslavian provinces in the 1990s. While stories about that war were presented in a
more straightforward, “hard news” style, news reports of other conflicts have
predominantly followed the formula of New Journalism. By comparing stories about
Iraq, which exemplify this trend, with stories about Japan, which predated this
movement, this paper will demonstrate differences in the kind of stories that can be told
with each set of journalistic tools.
This discussion will focus primarily on coverage of both occupation efforts in The
Los Angeles Times. As a major metropolitan newspaper with significant resources for
international reporting, the Times serves as a fair barometer for high quality reporting
nationwide. Though it could be argued that this paper's coverage skews more liberal than
many other publications, the majority of newspapers with similar market penetration and
resources exhibit similar biases. For this purpose, the Times can be considered
representative of the coverage of both occupation efforts. Comparing a selection of 10
stories from each occupation, this report will illustrate key differences in the content and
presentation of new reports on each reconstruction effort.
A brief comparison between both reconstruction efforts further demonstrates the
analogy between the two. After World War II, the U.S.-led occupation of Japan lasted
for seven years, from 1945 to 1952. The reconstruction efforts encompassed both
3 Interview, 2/20/2009
3
political and economic rebuilding, though the focus in Japan was on instituting a
democratic political system. The original intent of economic reconstruction was to
rebuild Japan into a primarily agrarian economy with limited industrial development,
though this was later changed when the U.S. decided to use Japan as a buffer against the
expansion of communism in Asia.
4
The U.S. occupation, led by General Douglas
MacArthur, drafted a constitution for Japan that was later ratified by the Diet, Japan's
parliamentary body. Reconstruction efforts in Japan ended abruptly when the war in
Korea became America's primary foreign policy concern in the region.
Iraq has been occupied by a U.S.-led coalition since the end of large-scale
military operations in 2003. While reconstruction efforts in Iraq have largely focused on
rebuilding oil production capabilities, the U.S. has also attempted to institute a
democratic government there. After several revisions, a democratic constitution drafted
with the help of the U.S. was approved by Iraq's parliament. Internal security concerns
have played a larger role in Iraq due to continued guerrilla conflicts in areas outside the
major cities. In Japan, the constitutional renunciation of military aggression placed more
emphasis on external security. It seems likely that U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will also be
motivated by changing military and foreign relations priorities in the American
government, though it remains to be seen whether this action will be done as prematurely
as it was in Japan.
Iraq has received much more postwar media exposure than Japan did following
the Second World War. This results from differing characteristics of the wars preceding
each occupation. The prolonged war in the Pacific and the use of atomic bombs on
4 Ian Buruma, Inventing Japan. 2003. p. 150
4
Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the Japanese people's will to fight. The Japanese
made no concerted effort to violently resist the occupation because the closing chapters
of the war had ground down their martial spirit. Conversely, the much briefer invasion of
Iraq left civilians mostly unharmed. The pitched battles of the latter conflict were
completed in a matter of months, not years. While this resulted in fewer American
casualties at first, the Iraqi people retained their will to repel the invading forces.
Organized and guerrilla insurrections sprung up and continued the fighting long after
President George W. Bush and the American forces had officially declared victory.
While both occupations were carried out by military personnel, in Iraq these soldiers have
faced outright hostilities. Thus, coverage of the occupation of Iraq has appeared more
prominently in the news, precisely because the continuing violence affects the American
people more directly than political and economic reconstruction efforts.
To compare and contrast coverage of both occupation efforts, it is necessary to
focus on similar aspects of each reconstruction. This paper will focus on the following
parts of the rebuilding efforts: drafting a constitution, educational reform, economic
revitalization, security, and American public opinion about each occupation generally.
Coverage of new Constitutions
Stories on the drafting of each nation's constitution are a good example of the
differing use of narrative elements between the two reconstruction efforts. Reports on the
