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Understanding conflict, from the local to the global.
Context is important, and history is context. If you are a historian, or need access to one, this is the place to come.
Understanding conflict, from the local to the global.
Understanding conflict, from the local to the global.
Understanding conflict, from the local to the global.
Context is important, and history is context. If you are a historian, or need access to one, this is the place to come.
Profile Information
- Job Title
- Blogger
- News Organization
- Committee for Concerned Journalists, Media Matters for America, Freelance
- Bio
- "Blogger" isn't quite right. Freelance writer, academic historian (Georgetown), military professional. I have a day job. Have blogged for MSNBC, Media Matters for America, and Committee for Concerned Journalists. Currently working on a book proposal. Sometimes heard on NPR, usually commenting upon history of military-media relations.
Bob Bateman's Photos
Bob Bateman's Blog
War and Suicide and Political Considerations
CROSSPOSTED from my column at CCJ: http://www.concernedjournalists.org/bad-war-bad-science-bad-reporting-take-your-pick
War is bad. We can agree on this.
As both a practitioner and historian of war, I feel no compunctions about saying that and no reason to pretend otherwise. Some wars are Just, and some may be Unjust. Some wars may even be necessary, but they are all bad. The idea of a Good War is a myth. It is base propaganda, and nothing more. War should be the absolute last resort.
As a… Continue
War is bad. We can agree on this.
As both a practitioner and historian of war, I feel no compunctions about saying that and no reason to pretend otherwise. Some wars are Just, and some may be Unjust. Some wars may even be necessary, but they are all bad. The idea of a Good War is a myth. It is base propaganda, and nothing more. War should be the absolute last resort.
As a… Continue
Posted on May 10, 2008 at 7:31pm —
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Thanks for your comment. It's a lot to think about, and I appreciate the encouragement. I like to think that just because young people haven't read newspapers in the past doesn't mean they won't read news sources now. But who knows -- it's a scary world out there right now.
I'm embedded with units of the 1st Infantry Division during their desert warfare training at Ft. Irwin, Calif., back in May. It was very cool, and pictures make me look a lot tougher than I really am.
Per the last comment, the University of Kansas has a military and the media course, which pairs students with soldiers at Fort Leavenworth.
Cheers,
Alex
To answer your question, I'm actually not sure. We don't have a Journalism department, but instead a Communication Studies department at Michigan, and our courses tend to focus on Communication theory. We do have a few professors who focus on the journalism aspect of the media, and they might teach about media-military relations, but I haven't had any of those courses yet.
You might want to check out the Michigan Comm department's faculty page (http://www.lsa.umich.edu/umich/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=89e86af629641110VgnVCM10000096b1d38dRCRD) for more info on the professors.
Sorry, I wasn't much help.
I have to say that we don't have a particular strategy for teaching about war coverage, probably because we still believe that most of our student journalists are still a job or two away from having that opportunity/challenge.
However, I'm looking forward to reading the rest of a new book by Martin Fletcher, "Breaking News." Fletcher talks a lot about news coverage in war zones and his book might make an excellent supplemental text or one that could support a stand-alone course.
We don't have classes like that SF State. We have Reporting Public Affairs and Media and Politics courses which may touch on those subjects.
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