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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MARCH 26, 1982
PAGE 15
ON THE WORLD SCENE
THE ROLE OF THE PRESS IN "VIETNAM II" AND AMERICA'S IMMORAL STATE The news
media, especially television, now occupies such a pivotal role in American
life that wars and empires can be won or lost according to the manner of
news reporting. Moreover, members of the so-called "fourth estate," over
whelmingly non-religious by their own admission, are responsible in large
part for setting contemporary moral (or immoral) standards.
Recognizing the importance of the media, leftist guerrillas in El Salvador
astutely court U.S. as well as other Western news media in a determined
effort to "sell" their revolution. So far, the newsmen seem to be buying
their 1ine.
"We have to win the war inside the United States," said a
Salvadoran rebel leader attached to their
civilian
office
in Mexico
City.
An associate of his revealed that the rebels have learned the real lesson of
Vietnam, adding: "The American media, especially television, turned public
opinion against the war."
On location in El Salvador, the rebels employ "media relations officers,"
some even sporting three-piece suits intended to impress the news media
types wPo largely come from northeast or north central regions of the U.S.
The March 15, 1982 issue of NEWSWEEK described one such rebel PR man:
In his pocket he carries an up-to-date list of all the foreign
correspondents currently in the country, their hotel-room num
bers, a schedule of the precise times when the American tele
vision crews feed their taped reports to New York, a chart of
picture deadlines for the major news magazines and a list of
"closes" for the big American papers. "Winning the hearts and
minds of the international press is as important at the moment as
winning the hearts and minds of the Salvadoran people," he says.
"Winning the one now will help us win the other later."
It is not clear that he has made any converts in the press, but
his smooth professionalism certainly helps his cause•.•the Salva
doran guerrillas have been getting a relatively good press--and
the Salvadoran government a relatively bad one•.••In an angry
editorial entitled "The Media's War," the WALL STREET JOURNAL
last month charged that what it called "journalistic romanticiz
ing of revolutionaries" was giving Americans a distorted picture
of the conflict in El Salvador ••••Many American journalists in El
Salvador frankly admit••.that their coverage tends to favor the
left at the expense of the government and the extreme right••••
In an article in the WASHINGTON JOURNALISM REVIEW author Shirley Christian
analyzed over 500 news stories and broadcasts about the 1978-79 Nicaraguan
revolution by the NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST and CBS News. The press,
said Christian, viewed the Marxist Sandinistas through a "romantic haze,"
much as journalists sided with communist-backed forces during the 1936-39
Spanish Civil War. "Probably not since Spain has there been a more open
love affair," she observed. The media, she said, went on a "guilt trip."
They were delighted in the fall of dictator Anastacio Somoza and the fact
that the U.S. which had backed Somoza for years, had once again been proved
wrong. They could not, on the other hand, see the radical character of top
Sandinista leaders.