Real-Time War

"It all had the flavour of an Indiana Jones story, where a professional (recall Jones was an archaeologist) was thrust by circumstances into a world of excitement and peril," (Rutherford, 85). Enter the crazy American freelance journalists who fly out to Iraq, place themselves in the center of a hellish war, risk their lives; all for what? To be the first one to get the story, a better story, one that could set their careers or name off. We talked about this same topic in my Writing for the Workplace class about a month ago. My teacher said freelance journalists find that placing themselves in the middle of a war is exciting, riveting. It's almost like their own video game and they're actually in it. It is a highly competitive job and to be the one to get the news first, or see something wild happen that no other journalist saw, that's the pull that intrigues freelancers to almost take part in a suicide mission.

I loved this quote on page 86 "Goldstein concluded by stigmatizing live war as a more sinister version of 'Reality TV,' presumably like the hit Survivor series, boasting 'the same voyeuristic kick, the same aura of faintly forbidden intrusion,' that offered viewers a 'safe and secret' stimulation." This is completely true. War coverage is just as titilating as watching an episode of Survivor. One is held in suspense, horrified, disgusted...all of the ingredients to make for a secretly entertaining watch (but don't let anyone know you really think it is entertaining). Americans like to watch shows with violence, death and destruction. It secretly holds attention and people want to keep watching, making sure they don't miss the next day's episode or report. Everyone knows this: journalists, government, army seargents, etc. and they play it up as much as possible because this is how to get ratings, gain the desired emotions/attitudes they want, and create a designated mindset. This is a sick process but it's working and maybe this is why America is so wealthy; we trick, bribe and play to people's emotions and actions in such a way as to corrupt thoughts and make everyone become zombies to government's control.