9/11: When The Answer Was Not As Simple As Bad And Good.

"He [George W. Bush] failed the American public by starting the Iraq War, much as the news media failed the American public in their coverage of 9/11." Rodger Streitmatter in "Mightier than the Sword"



http://11sep.info/



Immediately after 9/11 attacks the mainstream media focused on answering questions related to what, where, who and when and failed in answering the why question, bringing massive consequences to America. One of them was the right away public acceptance of George W. Bush’s answer: “Terrorists are bad and America is good.” (Streitmatter 244)



George W. Bush
by Google images



They never mentioned the essential information for better understanding of complex and multidimensional international issues and historical relationships neither did they bring to the public eyes the cultural nor religious differences that were related to those issues. Therefore, it led the American public to think the only reason for the attack was on political grounds.

From that point on, George W Bush kept on reinforcing that “Freedom itself has been attacked […], and freedom will be defended.” (Streitmatter 244) With that statement he let it clear that the reason that the World Trade Center had been attacked was because the attackers hated the U.S. “freedom, tolerance, prosperity, religious pluralism, universal suffrage.” (Streitmatter 245)

9/11 by Brian Bezalel

 However, the internet put itself a step ahead and brought up Osama Bin Laden’s statement that was issued in 1998. In that statement, Bin Laden saw himself as a heroic figure who wanted to defend what he believed and be free of the Western influence that threated his faith and culture. He also criticized America by pointing out 3 major factors: America’s military operation in Saudi Arabia was a violation of holy sites (Mecca and Medina), America’s economic and military power were used to weaken Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan so they could be used as puppet and the Gulf War was a horrendous massacre.

Bin Laden

http://newsone.com/world/associated-press/bin-laden-encourages-somalian-rebellion/



That was when Vice President Dick Cheney showed up relating Iraq with the leader of 9/11 attacks and saying that they had nuclear power in their possession. Following Cheney’s footsteps, George Bush not only related Iraq with the 9/11 terrorists but also alerted public of possible attacks at any moment. Consequently, he decided that the best way to protect “freedom” and revenge the 3,000 innocent deaths was to go into war with Iraq, so that would weaken Al-Qaeda and the Taliban as well as go in search of the nuclear power that Iraq was told to have.



Dick Cheney by Los Angeles Time

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-dick-cheney-bin-laden-20110502,0,739324.story?track=rss



However, it was not much after that that Paul O’Neill, Bush’s former treasury secretary, came with evidences that Bush had gone to war not to revenge the innocent deaths “but to advance a preconceived and highly politicized foreign policy agenda.”(Streitmatter 252) That was the moment in which public dissatisfaction grew exponentially.  

Paul O'Neill by Google Images

The latest news on Bin Laden says that, after escaping capture in so many occasions for nearly 10 years, he no longer lives. DNA has confirmed he was killed by U.S. troops in Pakistan a week ago. 

President Barack Obama on Bin Laden's death
by Associated Press

Americans are celebrating this remarkable moment in the world history. America's haters and Bin Laden's supporters are protesting. Some people are skeptical and ask for pictures as proof of his death, so they can believe that the U.S. is not just playing the re-election campaign game in favor of the Barack Obama. However, the truth is the death of Bin Laden does not mark the end of Al-Qaeda. Even though we all wish they perish and just end all this war peacefully, honestly, it is hard for me to believe that peace can be found after a very long war. The question that remains is: Is the world less or more safe with Osama Bin Laden's death?

Chapter 8: Father Coughlin, Fomenting Anti-Semitism via the Radio

"Father Coughlin had a voice like honey, but his message was pure evil," Rodger Streimatter in "Mightier that the Sword."

Father Couglin
http://undercoverblackman.blogspot.com/2007/08/father-coughlin-and-jews.html

Among many historical episodes in which media play a very important role, Roger Streitmatter cites Father Coughlin and his Anti-Semitism message that “Jews were evil, money-hungry conspirators who had infiltrated American life and were destroying every value that Christian people held sacred”. I chose this chapter because radio became a powerful tool to reach the masses and drive changes; however, instead of fulfilling its democratic role, it was used by Father Coughlin to spread Anti-Semitism and violence.

Father Coughlin in Action

(by Candour Magazine on YouTube)

Looking forward to spread “the word” with his innovative means, Father Coughlin, who was assigned to be a pastor of a new church in the suburb of Detroit, approached Detroit radio station WJR and asked to broadcast a weekly sermon based on the news events. Initially, he attacked economic matters; then, he jumped to politics. As his voice was captivating, people would gather around the radio and listen to the words of the man of God.

His attacks caused authorities to doubt of his tactics and CBS to refuse to renew his contract in order to avoid trouble. After complaining about his freedom being violated, Father Coughlin founded the National Union of Social Justice, and later on his weekly tabloid called Social Justice that printed scripts of his broadcasts. In both air waves and tabloid, he would establish his Anti-Semitist feeling through stereotypes and insinuation. He even accused Jews of being the in a global conspiracy to ensure communism; then, he argued that Jewish bankers plotted and financed the Revolution in 1917.

http://archives.lib.cua.edu/education/politics/1936-chided.cfm

 After those accusations, many Catholics leaders renounced him and the Cardinal George Mundelein of Chicago said that Father Coughlin was welcome to express his opinions; however, he was not authorized to speak for the Catholic Church or represent the doctrines and sentiments of the Church.

As a response to that, Father Coughlin took a very shocking step; he started advocating violence as a response to the social ills that had been instigated by the Jews. Coughlin critics formed the Friends of Democracy to remove the priest from the air, and several large radio stations refused to air his broadcast. As it wasn’t economic feasible to continue broadcasting, he retired.

