Information at War. Philip Seib

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Information at War

      Journalism, Disinformation, and Modern Warfare

      Philip Seib

      polity

Copyright Page

      Copyright © Philip Seib 2021

      The right of Philip Seib to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First published in 2021 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

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      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4856-9

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4857-6 (pb)

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Seib, Philip M., 1949- author.

      Title: Information at war : journalism, disinformation, and modern warfare / Philip Seib.

      Description: Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA : : Polity Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A smart, wide-ranging introduction to the role of information in warfare from WWI to Russiagate”-- Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2020047011 (print) | LCCN 2020047012 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509548569 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509548576 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509548583 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Mass media and war. | War in mass media. | Information warfare. | War--Press coverage. | Disinformation. | Propaganda--Technological innovations.

      Classification: LCC P96.W35 S45 2021 (print) | LCC P96.W35 (ebook) | DDC 070.4/333--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047011

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047012

      by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

      The publisher has used its best endeavors to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

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Epigraph

      A great part of the information obtained in war is contradictory, a still greater part is false, and by far the greatest part is of doubtful character.

Carl von Clausewitz, On War

Preface and Acknowledgments

      I have been writing about media and war for several decades, focusing mostly on 20th- and early 21st-century conflicts. “Media” in that context meant mostly traditional print and broadcast journalism, and cases such as the Vietnam War and Iraq War provided plenty to write about.

      Then came the media explosion: regional and global satellite television channels that could sail above many of the world’s borders, and the internet-based information venues that made obsolete the notion of the “audience” as merely a passive recipient of information. Within the span of a few years, many of the nearly 8 billion people on the planet had access not just to unprecedented quantities of journalism, but also information about health, education, making a living, and other essential topics (with some cat videos added to the mix).

      The democratization of the information process has had profound effects. When George Floyd was killed on a Minneapolis street in May 2020, how did we find out about it? A bystander captured the horrific episode on a cellphone camera, and within a short time the video could be seen by much of the world. When Bashar al-Assad murdered his own people with chemical weapons, how did we learn it had happened? Some brave Syrians filmed and described events and posted the information online. Again, the world became a witness.

Information is powerful, and if it is accurate and meaningful, the more the better; the public benefits. But the new information venues also lend themselves to manipulation, including governments’ efforts to destabilize other nations’ political systems. Such weaponization of information requires countermeasures that depend on the public understanding the components of media literacy. Meanwhile, militaries are finding that information can be a valuable supplement to conventional weaponry, making their own efforts more effective and undermining adversaries’ willingness to fight.

      These are complex and vital matters. This book is designed to stimulate thinking about the past, present, and future of information at war.

       Acknowledgments

      Several of my students at the University of Southern California (USC) served as my research assistants during the writing of this book: Adriana Robakowski, Felix Bartos, and Fatime Uruci. They worked hard, and I thank them all. Also at USC, I have consistently been supported by Annenberg School Dean Willow Bay and Journalism School Director Gordon Stables.

      Others who helped include another USC student, Christopher Cheshire, who provided some bibliographic material, and an international array who read parts of the manuscript and supplied comments and specialized material: Mariami Khatiashvili, Barbora Maronkova, Di Wu, and Mohamed Zayani. They all have my gratitude.

      Polity Books is once again a wonderful partner. Publisher Louise Knight and her assistant Inès Boxman are quick and thorough in all editorial matters, and they are consistently a pleasure to work with. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers whom Polity asked to read my draft manuscript. Their suggestions were most helpful.

      Much of my writing took place amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation. I was buoyed by the friendship of Anita Yagjian. Special thanks to Machiavelli (Mac) Seib, my canine companion and editorial assistant, who helped me retain a bit of sanity by requiring frequent trips outdoors.

Introduction

      Rage – Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’s son Achilles,

      murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses,

      hurtling down to the House of Death so many