This is evident with the early Cold War television reports often being scripted and sometimes produced by the defence establishment (Bernhard, 1999). The allegiance that the majority of the media took to government policy and the politicisation of its content began almost immediately with the start of the Cold War. While the actions of the state-owned Soviet media would not be expected to take a watchdog approach, what may have been surprising was the extent to which the western media took a mouthpiece position (Carruthers, 2011). When American aspirations for European capitalism seemed threatened media in both blocs jumped into action. The media’s role in the production, contribution and maintenance of Cold War antagonism cannot be understated. This change was accompanied along with the role of the media from a ‘mouthpiece’ of the state, to a more, prima facie, independent sector. During this time, the media’s predominant medium of communication evolved from radio and print into television. The Cold War is accepted to have lasted from 1947 to 1991. This is worthy of note because as broadcasting requires large amounts of funding centralised media is extremely susceptible to state control (Bernhard, 1999). This was prior to the popularity of decentralised media institutions such as electronic social media. During this time, the media predominantly consisted of, print, film, radio, and TV. To examine the media’s role in the production, contribution and maintenance of Cold War antagonism, it is important to first examine the media in the correct historical context. To begin, there will be a brief exploration of the historical context of the media followed by a detailed presentation of its actions. A Cold War proxy conflict and the involvement of the media will also be presented so as to offer a more detailed exploration of the media’s behaviour. The essay will also evidence how the main method of this was the development and distribution of political propaganda, both domestically and internationally. It will evidence how the media on both sides of the ideological division sort to produce, contribute and maintain political and cultural antagonism. This essay will serve as an introduction into the media’s role during the Cold War.
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