Media Supported Soldiers During Deployments Iraq and Afghanistan Essay

Media Supported Soldiers During Deployments Iraq and Afghanistan - Essay Example The US army played an instrumental in weakening one of the largest terrorist organizations in the world; Al-Qaeda. The use of images, interviews and consistent reporting from the war on terror-afflicted areas created a connection between the public and those deployed for the purpose of eliminating the roots of terrorism. The sense of empathy and national pride that came into being was as a result of the successive efforts of the media forces. Media is an important tool that was available to the government to create an understanding between the public and the government regarding the effects and consequences of the war on terror. And the media certainly rose to the crisis as from programmes such as the Larry King show, Oprah Winfrey show, and news broadcasts of BBC, Sky News, and Fox News all outlined the risks borne by the army and the sacrifices which were being made for the sake of eliminating terrorism. MySpace and Face book are two social networking communities which have millions of users and this very access makes them a significant media force. Users of these networks include international users from all age groups hence, making the access all that influential. Face book in reference to the role that was played by it in terms of making the nation and the international world was certainly significant. Numerous supporting groups were created for the army forces and many groups were created by all those proud of the efforts of the army hence, initiating a positive movement. (Techtree News Staff ,2008). MySpace being a social networking website with a interactive set-up allows the users to create vides, pictures and profiles. During the war on terror, there was an influx of images and videos which were uploaded which were all connected to the actual sacrifices and efforts which were being undertaken by the US troops in order to create an understanding amongst the people of what the actual picture was. The communities that were created were as a result quite successful amongst the users and the influx of popular votes for polls conducted regarding the war on terror were actually used an indicator regarding the public opinion of the war. The comments page, blogs, groups and bulletins were all used as a technique of gathering public support and hence, the role which was played by these social networking websites was much greater than could have been deduced. All those soldiers and their families were able to receive support from unknown users of these websites who had been unaware till the active use of these websites which awakened a sense of social conscience. (Story,2008) The international users were able to have access to these videos and images as well and the users in fact created groups to show support for the soldiers who had made so many sacrifices for the sake of others. This sense of realization was played