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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010334904 | DS79.767.M37 K56 2014 | Open Access Book | 1:BOOKREF | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
Situating Obama's end-of-war discourse in the historical context of the 2001 terrorist attacks, Obama, the Media, and Framing the U.S. Exit from Iraq and Afghanistan begins with a detailed comparison with the Bush war-on-terror security narrative before examining elements of continuity and change in post-9/11 elite rhetoric. Erika King deftly employs two case studies of presidential and media framing - the weeks surrounding the formal announcements of Obama's December 2009 'surge-then-exit' strategy from Afghanistan and the end of combat operations in Iraq in August 2010 - to explore the role of mass media in presenting presidential narratives of war and finds evidence of an interpretive disconnect between the media and a president seeking to present a more nuanced approach to keeping America safe. Eloquently scrutinizing Obama's discourse on the U.S. exit from two post-9/11 wars and contrasting the presidential endgame frame with the U.S. mainstream media's narratives of the wars' meaning, accomplishments, and denouement provides a unique combination of qualitative content analysis and topical case studies and makes this volume an ideal resource for scholars and researchers grappling with the complicated and ever-evolving nexus of war, the president, and the media.
Author Notes
Erika G. King is Professor of Political Science at Grand Valley State University. She previously also served as Chair of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences at GVSU. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University, and has published in the field of political communication and political psychology.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
In 1966, Aaron Wildavsky claimed that "Since World War II, presidents have had much greater success in controlling the nation's foreign and defense policies than in dominating its domestic policies." King (Grand Valley State Univ.) shows through a content analysis of President Obama's public statements about and the five major media outlets' coverage of the denouements of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that 21st-century presidents may wield less influence over media accounts of their military policy than it might follow from Wildavsky's thesis. King finds that Obama quickly adopted George W. Bush's "master terror narrative" on the necessity of a "globalized war on terror" that would "not contradict America's most cherished principles." The "messy" outcomes of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, however, handicapped Obama's efforts to use this American exceptionalist narrative to steer media coverage of his exit strategies in a positive direction. While King's findings will not surprise readers familiar with the scholarship on rhetorical and media framing, her work can profit anyone interested in presidents' efforts to shape media coverage of wars that "end with a slow fade to black" rather than a surrender ceremony on an aircraft carrier. --Ronald P. Seyb, Skidmore College