Japanese constitution are primarily about the document and the policies therein. In Iraq,
journalists first focused on the opinion of Iraqi voters towards the constitution before
delving into specific matters of the document and policies. Some stories, such as this
5
selection from the Times in 2005, skirt almost the entire content of the constitution. This
story comes closest to discussing the text of the constitution in the lines: “Many Sunni
Arabs had expressed concerns that the proposed constitution opened the door for the
eventual secession by the predominately Shiite south or the largely Kurdish north.”
5
This
single sentence of policy in a 1,200-word article tells readers very little about the contents
of the proposed constitution. Contrast this with the following, from the Times of March
10, 1945. The second paragraph dives immediately into policies of the new Japanese
constitution, starting “There seems to be a good deal of bold experiment in the
instrument, including the prohibition of any armed force and the renunciation of war, but
most particularly in the institution of an all-powerful parliament without checks and
balances.”
6
The second example provides a clearer and more direct explanation of the
most important parts of the Japanese constitution. While neither news story is
overflowing with details, the report from Iraq fails to convey the sense of the proposed
constitution.
The quotations used in each article show a similar contrast. In the articles about
Japan, no Japanese are quoted directly. The articles instead use selections from the text
of the constitution to convey the Japanese mindset. For example, in an article published
November 10, 1946: “The preamble to the constitution expresses the profound and
sudden revolution in a few words: 'We do proclaim that sovereignty rests in the people.''
7
Though this is likely due in part to logistical difficulties (such as lack of correspondents
in Japan), the use of such quotations appears to be primarily a deliberate choice. Articles
5 Los Angeles Times, “Referendum in Iraq”, October 16, 2005. p. A11
6 Los Angeles Times, “Bold Experiment in New Nip Constitution”, March 10, 1945. p. A4
7 Los Angeles Times, “The Japanese Revolution”, November 10, 1946. p. A4
6
on the Iraqi constitution quote liberally from Iraqi citizens, providing a firsthand
perspective on the document. “'I will vote no because I am against sectarianism,' said
Hareth Abdul Kareem, a 46-year-old merchant. 'Iraq should be one nation. Sunni, or
Shiite or Kurd – we are all Iraqis.'”
8
This quotation shows disagreement among Iraqis on
the quality and character of the new constitution. Such insight would be difficult to
achieve by merely quoting the document in question. However, the reader's
understanding of the constitution remains incomplete. While neither approach is perfect,
each does a better job at conveying a certain attitude among the occupied people.
Quoting directly from the document implies near universal agreement with its articles,
while quoting citizens of the occupied county who disagree with the constitution suggests
disagreement and continued debate. In each case, the technique chosen appears to reflect
the actual opinion of the people in question, but this is likely more due to chance than
design.
Education
Stories about educational reform show similar distinctions. During the
reconstruction of Japan, news reports focused mostly on the actions of the occupying
U.S. forces towards reforming Japan's school system. Specifically, reporters relayed the
actions of Gen. MacArthur, the commander of the occupation and reconstruction of
Japan. MacArthur had far-reaching powers over rebuilding efforts, and quoting him was
equivalent to quoting the official U.S. government stance on a subject during most of the
Allied occupation. In an article on the banning of Japanese textbooks shortly after the
8 Los Angeles Times, “Referendum in Iraq”, October 16, 2005. p. A11
7
start of the occupation, the Times presents the following as official policy: “'The order
was issued,' MacArthur said, 'inasmuch as the Japanese government has used education
to inculcate militaristic and ultra-nationalist ideologies which have been inextricably
interwoven into certain textbooks imposed upon students.'”
9
This quotation shows the
occupation forces taking a more active role in educational reform than in the later
occupation of Iraq. In Iraq, readers are presented with a picture of homegrown
educational reform, helped along by international aid funds. “[The] Al Mamoon [school]
itself is a test. It is among 13 new private schools that opened [in Baghdad] in the fall,
the first of their kind since Saddam Hussein nationalized the education system three
decades ago.”
10
The latter story directs readers' attention to two of these schools, setting
them up as an example of reforms taking place across Iraq. Again, reports on Iraq
