Information flow and the 2003 Iraq War: A global perspective

"The International Flow of Information during the 2003 Iraq War" offers a revealing and in-depth look at the media's reporting of the war between 2003 and 2006. A theoretical framework which incorporates paradigms and theories of information flow and a model for the construction of news is presented in the earlier chapters. The model comprises a selection line which highlights news filters and a processing line in which aspects such as agenda- setting, news framing, the use of sources and propaganda are addressed. An interesting case study illustrates how the then President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair set the agenda for the war, their ideal for a democracy in Iraq and how media globally reported on the events of the war. The latter part of the book applies the theoretical framework presented in the earlier chapters to systematically and critically analyse the manner in which selected online newspapers, representative of countries at different levels of the world system, reported on the war. The book is a valuable resource for both students and scholars who are interested in the field of international communication.