This book examines British and Argentine media output in the prelude to
and during the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas Conflict and acknowledges the
aftermath and legacies of the media response.
Yards of ink have been spilt, reinforcing the view that the Argentine
Junta's action on 2nd April 1982 was a 'diversion' from domestic
tensions. This view, coupled with the paucity of any thorough, in-depth
analysis afforded to Argentine media aspects of the War - particularly
the press - necessitates this volume's copious international study of
the Conflict. Uniquely, US media output is also analysed alongside
Britain's and Argentina's, all drawing upon Cold War historiography and
media theory, with a view to contesting the traditional consensus that
media outlets merely reflected government opinion during the Crisis,
providing almost no effective dissent. Asserting media and culture
influenced the climatic decision-making process of key actors in the
Conflict, this book's triangulated approach explores the integral,
influencing role played therein by culture, and how it was not only
instrumental to government actions, but also to Argentine, British and
US media output.
This book's revisionist approach makes it a reference point for any
nascent research on Falklands/Malvinas media reporting and Argentine and
international approaches-particularly the US-to the 1982 Conflict.