highlight the specific over the general, while reports on education in Japan focus on
general, nationwide reforms. However, unlike stories on the countries' respective
constitutions, the articles from Iraq are more optimistic this time. This reveals a new
layer of implications in the personalization of coverage, which becomes clearer when
quotations from articles on this topic are compared.
Narrative coverage that focuses on human interests is intended to induce an
emotional response in the audience. However, such coverage also introduces bias into
reports, or at least brings a reader's subconscious biases to the surface. For example, this
quotation from the February 8, 2005, Times presents an Iraqi student in a new private
school as a sympathetic figure. “Eighth-grader Haky Wisam, 15, said he liked the
school's whitewashed, air-conditioned classrooms and smaller classes... 'I was in a bad
9 Los Angeles Times, “Jap Textbooks Curbed by MacArthur Order”, January 1, 1946. p. 4
10 Los Angeles Times “A Handful of Educators Testing Private Schools”, February 8, 2005. p. A5
8
school,' said Haky, who wants to pursue a career in engineering. 'The teachers used to
take money for tutoring all the time. This is better in everything.'”
11
There are no such
emphatic figures in coverage of education reform in Japan. In the story on textbook
reform, the two characters presented are the Japanese Ministry of Education and Gen.
MacArthur. It is difficult to identify with anyone in the following quotation from the
January 1, 1946 Times. “The Ministry of Education was directed to collect the textbooks
and manuals throughout Japan by April 1.”
12
The latter coverage conveys more
information, but lacks a compelling character to draw the audience's attention.
The economy
Economic revitalization proceeded in diverging directions in each occupation.
Though both concentrated at first on subsistence needs (e.g. food, water, sanitation,
utilities), later reconstruction efforts were designed to place each nation into a certain role
in the global economy. In Iraq, rebuilding industrial infrastructure, such as oil refineries,
destroyed in the conflict, has been the top priority. The occupation has sought to return
Iraq to a state of relative economic independence, fueled by the country's abundant oil
reserves. In Japan, occupying forces sought to reduce Japanese industrial output to a
level sufficient to provide for most domestic needs, leaving the country dependent on
imports of a number of finished goods. This was intended to prevent Japan from having
the capacity to rebuild its military, and to use the nation as a barrier against Communist
expansion in Asia. After the initial period of providing food aid to prevent widespread
starvation, economic reconstruction in Japan received less coverage in the Times. The
11 ibid
12 Los Angeles Times, “Jap Textbooks Curbed by MacArthur Order”, January 1, 1946. p. 4
9
paper's attention shifted to the democratic process in that country, presenting
developments in the latter area as the nation's route to reentering the international
community. The situation is reversed in Iraq, whose political stability appears to be
inextricably linked to its economic health. A large portion of sectarian violence there
appears to center around oil profits, and which group should receive the benefits of the
exploitation of this resource.
News reports on the economy of these nations can be divided into two groups:
those regarding industrial output and those regarding unemployment. Throughout the
occupation periods, both countries have faced widespread unemployment. The removal
of industrial capacity in Japan was reported primarily in figures, without specific
concentration on any major industries. “While much of Japan's industry was not so badly
damaged by bombing as to be incapable of rehabilitation, it is planned to remove about
45 per cent of her industrial plant for reparations to China, Korea, the Philippines and
other regions ravaged by the Jap army... Her steel production will be down to
approximately 2,500,000 tons, or well below the prewar average of about 3,000,000 tons,
from a wartime production which reached 11,000,000 tons.”
13
The specific concern was
for dismantling the military industrial complex.
By comparison, in Iraq, reports about industrial reconstruction focus specifically
on oil production and refining, such as the following from a story about renovating a
shuttered oil refinery. “With the world's second-largest oil reserves, Iraq is looking at an
economic future that's inextricably linked to questions of how to extract the substance
13 Los Angeles Times, “Japan's Reduction to a Subsistence Level Proceeding”, December 9, 1945. p. A4
10
from the earth, how to exploit demand and how to divide the profit and other benefits...
If [the] K-3 [refinery] can be revived, perhaps with the help of U.S. contractors, it could
provide energy and income for [the] Anbar [province] and decrease the sense of
alienation many feel toward the central government in Baghdad.”
14
In this story, the
refinery plays a central role, acting as both a character and as an archetype for the
possibilities of rebuilding Iraq. While the article describes the importance of this plant
and the oil industry to the reconstruction, figures such as the oil output of the refinery or
Iraq in general are avoided. While this makes the story simpler to understand, it also
glosses over the question of how far rebuilding has progressed, and how much more work
is needed until Iraq is economically independent. Conversely, while the article on Japan
illustrates the big picture well, the figures are practically meaningless without some
example of how reduced industrial capacity affects Japanese citizens. To some degree,
though, this is shown in stories about rampant postwar unemployment there.
The articles about unemployment in Japan demonstrate something similar to the
kind of human interest coverage seen in stories about Iraq. In a November 1945 report
on unemployment, the Times used literary techniques to characterize the response of
Japanese citizens to unemployment in the face of the looming winter. “In the cities, most
of the 10,000,000 persons made homeless by the incendiary air raids are desperately in
need of food, clothing and shelter. The wintry blasts that are already howling down the
Ginza make these people – with 6,000,000 of their number unemployed – bitter against
the well-fed farmers and their bursting granaries.”
15
The reader can practically feel the
cold biting into the unemployed masses on Japan's streets while reading these lines, and a
14 Los Angeles Times, “Fixing Iraq, and a refinery”, March 10, 2008. p. C1
15 Los Angeles Times, “Japan's Plight”, November 23, 1945. p. A4
11
sense of sympathy is evoked. However, even though the correspondent who wrote that
story was in Japan, no Japanese people were quoted in that article. In reports on
unemployment in Iraq, citizens of Iraq speak about the situation in their own words.
“Every day, laborers crowd downtown Tayaran Square, the scene of nine bombings in the
last three years... But with unemployment as high as 60%, families survive on the jobs
men find here – jobs that pay an average of $10 a day... 'The lucky ones are well off if
they had one or two days' work during the last two weeks,' said Hussein Abdul Jabbar,
37, a carpenter who came to the square with his brother last week.”
16
The reader can
sense the desperation behind this carpenter's words, a desperation that echoes the
sentiments of the unemployed who risk their lives to find work. This type of story
effectively uses human interest coverage to convey the feelings of the occupied citizenry.
Security
The security situations in each occupied nation are as different as the economic
plans for each. In Iraq, internal security has been a priority. Continued sectarian violence
has threatened the political and economic stability of the country. Active U.S. military
units have engaged opposing militias across the country, usually with the assistance of
the Iraqi military. However, American soldiers have taken the lead in most operations to
date. “An Iraqi soldier named Hossam... listed examples of how he still relied on the
American [soldiers]. Only two days earlier, his Humvee had a flat tire in the road, and
his unit waited two hours to get a spare from the Americans because the Iraqi army
couldn’t provide it. 'The Americans tell us the Iraqi army doesn't help itself,' he said.
16 Los Angeles Times, “Desperate, Jobless and In Harm's Way in Iraq”, December 13, 2006. p. A1
12
'There is corruption and very little care for the army.'”
17
Stories about security operations
also tend to quote American soldiers and experts more regularly than in other kinds of
stories. These quotations appeal to the expertise of occupation officials on military
matters. ''Iraq is a much better place than it was a year ago across the board, politically,
economically and from a security standpoint,' Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday. 'But we are not at the sustainable point yet, we are not
at the irreversible point yet.'”
18
While government officials are also quoted in stories on
security in Japan, it is a much less frequent occurrence. This is likely an effect of
increased personalization of coverage, as this necessitates an appeal to expertise not
available to the journalist.
In Japan, the chief concern was external security. With Communism expanding
across Asia, Japan's occupation by the U.S. and its predominately conservative political
environment placed the nation into conflict with its closest neighbors. Many of these
neighbors, such as China and Korea, still bore the scars and grudges of recent invasion by
the Japanese army during World War II. Because Japan renounced war in its
