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Westminsterresearch View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by WestminsterResearch WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/westminsterresearch Making the news: the media and the movement against the Iraq war Chris Nineham Faculty of Media, Arts and Design This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © The Author, 2013. This is an exact reproduction of the paper copy held by the University of Westminster library. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: (http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] Making the News: The Media and the Movement against the Iraq War CHRIS NINEHAM A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2013 Communication and Media Research Institute University of Westminster Abstract What follows is an investigation of unusual media behaviour. The 2003 Iraq War precipitated a series of demonstrations of unprecedented scale in a cause that often had majority support and challenged the authority of the government. The media’s well documented tendency to marginalise or ignore protest was at least partly suspended as newspapers cleared their front pages to report on demonstrations and the BBC sent senior journalists to interview marchers. For once, protesters were making the news. My research has revealed a very different pattern of reportage to that anticipated by the widely used ‘protest paradigm’ that predicts the marginalisation and even criminalisation of protest. Although the record shows great unevenness across different media outlets, the coverage of some of the anti-Iraq War protests appears more comprehensive, even-handed and at times sympathetic, than any equivalent example in the literature. The central task was to investigate the nature of the divergence and find ways of explaining it. In the process, this exceptional moment could be used to probe the media’s role in modern democracy and its attitudes to dissent at times of mass mobilisation and social stress. A combined textual and quantitative analysis of my research raised some interesting conclusions. Though important, structural or technological developments cannot explain the changes to the way protest was handled, as some of the literature argues. The evidence suggests that a contingent complex of social, ideological and political factors created a perfect storm that scrambled normal lines of communication. Interviews with participants and research into the context of the protests allowed me to fill out these suggestions and draw out more definite conclusions. At the same time, the analysis provided a test of theoretical models of media function, including versions of the ‘propaganda model’, broadly post-structuralist approaches, and more recent work suggesting a greater openness to dissent. Analysis of various theoretical approaches suggests, however, the importance of a model that can combine emphasis on the hegemonic role of the media, with sensitivity to contradictions that emerge between the moments of ‘maintaining consent’. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Charts ……………………………… 5 Acknowledgements ……………………………… 6 Declaration ……………………………… 7 Chapter 1: Introduction ……………………………… 8 1.1. Exceptional times ……………………………… 8 1.2. War at home: the battle for hearts and minds ……………………………… 11 1.3. ‘The first casualty’ ……………………………… 14 1.4. Cracks in the consensus ……………………………… 16 1.5. The focus on media power ……………………………… 18 1.6. The case of Iraq ……………………………… 20 1.7. The shape of the argument ……………………………… 23 Chapter 2: The media and protest: the literature ……………………………… 29 2.1. A widening debate ……………………………… 29 2.2. ‘Serving the military rather well’ ……………………………… 29 2.3. British wartime precedents ……………………………… 31 2.4. Did everything change at Seattle? ……………………………… 35 2.5. Covering the Iraq War: the literature so far ……………………………… 38 Chapter 3: Theoretical approaches ……………………………… 46 3.1. Framing protest ……………………………… 46 3.2. The theory of frames ……………………………… 46 3.3. The protest paradigm ……………………………… 48 3.4. The limits of the frame: explaining difference ……………………………… 50 3.5. The sources of framing ……………………………… 55 3.6 Ownership and ideology…………………………… 56 3.7. The propaganda model ……………………………… 59 3.8. Foucault and his followers ……………………………… 61 3.9. Hegemony theory and Marxist accounts ……………………………… 67 Chapter 4: Methodology ……………………………… 77 4.1. Research outlines ……………………………… 77 