| Abstract [eng] |
The present situation in Iraq, namely the coalition-led multinational force operation The Iraqi Freedom, is difficult. Despite the efforts put in by the US and the coalition leadership, the bloodshed in the country has not been reduced. Endless battles in Iraq claim more and more American victims, which strengthens people’s discontent with the war and with the US led forces. Why is the situation there unstable? Why is the conflict not over? And why is the civil society not ready for democracy? This paper aims to see into the Iraqi crisis through the prism of the relation between the media and the US decision-makers, assuming, that media management is one of the major factors in the situation in Iraq today. The objective of the research of the master thesis is the reality transformation in the media in the aims context of the validity of the Iraqi occupation. The goal of the work is to analyse why in the chosen case, i.e., during the Iraqi war and the crisis that followed later, the media was and is transforming the reality. The main tasks of the paper are: to ascertain whether and to what extent is the public opinion is important in the course of the political process and what significance it has on the political performance in the case of war / crisis; to explore the probable causes of the reality transformation in the media and which of them are most likely in case of war; to find out whether the ‘hidden’ intentions, which are being aired by politicians, are justified accusations for the US President and his administration, or rather a myth; to define the role of the US media in the process of the US foreign policy formation vis-à-vis their policy on Iraq; to confirm that reality, represented in the media on the Iraqi case, was distorted, mostly political power controlling out-coming information from Iraq and thus limiting objectivity. Using the methods of descriptive–analytical literature analysis and extrapolation, conclusions were made that the media in today’s world is an instrument not only in everyday life but especially in cases of war / crisis, since the support of the society is as important as victory in a battle field. Reality transformation in the media is mainly caused by the human, political and economic factors. However, in cases of war / crisis, information in the media is most often distorted because political power seeks to form news favourable for it. It is probable that the initiation of the war in Iraq, aiming to reach the hidden aims, i.e., control of the oil and influence in the region, took place without informing the US society; media became a tool in the implementation of these aims. The main cause of the reality transformation in the media in the case of Iraq is the activity of the US President and his administration which aims to influence the picture of the conflict, formed by the media, by means such as: incorporating journalists in military forces, establishing central headquarters, and hiring public relation agencies. Finally, one can assert that absolute objectivity of the media is impossible because media is a powerful weapon always sought after in order to reach people’s “hearts and minds”. The importance of this master thesis is that it seeks to take a deeper look at the Iraqi conflict looking for reasons why Iraq is still so unstable. The essential conclusion made supposes to continue a research on whether and how the situation changes with the shift of the US president and his/her administration. |
