The Media and Politics Research Group at the University of Liverpool is pleased to announce their next research seminar for this year, taking place on Tuesday, 24 November, 4.30pm-6pm, Roxby Building, Seminar Room 202 (tea/coffee at 4.30pm, seminar starts at 4.45pm). All welcome!
Katy Parry, University of Liverpool
Warriors for liberation: How the British press visually framed the 2003 Iraq invasion as a humanitarian endeavour
While the Iraq invasion in 2003 was not framed as a ‘humanitarian intervention’ along the lines of the military action undertaken, for example, in Kosovo or Somalia in the 1990s, the rhetoric of bringing liberation, democratisation and human rights to the Iraqi people was widely advanced by the coalition and their supporters as a legitimating reason for war. This paper is primarily concerned with the role that British press photography played in legitimating or challenging this crucial framing during the Iraq invasion in Spring 2003. Which newspapers were most likely to print images of aid deliveries and welcoming Iraqis? Through what kinds of imagery and news discourse were civilian hostilities and negative humanitarian consequences emphasised? To what extent did the overriding ideals of liberation and democracy interlock (symbolically and textually) with the pictured military-civilian encounters on the ground? The ‘humanitarian motivation’ frame, despite its ‘oxymoronic’ complexities (Der Derian 2000: 773), invites the public to reflect on the supposedly altruistic actions of our leaders and military in a war of choice. For this very reason, in my opinion, this particular framing also invites keen critical attention.
Please visit the website http://www.liv.ac.uk/polcomm/mediapol for details. If you are interested in the series and would like more information, or would like to be included on the mailing list, please email the organisers:
Dr Katia Balabanova ([log in to unmask])
Ms Katy Parry ([log in to unmask])
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Dr Katia Balabanova
Lecturer in Political Communication
Department of Communication and Media
Roxby Building
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 7ZT
UK
tel +44 151 794 2656
fax +44 151 794 3948
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.liverpool.ac.uk/polcomm
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