“Whether explicitly or not, reporting on terrorism [in Aotearoa] is at the very least strongly informed by the 11 September 2001 attacks and the response to them” (McCulloch 2008: 205)
The news media play a crucial role in our modern world and, while anthropologists
frequently address the power and effect that various media can have, news media
specifically has been subjected to somewhat less anthropological
analysis.
In light of the news media’s proliferation and ability to not only influence but to define the public’s understanding of their world and of politics, anthropologists must consider how anthropological findings should be shared in the public domain, particularly with paywalls surrounding academic knowledge and research.“[The U.S. administration] operates through the Orwellian concept of ‘reality control’ and ‘proof by reiteration’. The result is that several thousand [news] articles have turned the great ‘lie’ into the ‘official truth’.” (Keenan 2006: 7)
According to Keenan, multiple media system weaknesses allow the state to position their spin of events as the dominant perspective. He names media outlets' "'copy and paste' culture" (2006: 6-7), the lack of resources to fact check isolated locations (I would argue that the aggressiveness of the Ruatoki raid would not have taken place in a city community), and "proof by reiteration" (Ibid: 7) as mentioned above.
The bombings in Bali (2002), Madrid (2004), London (2005), and Mumbai (2006) (McCulloch 2008: 206) have further enforced the global discourses around terror set up by the US governement. This spread is enabled by the globalised nature of media and in particular news media. Through the internet people have access to news outlets from other countries, our news reports in New Zealand are very often imported from British, North American and Australian networks. Though this easy access would lend itself to the assumption that citizens have more diversity in the information that they receive, this is rarely the case because behavioural tendencies mean that people are more likely to go to the websites of news outlets they already know and trust. For instance, the BBC, The NZ Herald or CNN are comforting outlets because they are known to news consumers, while independent and minority group sources are harder to judge for accuracy and bias.
Anthropologists must therefore take these issues of global discourse, global information sharing and the dominance of Western framing on important political and social issues into account. In anthropological studies, one must always position the situation within a global context to understand the extent of influence that outside cultures and ideas have, and vice versa, the impact that the issues being studied have outside the particular environment of study.
A clear link can be drawn between the discourses that surrounded the aftermath of 9/11 and those of the Urewera raids. This is evident in the way that meaning is constructed by State powers and the pre-emptive aggressive action based on thin evidence. This link can is illustrated in New Zealand's news media about the Urewera raids and trials where the 9/11 narrative is echoed. The globalisation of communication in partnership with a restricted and under-resourced Western media model has enabled this narrative to travel and be adopted, despite the realities of the local events not fitting.
Anthropologists must therefore take these issues of global discourse, global information sharing and the dominance of Western framing on important political and social issues into account. In anthropological studies, one must always position the situation within a global context to understand the extent of influence that outside cultures and ideas have, and vice versa, the impact that the issues being studied have outside the particular environment of study.
A clear link can be drawn between the discourses that surrounded the aftermath of 9/11 and those of the Urewera raids. This is evident in the way that meaning is constructed by State powers and the pre-emptive aggressive action based on thin evidence. This link can is illustrated in New Zealand's news media about the Urewera raids and trials where the 9/11 narrative is echoed. The globalisation of communication in partnership with a restricted and under-resourced Western media model has enabled this narrative to travel and be adopted, despite the realities of the local events not fitting.
Bibliography
antropologi.info [blog]. Why anthropologists should study news
media. Entry posted by ‘Lorenz’ June 4, 2010. Accessed October 11, 2012 at: http://www.antropologi.info/blog/anthropology/2010/why-anthropologists-should-study-news&sa=U&ei=F796UK7WBK7nmAWq_YDIAw&ved=0CAcQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNHZ5AnzdGQD3v_OGSr2bztMiBId_Q
Keenan, J. 2006. Conspiracy theories and ‘terrorists’: How the ‘war
on terror’ is placing new responsibilities on anthropology. Anthropology Today Vol#22 (#6): 4-9.
McCulloch, A. 2008. ‘Maori Terror Threat’: The dangers of the
post-9/11 narrative. Pacific Journalism
Review Vol#14 (#2): 205-217.
Savage Minds [blog]. Why
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Accessed October 11, 2012 savageminds.org/2010/01/26/3145/theage.com.au. Uploaded May 28, 2008. The dark craft of politics. Accessed October 13, 2012 at: http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/the-dark-craft-of-politics/2008/05/27/1211654026955.html
Kendzior, S. October 2, 2012 Academic paywalls mean publish and perish. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/10/20121017558785551.html Accessed October 11, 2012.
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