Case Study: Video, News, and the Emergence of CNN
In addition to CNN's emergence as a national source for information in the United States, CNN's "neutral" approach to reporting the war won over a large international audience as well. CNN's attitude regarding their role as reporters of an international incident was to guard against assumptions that the allies, or specifically the Americans, were the righteous and best intentioned of the two opposing forces. In their reporting, CNN anchors were forbidden to refer to Iraqis as "the enemy". This strategy paid off. After the war's conclusion, CNN was the only network permitted by the Iraqi government to leave behind a combat journalist to report on the post-war situation. In fact, even Saddam Hussein and his deputies consid ered CNN an unbiased source of news, as they reportedly relied on the network for news themselves throughout the conflict (Kamen, p. 351-355).
Sources:
--Kamen, Jeff. "CNN's Breakthrough in Baghdad." From The Media and the Gulf War. editied by Smith, Hendrick. Washington D.C.: Weven Locks Press, 1992.
