Australian journalism and war: Professional discourse and the legitimation of the 2003 Iraq invasion
Loading...
Supplementary material
Other Title
Authors
Dodson, Giles
Author ORCID Profiles (clickable)
Degree
Grantor
Date
2010
Supervisors
Type
Journal Article
Ngā Upoko Tukutuku (Māori subject headings)
Keyword
Australian war journalism
discourse
ideology
Iraq war
military-media relations
professionalism
discourse
ideology
Iraq war
military-media relations
professionalism
ANZSRC Field of Research Code (2020)
Citation
Dodson, G. (2010). Australian journalism and war: Professional discourse and the legitimation of the 2003 Iraq invasion. Journalism Studies, 11(1), 99-114.
Abstract
This paper presents an original study of Australian journalistic professionalism as observed during the Iraq War, 2003. Through an analysis of both in-depth interviews conducted with Australian Iraq War journalists and news discourse produced by Australian journalists at Central Command and ‘embedded’ during the Iraq war, it is argued that professionalism provides the framework of intelligibility used by war journalists to produce accounts of war. Professionalism also serves as a ‘regime of truth’, through which the centrality of professional norms in journalism are articulated. The paper then demonstrates that professionalism, however, serves to justify and legitimate journalistic practice and meaning construction while obscuring the co-opted, functional role played by journalism within contemporary war administration and military strategy. Drawing on discourse analytic concepts, this paper argues professionalism operates as a form of ‘ideological fantasy’, which both militarises journalism and conversely journalises the military.
Publisher
Routledge
Permanent link
Link to ePress publication
DOI
10.1080/14616700903119768
Copyright holder
Taylor & Francis
Copyright notice
All rights reserved