Overview

News media, movies, blogs and video games issue constant invitations to picture war, experience the thrill of combat, and revisit battles past. War, it's often said, sells. But what does it take to sell a war, and to what extent can news media be viewed as disinterested reporters of truth? Lively and highly readable, this book explores how wars have been reported, interpreted and perpetuated from the dawn of the media age to the present digital era. Spanning a broad geographical and historical canvas, Susan L. Carruthers provides a compelling analysis of the forces that shape the production of news and images of war – from state censorship to more subtle forms of military manipulation and popular pressure. This fully revised second edition has been updated to cover modern-day conflict in the post 9/11 epoch, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rich in historical detail, The Media at War also provides sharp insights into contemporary experience, prompting critical reflection on western society's paradoxical attitudes towards war.

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9780230244573

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Reviews

Reviews of the first edition: 'Carruthers has produced an ambitious and accomplished study that will be of obvious interest across a range of academic disciplines but a particularly welcome addition to the growing literature on the subject of war and the media.' - Greg McLaughlin, Ethnicity and Cultural Politics 'an excellent introduction to the study of the media and war. The circular format the author adopts makes the book intriguingly readable. The text is well documented and balanced in its presentation of existing scholarship in this field.' - Elizabeth Stanley-Mitchell, Millennium '...an interesting and pleasant lecture for those interested in how mass media affects and models inter-ethnic relations in welfare times, while constructing powerful stereotypical images based on ethnic, cultural or religious differences.' - Despina Dumitrica, The Ethnic Conflict 'Susan Carruthers...has done an excellent job of analysing journalistic and entertainment media as integral elements of the war system...Citing an array of primarily UK and US sources...the author provides both historical context and a realistic projection of what lies ahead.' - Philip Seib, News and Myth

Author Information

Susan L. Carruthers is Professor in American Studies at the University of Warwick, UK.

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