What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War
The recent war with Iraq has had the greatest impact on journalism since the Vietnam War. Before the next war arrives, how the news media cover conflict -- and international affairs more generally -- should be scrutinized. The questions explored in this book
* Were embedded journalists' reports from Iraq overused and was context sacrificed in favor of drama?
* Is the relationship between news organizations and the Pentagon too cozy?
* Has Al-Jazeera's impact been underestimated?
* Is the Internet superseding other media?
* Has public diplomacy become mired in clumsy propaganda?
* Do policy makers understand how news coverage affects global politics?
Beyond the Front Lines examines news coverage of modern war, with particular emphasis on the performance of journalists during the 2003 U.S.-Iraq war. It also analyzes the relationship between news coverage and American foreign policy, as well as how globalization is reshaping the news business. Philip Seib also describes the changing technologies and ethics of modern warfare, suggests ways journalists might carry out their job better, and offers a new perspective on the role of the news media in a high-tech, globalized, and dangerous world.
* Were embedded journalists' reports from Iraq overused and was context sacrificed in favor of drama?
* Is the relationship between news organizations and the Pentagon too cozy?
* Has Al-Jazeera's impact been underestimated?
* Is the Internet superseding other media?
* Has public diplomacy become mired in clumsy propaganda?
* Do policy makers understand how news coverage affects global politics?
Beyond the Front Lines examines news coverage of modern war, with particular emphasis on the performance of journalists during the 2003 U.S.-Iraq war. It also analyzes the relationship between news coverage and American foreign policy, as well as how globalization is reshaping the news business. Philip Seib also describes the changing technologies and ethics of modern warfare, suggests ways journalists might carry out their job better, and offers a new perspective on the role of the news media in a high-tech, globalized, and dangerous world.
- GenresNonfiction
185 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
14 people want to read
About the author
Philip Seib
33 books9 followersPhilip Seib is a Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy and Professor of International Relations.
Seib's research interests include the effects of news coverage on foreign policy, particularly conflict and terrorism issues. He is author or editor of numerous books, including Headline Diplomacy: How News Coverage Affects Foreign Policy; The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict; Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War; Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War; New Media and the Middle East (2007); The Al Jazeera Effect (2008); Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy (2009); and Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era (2012). Seib is also the editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication, co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy and co-editor of the journal Media, War and Conflict, published by Sage.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2007, Seib was a professor at Marquette University and before that at Southern Methodist University.
[source: http://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/comm... ]
Seib's research interests include the effects of news coverage on foreign policy, particularly conflict and terrorism issues. He is author or editor of numerous books, including Headline Diplomacy: How News Coverage Affects Foreign Policy; The Global Journalist: News and Conscience in a World of Conflict; Broadcasts from the Blitz: How Edward R. Murrow Helped Lead America into War; Beyond the Front Lines: How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War; New Media and the Middle East (2007); The Al Jazeera Effect (2008); Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy (2009); and Real-Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era (2012). Seib is also the editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication, co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy and co-editor of the journal Media, War and Conflict, published by Sage.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2007, Seib was a professor at Marquette University and before that at Southern Methodist University.
[source: http://annenberg.usc.edu/faculty/comm... ]
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 11, 2014
"Western media, in particular, are so ready to rely on frames of reference that are appropriate to their own cultures that they fail to understand the very different realities of the peoples and situations they are attempting to cover" (9).
"Globalization is not really global if it leaves entire continents behind" (152).
I was amazed at the realistic and down to earth observations and comments made, yet, that were so true of how politics. culture, and outlooks towards other countries are made and broken through the media. By taking a close look at how some very important battles and conflicts are covered, and thanks to author Philip Seib, other points of view, concerning the evolving scope of the media in world events is thoroughly discussed in this text. Very influential, observant, and accurate, this text does an amazing job of where we are at as individuals among various societies, as those same societies are investigated through the media coverage. This is totally worth emphasis and investigation on all levels.
"Globalization is not really global if it leaves entire continents behind" (152).
I was amazed at the realistic and down to earth observations and comments made, yet, that were so true of how politics. culture, and outlooks towards other countries are made and broken through the media. By taking a close look at how some very important battles and conflicts are covered, and thanks to author Philip Seib, other points of view, concerning the evolving scope of the media in world events is thoroughly discussed in this text. Very influential, observant, and accurate, this text does an amazing job of where we are at as individuals among various societies, as those same societies are investigated through the media coverage. This is totally worth emphasis and investigation on all levels.
March 17, 2015
A decade on, this book has certainly aged, but what should be most surprising is that it has aged as well as it has when it deals with subject areas as rapidly evolving as mass media and technology. The core themes and criticisms in the book, such as media's short attention span, lack of context in reporting international news, focus on the sensational over the substantive, and hyperfocus on personality are still fully (and perhaps even more) apparent today. This is a relatively short and insightful read, though it can get a little dry at certain points.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews