Ugly War, Pretty Package: How CNN and Fox News Made the Invasion of Iraq High Concept PDF
Preview Ugly War, Pretty Package: How CNN and Fox News Made the Invasion of Iraq High Concept
Ugly War Pretty Package Ugly War Pretty Package How CNN and Fox News Made the Invasion of Iraq High Concept deborah L. jaramiLLo Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis Publication of this book is made possible in part with the assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency that supports research, education, and public programming in the humanities. This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA www.iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail [email protected] © 2009 by Deborah Jaramillo All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jaramillo, Deborah Lynn, date- Ugly war, pretty package : how CNN and Fox News made the invasion of Iraq high concept / Deborah L. Jaramillo. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35363-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22122-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Iraq War, 2003—Television and the war. 2. Television broadcasting of news—United States. 3. War in mass media. 4. Mass media—Objectivity— United States. I. Title. DS79.76.J373 2009 956.7044’31—dc22 2009008963 1 2 3 4 5 14 13 12 11 10 09 To my Harlingen family, my Austin family, and the family I fell in love with in Tucson Contents Introduction: The Spectacle of Televised War 1 1 2 3 High Concept, Media The High-Concept Intertextuality, Conglomeration, and War Narrative Genres, and Stars Commercial News 21 41 89 4 5 6 War Characters The Look and Sound The Marketing of High-Concept of the 2003 War Coverage Invasion of Iraq 121 145 177 Conclusion: The Narrative Exits Screen Right, the Coverage Fizzles, and News Is What, Exactly? 197 Appendix A 219 Appendix B 221 Appendix C 223 Works Cited 227 Index 239 Acknowledgments As the completion of this project took several years of my life, I have a number of wonderful people to thank. First, I wish to acknowledge the inspired guidance of Dr. Mary Kearney, who encouraged me to “embrace the crisis” and find the research topic that held meaning for me. Fortunately, two Ford Foundation fel- lowships funded the embrace, the research, and the writing, while Dr. Kearney and Dr. John Downing facilitated the improvement of that writing. A million thanks to three different sources of news footage: Dr. Jacqueline Sharkey at the University of Arizona, who, without having met me in person, went out of her way to provide me with tapes of Fox News; the amazing staff at the media library in the University of Texas at Austin College of Communication, who provided me with tapes of CNN; and the staff at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, who filled in the gaps. Of course, thank you to the amazing scholars who re- viewed the manuscript and offered invaluable suggestions. And thank you to everyone at Indiana University Press for their dedication to this project. The years of creation required a great deal of personal help, as well. At the top of the list is Rodolfo Fernández, who lovingly tolerated my moods and my erratic sleep schedule in the LGA and who was an incredible sounding board for my ideas. I do not deserve him. My parents, Frank and Dora, always sup- ported my educational pursuits and never underestimated me. Their successes in life—mutual and individual—dwarf my achievements. My brother JR is the true writer of the family, and his genius is always on my mind. Dr. Susan McLe- land has been a role model for me since my undergraduate years, and I would be lost without her compassion and unpretentious intellect. Rosamar Torres, better than any sister could be, made my third and fourth years of doctoral work two of the greatest years of my life. Holly Custard and Adrian Johnson have been con- stant and selfless sources of support, love, wisdom, and housing. I am humbled by their profound humanity. Mark Cunningham, my angel and co-conspirator, astounds me with his writing and blesses me with his friendship. My University of Arizona mentors—Dr. Beretta Smith-Shomade, Dr. Caryl Flinn, and Dr. Eileen Meehan—will always represent the personal generosity and intellectual rigor to which I aspire. Most recently, Sky Sitney, Sarah Bilodeau, and Adrian Spencer of SILVERDOCS taught me how to step outside of academia and work like mad for the pure love of cinema. Finally, I have to acknowledge every single image that appears on my beautiful LCD screen. Enlightening or embarrassing, entertaining or infuriating, TV never stops inspiring me to write.
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