Today the Times cover photo and corresponding
story about the military coup in Mali caught my attention.
An intriguing
aspect of the piece was the cover photo. One glance told me it depicted a
military movement of some sort. Military happenings are prime areas from which to
harvest newsworthy material because they relate to the public’s safety and the
county’s global influence. Thus a military event, especially one dealing with extreme
Islamists like in this article, is a newsworthy morsel.
The cover picture
showing a ring of officers in camouflage also helps define what is newsworthy.
On the most superficial level, military personnel grab the public’s attention.
Whether walking through Logan airport or shown in a photo on the cover of the Times, people in uniform standout. Their
clothes signify that their job is important to the wellbeing of the entire
country, which draws attention and commands respect. Digging deeper into the
photo, all but one soldier is white, and the viewer only sees the back of the
one black soldier’s head and ears. Additionally nine out of ten soldiers appear
to be under thirty. There are no women in the picture. Repeatedly seeing young,
white men in powerful positions can send a subliminal message that youthful,
fair skinned people possess power.
Moving from
looking at the cover photo to reading, one line especially popped out at me. The
article surprisingly said, “A confidential internal review completed last July
by the Pentagon’s Africa Command concluded that the coup had unfolded too
quickly… to detect any clear warning sings.” Taking in these words, I had to
question how the Times had obtained
information about this “confidential internal review.” If this information were
true, how could the Times publish it? It’s “confidential,” right? Reading about
this government secret reminded me of Chomsky and Herman’s theory that the
government exercises great influence over the media. Maybe the government
wanted the Times to publish this “internal review” to explain and partially excuse
the US military’s failed attempt to control Mali.
The Time’s cover photo helps define what is
newsworthy but the newspaper sharing “confidential” government information
seems suspicious.
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