1. The Media and Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003
Prof. Phil Taylor
Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK

2. The media as a mirror of official national policy positions
In the US, largely pro-war
In Germany, France and Russia, largely anti-war
In Britain, media were split
In Spain and Italy, media anti-war but Spanish government openly pro-war, Berlusconi silently pro-war

3. US TV Coverage
20 March - 9 April, 1617 Iraqi stories examined on 6 evening network news (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox and PBS)
64% of sources used were pro-war, 71% of guests were pro-war

4. International Image of US
Pew Research Centre survey, March 2003, revealed that 35% of Italians viewed US positively, as cf. 70% in 2002
In Spain, only 14% had favourable image

5. Embedding the Media
600 print, radio and TV reporters accompanied the troops
The British reporters ‘pooled’ their copy; US reporters did not
Another 1000 unilaterals; 14 killed
‘We were looking at the battlefield through 600 straws. It was difficult to contextualize it’ (Paul Slavin, Exec Prod of ABC’s ‘World News Tonight’)