The Media and the Gulf War: The Press and Democracy in Wartime.

• Author: Dennis, Mark

During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the news media -- a pillar of the American democratic system -- were constrained by government censorship and exclusionary tactics. These events created exceptional tensions between the two institutions and generated a heated discourse on the role of the media in wartime. In The Media and the Gulf War, Hedrick Smith sets out to explore "...the continuing tensions between the clashing demands of discipline and freedom, secrecy and honesty, cohesion and dissent, the military and the press, the First Amendment and national security," as exemplified in the Gulf War. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times presents the critical aspects of this conflict through articles written by many of the war's participants, from government policy makers, military spokesmen, media critics and journalists.

Smith has tried to assemble a balanced collection of voices to discuss these issues. His objectivity and use of writings by those who were on the frontlines are refreshing; many of the earlier articles and books on the media and the Gulf War were written by pundits who tend to advance particular ideologies or political positions, usually from the detached comfort of an ivory tower. Smith's attempt at objectivity, however, draws him into a trap common to journalists: The book only touches on the surface of these issues, whetting the reader's appetite without delving more deeply into analysis.

The book consists of 63 articles -- most of which were previously published in establishment publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and various military or media reviews, as well as transcripts from speeches made in Congress and at the National Press Club. Most of the authors are American, including such household names such as Pete Williams, Walter Cronkite, Peter Arnett and Dick Cheney. It is interesting to note that one of the few articles by a non-American, noted British journalist Robert Fisk, was also the only article to be. included from an alternative publication, Mother Jones.

Smith divides the book into two rather disparate sections, the first of which looks at the reactions to and the effects of the Pentagon's press policy. The second section takes a critical look at the performance of the media. The first half, which attempts to address the general dynamics of the press-government relationship in wartime, requires deeper analysis than Smith can provide in this format. The...