Father Coughlin in action.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/fcspeech.html

Social Justice continued to attack the Jews saying they were the cause of World War II. As people like Father Coughlin were no longer tolerated, officials stepped up and took direct action to quiet him; they seized his paper and nosiness records. However, it was needed more than that to silence Father Coughlin’s thoughts. Authorities of the Catholic Church had to order him to choose between ceasing all his non-religious activities or be expelled from his religious duties. That was when he disappeared from public’s eyes.

This chapter not only shows us how powerful words can be when reached the masses but also how radio is a very important part of spreading the word and propelling changes, in Streitmatter’s words, “not necessarily by appealing to the best in human nature.”

Chapter 3: Slowing the Momentum for Women's Rights

I chose this chapter because it was the exception. In the other 3 chapters of "Mightier than the Sword" by Rodger Streitmatter, media changed history bringing revolution towards freedom, giving life to the Abolitionist Movement by putting people together against the sins of slavery, attacking corruption and showing the society that democracy would work in their favor. However, media did nothing but to ignore Women’s Right until the point that few women reached higher position in the media and made their rights something to be heard.

History of Women's Rights by dizzo95, YouTube

NPS
First class postage from 1948 commemorating the
First Women's Rights Convention.
http://www.nps.gov/wori/historyculture/people.htm

   The possibility of women rights started to rise, and that took powerful men to feel threatened with the thought of sharing their control with women. As the typical eighteen-century women reached a place in society based on her husband’s identity, they were considered incapable of important decision making. Also, they were narrowed to their home and kept away from everything that was not involved in the women sphere. Tired of being undermined, women turned against the powerful men who limited everything from their role in society to their abilities. As a result, they found in the Abolitionists steps the encouragement they needed to reach their goals and use the media as a mean to express their hope of neutralizing the male dictatorship that was a barrier to their progress. Even though the institution of journalism was pervasive, it was out of reach of the women sphere; therefore, they were simply ignored.



Elizabeth Cady Stanton (seated) with Susan B. Anthony (standing)
http://www.thewisconsinnews.com/not-for-ourselves-alone-elizabeth-cady-stanton-and-susan-b-anthony/


 As result of the dynamic partnership betweenElizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony, Seneca Falls marked the beginning of Women’s Rights Movement. The convention brought up themes such as social, civil, and religious rights of women.

Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls. July, 1848
http://yourdailyhistorylesson.tumblr.com/post/671838167/seneca-falls-convention

Ignoring the newspapers attack, Stanton and Anthony founded The Revolution, a newsletter about meeting locations.

http://www.feministsforlife.org/FeminismCourse/revolution.htm

Despite all the effort, victory only came on the beginning of the 20th Century because of the emphasis on efficiency and productivity that allowed women to work on the media field where they could focus in the women suffrage. It wasn’t long after that that Harriot Stanton Blatch founded the Women’s Political Union that appealed to working class women and organized suffrage parades.

Suffragettes campaigning during a by-election, 1910.
Museum of London: http://www.heritage-images.com/Preview/PreviewPage.aspx?id=1192024&pricing=true&licenseType=RM

Alice Paul stepped forward and mobilized public demonstrations that pushed the movement towards a constitutional amendment. In 1913, the National Woman’s Party was founded.

Associated Press, hairwoman Alice Paul, second from left, and officers of the
National Woman's Party, June 1920
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/July-August-08/On-this-Day--19th-Amendment-Gives-Women-Right-to-Vote.html

Only after seventy two years since Seneca Falls, women suffrage became the law in 1920; that was the first of many victory towards women's rights.

Nowadays, we still find ourselves fighting against sexists that want to slow down our empowerment in our work space as well as in society. The beauty of all this fight is that one victory leads to another, and we see ourselves growing stronger and more determined than never before.

Mightier than the Sword: Seeds of Revolution

Google Images: ebooks-imgs

Rodger Streitmatter, in "Mightier than the Sword", brings a matter that I have never payed attention to. He points out that history has been shaped by News Media for at least five hundred years. In order to validate his point of view about how important and influential  the news media is upon the society, he put together fifteen episodes in history in which news media played a critical role.

In "Sowing the Seeds of revolution", he shows how the political background of the American Revolution had a great impact on the social and economic aspects. As usual, money is one of the reason that people get into disagreements; consequently, cutting costs and/or not raising enough money to satisfy everyone is the reason of the the changes in the colonial way to think.

 

Samuel Adams
http://www.gunshowonthenet.com/SecondAmend/RightsoftheColonists.html

As the ideas of independece started to appear among the people, Sam Adams with his purpose of building enough opposition used the "Journal of Occurences" as a mean to take people to their limits and explore the idea of freedom from the British. Therefore, he started defaming the British soldiers by posting how they were mistreating the law-abiding citizens. Also, he posted about their brutalities against women, even though they were not truth, he got people to read what he has to say. As a result, radical patriots reported immediately on the violence of the Boston Massacre leading the soldiers to leave Boston.

 

Thomas Paine
http://www.moonstoneartscenter.org/category/thomas-paine/

Tom Paine came along with his inspiring words leading to the final and decisive phase of the revolution. In Common Sense, he would argue that "men and women not only deserved, but were obligated as citizens of the human race, to demand much more." (17) Besides opening people's eyes againg the British monarchy and constitution, he inspired soldiers of the Continental Army to keep on fighting for their freedom what led them to the victory in the Trenton. His words not only made people to commite themselves to social causes but also changed the track of our history.