Analysis Of Baghdad Burning: The Blogosphere, Literature, And The Art Of War
The media tend to give information about dramatic issues that are considered "newsworthy" in order to trigger the audience's attention. This information leaves the audience with obscure knowledge about what is really happening behind the scenes. Wayne Hunt, the author of "Baghdad Burning: The Blogosphere, Literature and the Art of War,” talks about a certain type of media he refers to as the "new media,” blogging in this case, that gives valuable information regarding what is happening globally. This paper discusses two case studies that emphasize the type of information available in different types of blogs. The first case depicts the story of Riverbend, an Iraqi woman who blogs about what life is really like under American occupation. The
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The details in his blog filled an empty gap that was not covered by print or broadcast media. On one hand, his blog was informative about military life but it was highly discouraged by his superiors who feared a loss of control. After a while, U.S. service men and women were asked to submit their blog entries to supervising officers before they posted them on their blog. “How user-generated media can turn hierarchies on their heads” is a remarkable point mentioned by Hunt since the military and other hierarchies seem to care a lot about the information provided to the outsiders and the image it gives off. Hierarchies have been trying to eliminate the use of different websites that may cause a leakage of information they may want to hide from outsiders. However, the real question is why does it really matter to them if bored soldiers are just trying to express the way they feel during war, in the absence of their family and loved ones? One of the answers may reveal that soldiers are also victims of war like Riverbend which in turn affects the image of the U.S. military.
Despite the different sides they represent in war, Riverbend and Buzzell have a lot of things in common such as “numbness,” “boredom,” hatred of war, and harsh realities. They also use the same medium, blogging, as a way of letting out their emotions that build up from the difficulties they face every day. The information they produce to the outsiders is highly consumed which fills in the gaps that are uncovered in the
The details in his blog filled an empty gap that was not covered by print or broadcast media. On one hand, his blog was informative about military life but it was highly discouraged by his superiors who feared a loss of control. After a while, U.S. service men and women were asked to submit their blog entries to supervising officers before they posted them on their blog. “How user-generated media can turn hierarchies on their heads” is a remarkable point mentioned by Hunt since the military and other hierarchies seem to care a lot about the information provided to the outsiders and the image it gives off. Hierarchies have been trying to eliminate the use of different websites that may cause a leakage of information they may want to hide from outsiders. However, the real question is why does it really matter to them if bored soldiers are just trying to express the way they feel during war, in the absence of their family and loved ones? One of the answers may reveal that soldiers are also victims of war like Riverbend which in turn affects the image of the U.S. military.
Despite the different sides they represent in war, Riverbend and Buzzell have a lot of things in common such as “numbness,” “boredom,” hatred of war, and harsh realities. They also use the same medium, blogging, as a way of letting out their emotions that build up from the difficulties they face every day. The information they produce to the outsiders is highly consumed which fills in the gaps that are uncovered in the