Anti-Americanism and American Exceptionalism by O'Connor Brendon;

Author:O'Connor, Brendon;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2020-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

In this chapter, I have examined two Australian case studies to ascertain whether they truly show the marks of “anti-Americanism” or whether they can be viewed as simply valid criticism. In the case of Wilfred Burchett, it would seem charges of inaccuracy and anti-Americanism were most warranted. In the case of the ABC’s AM journalists Linda Mottram and John Shovelan, the attempt to discredit their coverage of the Iraq War was excessive and politically indulgent. Indeed, it represented part of a concerted campaign by the Howard and Bush governments to paint the Iraq conflict in the best possible light. When one compares the fabrication and obvious bias of Burchett with the largely objective coverage of the ABC journalists, the incongruity of the two being placed together in the same category makes a very good case for a more critical and differentiated view of anti-Americanism. Ultimately, greater honesty and accountability may well be the best defence against anti-Americanism. Fighting a war and adhering to the basic principles of democracy is not going to be easy but, in the long term, transparency is the best weapon in the war of ideas and perceptions. Such transparency can only be achieved when a term such as anti-Americanism is given a real and clear definition. Therefore, as I stated earlier in this chapter, anti-Americanism is a serious claim, akin to prejudice. Scholars have an important role pointing out where reasonable criticism has falsely been called anti-Americanism for political point-scoring purposes.

Notes

1 John Pilger, “Preface,” in Burchett Reporting the Other Side of the World 1939–1983, ed. Ben Kiernan (Melbourne: Quartet Books, 1986); Ben Kiernan, “Introduction,” in Ibid.

2 Robert Manne, “Wilfred Burchett and the KGB,” The Monthly, August 2013, <https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2013/august/1375315200/robert-manne/wilfred-burchett-and-kgb>.

3 Richard Alston, “Alston Seeks Urgent Investigation into AM’s Iraq Coverage,” May 28, 2003; Annabel Crabb, “Alston Threatens ABC with Censor,” Age, May 29, 2003. <http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/28/1053801445726.html>. It is interesting that this bias was being discussed at the same time as the media coverage of the 60th anniversary of the worst aviation disaster on Australian soil – the crash of a US Air force bomber in 1943 killing 40 men (with one sole survivor). This event was censored by the Australian and US governments of the day; the result of this censorship is that this event is still not widely known about in Australia. More alarmingly, it is estimated that in 2003, 22 of the 40 American families who lost relatives in the disaster still did not even know that the crash had occurred, let alone that it had happened in Australia. ABC, “Anniversary of Australia’s Worst Air Disaster,” June 14, 2003, <http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s879788.htm>. Other prominent examples of less-than-truthful media coverage during war include the bombing of the Australian city of Darwin in 1942, which was largely kept a secret from the public, and the far from honest communiqués of Douglas MacArthur during WWII. See Tony Griffiths, Beautiful Lies (Kent Town: Wakefield Press, 2005), 4–5, for information on the Darwin bombings and Paul Ham, Kokoda (Sydney: Harper Collins, 2004) for details on MacArthur.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.