American Politics Journal

The View from Europe
Cat And Mouse
By Nicola Mitchell

Oct. 31, 2001 - LONDON (APJP) -- Since the attacks of September 11th, I've spoken about the cat and mouse game played between the government and the media, but recent events in Britain have seen this game taken to a new level.

Constant reports within the media of civilian casualties as a result of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan have begun to make the once unilateral support for military action show signs of faltering. On the other hand, never one to be criticised, Prime Minister Tony Blair has been taking steps to attempt to curb the media's condemnation of the strategy behind the military campaign.

All areas of Downing Street are engaged in a full on offensive to shore up the support of the British public towards military manoeuvres. The past few days have seen Blair make an unprecedented plea to the public not to show any weakening of "moral purpose", while other sectors of New Labour have been unleashed on the press.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has accused the press of being impatient and constantly demanding new developments while also failing to report on the causes of the conflict. He compared current media coverage to that seen during the war in Kosovo and said the media had "almost no humility and no memory."

But it is Blair himself who is pulling out all the stops as he plans to give an emotive speech to build up public support for the campaign, while also chastising the media for their impatient. He is expected to ask the public not to forget the events of September 11th and think about how the horror that unfolded on that day made us feel.

I find it highly hypocritical that the government accused Osama bin Laden and his network of waging a propaganda war and censoring media coverage to suit their own ends, and now seem to be trying to do the same thing themselves.

Furthermore, after promises of no more spin, Alastair Campbell, the man who controls the public face of the Labour government, have been meeting with his America counterpart, Karen Hughes to discuss co-ordinating a combined media propaganda war on both sides of the Atlantic.

Blair says he is worried that media coverage focusing on military blunders, and questioning strategy, is undermining what happened on September 11th. How he can think that any amount of critical media coverage can mask the horror that occurred that day? If anything, the constant media coverage of the actual event will keep the horror fresh in people's minds. Speaking personally, I know I will never be able to dispel the images of those planes flying into the twin towers and their subsequent collapse, nor will I ever be able to forget those last frantic phone calls made by those trapped inside to loved ones, no matter what criticism I read in the press.

I feel the government would do well to remember the media's purpose in a free and democratic society. It is there to inform the public, and question those in power, and questions of military strategy are only reflecting similar questions being asked by the public, and so by denouncing the media, the government is actually denouncing public opinion.

I am under no illusions about the fact that many sectors of the media today operate more like a business than anything else, with owners who put profit and entertainment before information and real news. At times like this, however, we need the media to fulfil its natural role, and to condemn the media for doing so goes against the values of the society we are trying to protect.

A free media which questions and calls to account those in power is what sets much of the West apart, and yes, I agree that at times media organisations can get carried away with the need for a story, often putting ratings and circulation figures before anything else.

But our leaders have embarked on a war, and the media -- on behalf of the public -- has every right to question their actions, no matter how much they protest.