Don't Mention the War: The Australian Defence Force, the Media and the Afghan Conflict

Description

This book examines Australian media coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Kevin Foster demonstrates how the military's public affairs personnel have taken over many of the roles traditionally performed by reporters, and shows the restrictive effect of this on media coverage. This tight media management is contrasted with the more open approach of Dutch and Canadian militaries in Afghanistan, a fact Foster explains through reference to the different positions of the military within these different nations. As opposed to the Dutch and the Canadians, who had reputations to rebuild, the almost uniquely exalted position of the military in Australia has enabled and driven a media strategy tailored to defend the Australian military's high social standing. In Australian media coverage, Foster goes on to argue, the war in Afghanistan has then functioned as another platform for the celebration of national military virtues. What has been offered is less a representation of action than an affirmation of identity, less a chronicle of unfolding events than a testament to immutable character.

Kevin Foster was born in Manchester in 1961 and has degrees from the University of Manchester, the University of Saskatchewan and Monash University. He currently teaches Media and Cultural Studies at Monash University. He has written widely on war, cultural history and national identity and his work has appeared in a range of national and international journals. His books include a study of the Falklands Conflict, Fighting Fictions: War, Narrative and National Identity (1999), What are we doing in Afghanistan? The Military and the Media at War (2009) and The Information Battlefield: Representing Australians at War (2011).

It is an important question of our time. Why is this longest war in Afghanistan Australia's worst reported war? Kevin Foster's thorough and insightful analysis delivers important answers. -- Chris Masters