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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1991)
EDITORIAL What would Hitler think of the press? Forty-eight hours after the ground offensive began in the Persian Gulf, tidbits of actual news finally start ed to make their way to the United States. There are several developments in the press cov erage of the war that should worry citizens. The press's complacency toward Pentagon restrictions is one ex ample. In the face of a popular war. where most citi zens approve of press restrictions, it would not be eco nomically sound to strongly oppose the military's poli cies by circumventing restrictions. The loss of readers and viewers plays heavily into the decision-making of media corporations. But the most frightening aspect of the war coverage is the public's approval of the lack of real reporting. Reporting means finding a story yourself and avoiding dependence on official sources. No one wants the safety of allied forces to be breached. But it is also dangerous to have the press un der the direct control of the government or the mili tary. In the case of press pools, reporters go where the military wants them to go. speak to whom the military wants them to speak. If they do find an "out of the way" source, the interview is overseen by a military "minder" (watchdog). Soldiers are not going to say anything to a reporter that might get them in trouble while there is a minder present. In Vietnam, reporters were allowed to go where they wanted on an independent basis. They had a list of ground rules to follow, and reporters or publications who breached these ground rules had their credentials taken away. The press censored itself, without interfer ence from the military. One example occurred early in the Vietnam con flict before U.S. troops were involved in a major way. In January 1965. a Time reporter found out the Marines were going to land in Da Nang and were going to en gage in the war. The Marines were not landing on an enemy-held beach. They were simply arriving in the country and would be deployed elsewhere. The report was proof that President Johnson was going to step up the United States* role in Vietnam. Editors for Time checked with official sources in Washington and killed the story because the "highest sources in the land" denied it. A few months later two battalions of Marines landed in Da Nang. The military lied, not to protect the safety of Amer ican troops, but to hide the fact that the United States was enlarging the scope of its involvement. It lied, or if you prefer euphemisms, withheld the truth, for politi cal. not security reasons. Relying on one source of information, in this case the military, leaves the press open to manipulation. Even people who have no respect for the press should understand the value of having other sources confirm or deny the military's claims. A perfect example is taking place right now. Iraq has claimed its troops have been ordered to withdraw. Official U.S. military reports say there have been only slight indications this is true. But the military does not want Hussein merely to withdraw. It will be satisfied with nothing but a complete and humiliating Iraqi sur render. It would not further the military's goal to re port that Iraqis were massively withdrawing and U.S. troops were Bring on them anyway. So can the official reports be believed? Because any Iraqi retreats could easily be hidden from from press pools it is necessary for reporters independent of the military to confirm or deny official reports. The government and the Defense Department have lied in the past, and will do so in the future. To dis miss the military's past performance as something that could not happen again is extremely naive. As far as we have been told things are going re markably well for the allies. During the good times press restrictions do not seem to be a problem. But if there were problems, would the military tell us? Most likely they would not. That is the danger of relying on a source that has an interest in what information gets out. Americans have dangerously fallen into a trap of trusting the military and the government too much. If Adolf Hitler surfaced today in American politics, he would find that the American public is perfect fod der for his propaganda techniques. SrfD-r OWCOM PAiOT tHtRAlt) 2.-* LETTERS Crossed the line We, us individuals and or ganizations. would like lo ex press our concern in regards to the current issue of the Oregon Commentator. Specifically, we would like to address the tail k cover of the February issue where there is a picture of a hippie (presumably African-American) holding a molotov cocktail The person is on a highway crossing sign We would passionately de fend the rights and freedoms granted to all individuals and organizations regarding speech and the use of the media We would never argue that ideolo gies contrary to ours should lx? repressed in any way We simply feel the Oregon Commentator crossed a line when they objectified a minor ity group of people We are afraid that these messages do nothing hut legitimize and pro mote violence against a group of people We realize a goal of the Ore gon Commentator is to outrage a specific group of people on this campus Well, they've won Were outraged However, we would question if anyone really wins when a group of people is attacked |on Organ. KMl! Board Caitilin Twain, OSPIKC Cynthia Brown, OU/UES Sister University Project Priscilla Wilbourn. Student Insurgent Phil Nebergall, Survival Center Mary Ager, Student Campaign for Disarmament Good guy I am writing concerning your lead article (ODE. Feb. 15) on science research at the Univer sity While being interviewed by your reporter for this article I emphasized my concern for ac i uracy and offered to check a liraft of the proposed article for possible errors of fact Your re porter failed to take advantage of this offer I was. therefore, interested to note that Vice President John Moseley was quoted in the aril cle as saying that. "You get a sense of community by being smaller people working togeth er across department lines " 1. myself, was quoted as stating that "People who practice sci ence recognize individuals who do good in science A reader, combining the re marks attributed to Moseley and to me. would reasonably conclude that the high ranking of the University in the recent "Science Watch" survey was due to the fact that "small peo ple do good Brian W. Matthews Professor Physics and Molecular Biology Dwight’s ditty Hack in 1Dwight I) Ei senhower had this to say about war "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies a theft from those who are cold and not clothed "The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labor ers. the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. "Under the clouds of war. it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron." Gena Gerard Sociology/Polilical Science Same paper I'd like to compliment the creator of the "blow-up doll punching hag" and Patriot vibrator poster on their wry socio-political humor 1 thought they were "right on target" in "taking aim at" the sexism and violence in our so ciety It's ironic that these fliers were mentioned in an article on hate crimes. And it's ironic that the same paper that carried this article on the front page had an ad for Jiggles' "amateur nite" on the back Marcia Dibble Eugene Terrible tees 1 was strolling through the dubiously decorated Gateway Mall the other day when 1 was halted by a T-shirt display. These, of course, were not just ordinary T-shirts. They were examples of the new com mercialized fashion slime that has so recently come into vogue: The patriotic T-shirt. You know the kind: There's one with a flag on it that says, "U Can't Touch This,” and there's one advertised on TV' that reads, "This is Your Wakeup Call. Mr. Hussein!” Whenever I see these garments, I can’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Hut the T-shirt 1 saw at the mall takes the cake. It said. "Operation Desert Storm: Feel the Thunder!" It was so appall ing I couldn’t think al>out feel ing angry. Hard as it was to believe, the words on the T-shirt looked just like a movie slogan. Appar ently the war is no longer being marketed as a sporting event, but as an action adventure film as well. I don't support this war and T-shirts like these contradict themselves in that they don't support it either They just cheapen the values that the American troops are sup posedly fighting for in the gulf. |enny Smith Liberal Arts Volume level Regarding the peace march through the EMU Sunday night (Feb 24): At 8:15 p.m. it seemed much like my pencil about that time: pointless. And the KMU-speak at the ta ble 1 was at still seemed some thing like. "Yeah, yeah, war bad, peace good, can I borrow your pencil and 15 cents for coffee?” While 1 admire the effort to raise the consciousness level in the EMU I have a feeling that the only thing that got raised was the volume level on many, many Walkmans. Damien Lee Williams journalism