Iraq War, Media Coverage of

American news media coverage of the Iraq War largely followed the same trends found by scholars who were examining coverage of prior conflicts involving the United States since at least the Vietnam War. Consistent with prior research, before and early in the war, antiwar protesters were more likely to be framed negatively than were pro-war demonstrators. Furthermore, during the war's initial phase, from March 19, 2003, when the United States bombing began, to the fall of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square on April 9, press coverage tended to be episodic, casualty free, and pro-American, especially on Fox News Channel (FNC). For example, studies have shown that American broadcast news channels aired more than five times as many shots of firefights and ...