4.2. Content, framing and the text ……………………………… 77 4.3. The sample ……………………………… 80 4.4. Selection of media ……………………………… 82 4.5. Coding ……………………………… 83 4.6. Problems, pitfalls and solutions ……………………………… 85 4.7. The interviews ……………………………… 87 Chapter 5: Contexts ……………………………… 90 5.1. Why background matters ……………………………… 90 5.2. Shifting opinion ……………………………… 91 5.3. The anatomy of the movement ……………………………… 93 3 5.4. Why attack Iraq? ……………………………… 103 5.5. Arguments for intervention ……………………………… 108 5.6. A political crisis? ……………………………… 118 Chapter 6: Protest makes the mainstream ……………………………… 126 6.1. Changing the paradigm? ……………………………… 126 6.2. The level of coverage ……………………………… 128 6.3. The participants ……………………………… 134 6.4. Attitude and framing ……………………………… 137 6.5. Bucking the trend? ……………………………… 150 Chapter 7: Behind the scenes: the interviews ……………………………… 156 7.1. Probing the media’s role ……………………………… 156 7.2. A new approach to protest? ……………………………… 158 7.3. Inside the institutions ……………………………… 165 7.4. The bigger picture: the view from the media ……………………………… 172 7.5. A return to order? ……………………………… 176 7.6. The sources of sympathy ……………………………… 178 Chapter 8: A break with the past? ……………………………… 180 8.1. Drawing conclusions ……………………………… 180 8.2. The balance of the evidence ……………………………… 180 8.3. The causes ……………………………… 184 8.4. Wider influences ……………………………… 190 8.5. The meaning for media studies ……………………………… 198 Appendix 1: Public Opinion ……………………………… 214 Appendix 2: Interviewees ……………………………… 216 Appendix 3: Standard questions ……………………………… 218 Appendix 4: Coding ……………………………… 220 Bibliography ……………………………… 222 4 CHARTS Chart 1: Number of stories per demonstration ……………………………… 127 Chart 2: Number of stories on 28 September 2002 demo by outlet ……………………… 128 Chart 3: Number of stories on 15 February 2003 demo by outlet ……………………… 129 Chart 4: Number of stories on 20 November 2003 demo by outlet ……………………… 131 Chart 5: Number of stories on 18 March 2005 demo by outlet ……………………… 133 Chart 6: Who did the media interview/quote? All demos ……………………… 134 Chart 7: Frequency that type of demo participants mentioned ……………………… 135 Chart 8: Attitude of coverage of 28 September 2002 by outlet ……………………… 137 Chart 9: Attitude of coverage of 15 February 2003 by outlet ……………………… 138 Chart 10: Attitude of coverage of 20 November 2003 by outlet ……………………… 138 Chart 11: Attitude of coverage of 18 March 2005 by outlet ……………………… 139 Chart 12: Frequency of some main frames ……………………… 140 5 Acknowledgements This work was inspired by personal involvement in some of the events described. Along with colleagues in the anti-war movement I saw first-hand that parts of the media developed an unexpectedly open attitude toward the movement. I am very grateful to all of my colleagues for the many discussions that have helped me understand this and other developments over the last 12 years. I am also indebted to my two supervisors, Anthony McNicholas and Peter Goodwin for their support, kindness and insight during my research, and to all the staff at Westminster University who have been so helpful and encouraging. Des Freedman has been a constant source of help and understanding. Discussions with Dave Crouch and Seumas Milne have been particularly helpful, and thanks are due to all the interviewees who took part in this study. All of them shone light on a remarkable period. Finally, deep love and respect to my partner Feyzi for helping me through the last four years. Quite simply I couldn’t have done it without her. 6 Declaration I declare that all the material contained in this thesis is my own work. 7 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Exceptional times On 28 September 2002, hundreds of thousands of people marched through the streets of London calling on the government to abandon plans to participate in an attack on Iraq. The demonstration was the biggest anti-war protest in Britain up to that time. If this was exceptional in itself, it was also an indication that Britain had moved into a period of politics that was unprecedented in a number of ways. The prime minister had committed the country to a major US-led war without majority public support. Indeed that commitment had been made secretly to US politicians without reference to the British cabinet, let alone parliament or the people (Rawnsley, 2010). This policy led to deep splits in the British establishment, which in turn caused
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