Falklands-Malvinas War

The Falklands-Malvinas War took place from April until June 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom. From Argentina's side, it was a struggle for recovering a long-demanded sovereignty of these South Atlantic islands. For the United Kingdom, it was a response to Argentina's invasion of British territory. The war culminated in British victory. The conflict embodied a significant event for war communication because despite the development and availability of technologically sophisticated global media, the geographical hindrances allowed each country control over the information given to its citizens.

At the time of the war, Argentina was ruled by a military dictatorship that had begun to lose momentum. The dictatorship's decline resulted from national objections to economic mismanagement as well as internal and external disapproval of human rights violations. In Great Britain, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was losing support. After the war, the military government in Argentina resigned, and constitutional elections were called. Meanwhile, opinions of Thatcher improved and facilitated her reelection in 1983.

The Falklands-Malvinas War is considered a communication conflict particularly because the distant location made for difficult live transmissions. Except for the few inhabitants of the islands, the events became real for the world, including the belligerent countries' populations, exclusively through media coverage and government statements. Consequently, the possibilities for manipulation and censorship were high, and both sides provided their constituencies with incomplete or false information.

There were shortcomings in the diplomacy and crisis management not only caused by the involved parties but also by the international community. Mediation attempts presented by the United Nations, the U.S. secretary of state, the Organization of American States, and the president of Peru failed. Although the European Community and the United States announced economic sanctions against Argentina, the majority of Latin American nations approved the country's claim.

The military government in Argentina used the advantages of the location and their control over national media. The first pictures and commentaries on the war seen by the world came from Argentina. The sinking of the ship Belgrano outside the war operations zone briefly brought the international public opinion to Argentina's side. Also, the sinking of the British destroyer Sheffield was presented successfully as a consequence of the Argentine possession of more powerful weapons. When the situation turned more favorable for Britain, the propaganda machine of the Argentine government manipulated the facts into suitable interpretations that preserved the optimistic national public opinion until the end. From the British side, no centralized propaganda campaign existed. The British media were theoretically free to publish their points of view. However, the U.K. government did not facilitate access to information for foreign journalists, and the national media complained after the conflict about the news distribution from governmental departments.