constitution, the nation had to look to external aid to provide for security. “[Brigadier
General Courtney] Whitney [one of MacArthur's closest advisors] said [MacArthur's
message on Japan's right to self defense] meant that Japan has 'the right to conclude
defensive alliances or deal with the United Nations for protection, or, if attacked directly,
the Japanese can fight back with all the power at their command.'”
19
Of course, in reality
Japan would be unable to defend itself against an attack without modern military
17 Los Angeles Times, “Iraqis Take Tentative Security Lead”, January 2, 2009. p. A3
18 Los Angeles Times, “Good news and bad in Iraq”, June 24, 2008. p. A4
19 Los Angeles Times, “Jap Rights to Defense Given Boost', January 1, 1950. p. 3
13
equipment. The U.S. Army was therefore in the position of securing Japan against
potential invaders throughout the occupation. The Times quoted a Japanese economic
magazine to relate the opinion of the Japanese people regarding U.S. military bases in
Japan. “'In all honesty, nothing could be more desirable to us than avoidance of third
world war,' the Oriental Economist [a weekly economics magazine published in Japan]
said. 'If unfortunately such a major conflict should again rise, we should like to remain
absolutely neutral. Therefore, if foreign military bases must be built, let them be on
Okinawa or on the Bonin Islands.'”
20
Thus the major U.S. military bases in Japan were
built on Okinawa, which Japanese on the main island of Honshu do not consider a proper
part of Japan. Comparing articles on security from both occupations, it is clear that
individuals are quoted more often in this type of article than in stories on political or
economic developments. As a result, the former tend to tell a more complete story
compared with news articles about political or economic developments.
U.S. Public Opinion
Comparing public opinion of the Japanese occupation to public opinion of the
Iraqi occupation is difficult because there are no news reports on the topic from Japan.
Throughout that occupation, the Times did not publish a single story about poll numbers
or approval ratings for the Japanese occupation or Gen. MacArthur, despite the fact that
MacArthur appeared on the Gallup poll's “Most Admired Men” list 15 times. Due to this
20 Los Angeles Times, “Japs Oppose U.S. Bases in Homeland”, March 19, 1950. p. 12
14
remarkable oversight, the comparison of U.S. public approval of both wars must focus on
secondary sources for the reconstruction of Japan.
Books on the occupation of Japan suggest that the American people generally
approved of the occupation of Japan and Gen. MacArthur's role as Supreme Commander
of the Allied Powers. “An April 1946 Gallup poll gave the General higher public
approval ratings than either President Truman or Winston Churchill.”
21
There were no
large-scale demonstrations against the occupation or its associated costs (according to a
government report, the U.S. spent almost as much money rebuilding Germany and Japan
as it has spent in Iraq). This is not surprising, since the preceding war had enjoyed
widespread public support. Public support of MacArthur dwindled somewhat after he
was removed from his leadership of the occupation by President Truman in the early
1950s, but he was still regarded as a hero by a significant majority of the American
people.
As the occupation of Iraq has dragged on, the tenuous public support the effort
once received has evaporated. In 2004, a survey reported that Americans were split on
the best way to handle continuing military operations in Iraq. “Amid rising anxiety over
events in Iraq, polls show the number of Americans who support withdrawing U.S. troops
there is growing. But so is the number who want to send more troops to quell the
insurgency...In the Time/CNN survey released last week, 30% of Americans said the U.S.
should withdraw all of its troops from Iraq – the highest level the poll has recorded to that
question. But 28% said the country should send more troops, also the highest figure for
21 The Allied Occupation of Japan , Eiji Takemae, Robert Ricketts, Sebastian Swann, John W. Dower.
2003. p. 5
15
that query.”
22
As the occupation has continued and more American soldiers have been
killed, public support for the occupation has rapidly diminished, as a later poll reported.
“A majority of Americans favor setting a fixed timetable for bringing troops home from
Iraq, and just 12% would support a plan to increase troop strength, an option under
serious consideration by the military a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found.”
23
In reporting the results of the latter poll, the Times also quotes several respondents,
adding a personal touch to the coverage. “'I believe we need to be out of there,' said
Marilyn Perlman, 65, of Boulder, Colo. 'Pulling our troops out of the midst of battle
makes sense, and relocating them near the borders' could prevent more violence.”’
