Can the media change the world?
In the aftermath of James Foley’s death, we witnessed the positive power of the media. We saw stories of a life well lived, the people he touched and the impact of his work on the front lines of combat. Journalists with huge followings shared the link to his memorial scholarship so someone could become, in the words of his good friend Tom Durkin, a “little Foley.”
But there’s also a dark side to the media stories.
Why was James Foley targeted and why did ISIS want the whole world to see? There’s a reason why his killers executed him in such a public fashion and put the video on YouTube. Did news outlets who repeatedly showed images from that gruesome video play into their hands?
“CNN giving ISIS millions $ worth of free air time this week,” tweeted Max Fisher from Vox.com. “Helping them humiliate Jim Foley and traumatize his loved ones is a free bonus.”
In the wake of this news, Brian Castner wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about what it shows about the changing nature of warfare. Castner, a Marquette engineering alumnus who became a bomb-diffusing technician, has also written a book (“The Long Walk”) about his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“The United States launches airstrikes, targeting columns of Islamic State troops, but also specific leaders within the organization,” Castner wrote in the Post. “The Islamic State strikes back against the most prominent target available to them, James Foley… Foley was a tragic unwilling participant, executed for the crime of being American.”
The fact that wars are fought in part through media channels is not new. During the world wars countries used propaganda advertisements to rally their own homefront and dropped leaflets behind enemy lines. During Vietnam the body count number broadcast on the nightly news helped turn the public tide against the war.
The power to reach and influence is the power to change the world.
The only difference now is that the messages are even more ubiquitous and overwhelming. You can’t get away from them by turning off your TV or putting down a newspaper. They’re streamed onto your phone and shared by your friends.
But since we’re all participants of the modern media, you are responsible for how you consume and distribute the news.
So can the media change the world? Absolutely — for better or for worse. It’s up to all of us to make sure it’s better, not worse.
On the evening of James Foley’s death, Marquette journalism alum Sarah Butler implored people on Twitter to read about his life’s work and not share the video of his death.
Share this, instead, she wrote.