24
While there are no comparable articles from the occupation of Japan, it seems unlikely
based on the other types of stories reviewed that such news articles would have quoted
any individual poll respondents' opinions on occupation policies or troop levels.
Making Sense of the World
Having looked at articles from both occupations about the drafting of a
democratic constitution, education reform, economic revitalization, security and U.S.
public opinion, it is clear that coverage of the occupation of Iraq has been more
personalized, while coverage of Japan focused more on policy and other general matters.
It is not surprising that coverage of Iraq has a more personalized focus; this is a common
trend in contemporary news coverage. However, this sort of coverage tends to miss
22 Los Angeles Times, “Public's Views on Troops in Iraq Diverge”, May 19, 2004. p. A19
23 Los Angeles Times, “Debate Over Troop Levels”, December 13, 2006. p. A16
24 ibid
16
essential elements in its quest for an iconic human interest narrative. Personalized
coverage operates under the assumption that the people being reported about have similar
values and worldviews to the audience. This is a troubling assumption when dealing with
an occupied citizenry in a foreign country. In such a situation, general reports can
convey a clearer picture of the realities of the occupation. Having a central character
does provide a news story with a sense of purpose, a figure to evoke an emotional
response in the reader. While general stories lose some of the nuanced details of a story
and have a more difficult time inducing an instantaneous emotional connection, such
articles usually present a more accurate version of events because they tend to minimize
the possibility of bias, either in the reporter or the reader.
It could be argued that the occupation of a foreign country is a rare event, and the
difficulties encountered with narrative coverage in this situation do not apply to other
types of news stories. The contemporary obsession with human interest stories has
changed the way news coverage is presented, and it is in this broader sense that both
journalists and the audience should be concerned. Certainly, American newsreaders have
lost the taste for general stories that report facts and figures or blandly recite policy. But
it is precisely this sort of coverage that makes the news media essential, the reflection
upon information and the digestion of facts into manageable bits that convey the world's
daily events. This is the difference between storytelling, which seeks to amuse, and
reporting, which seeks to inform. Good reporting will do both, as will good storytelling.
But reporters should remember that their primary aim is to make the world a less
incomprehensible place for their audience. Especially in world-changing circumstances,
such as war or military occupation, journalists must strive to tell the truly important
17
stories, whether these stories lend themselves to human interest narratives that may be
gripping but fail to tell the larger stories.
18

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The occupation of Japan provides a historical analogy for comparing coverage of the contemporary occupation of Iraq. By comparing news stories from the Los Angeles Times about each occupation, the influence of New Journalism and human interest coverage in the later occupation is illustrated and its effects on the coverage examined. This paper focuses on five general story themes (new constitutions, the economy, education, security, and American public opinion) to contrast reports from each country, while also highlighting the literary and narrative elements used in each time period.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

The economy crunch: a multimedia website devoted to the economy and what we eat

Asset Metadata

Creator Huthmacher, Scott (author)

Core Title Occupation journalism: a comparison between American news coverage of Iraq and Japan

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Print Journalism)

Publication Date 05/04/2009

Defense Date 05/01/2009

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag journalism,OAI-PMH Harvest,occupation,public opinion,reconstruction

Place Name Iraq (countries), Japan (countries), USA (countries)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Celis, William, III (committee chair), Kun, Joshua (committee member), Seib, Philip (committee member)

Creator Email huthmach@usc.edu,sagesamurai@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m2174

Unique identifier UC1503803

Identifier etd-Huthmacher-2877 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-222755 (legacy record id),usctheses-m2174 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Huthmacher-2877.pdf

Dmrecord 222755

Document Type Project

Rights Huthmacher, Scott

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu