Abstract
A key contention in recent writing on the subject of media and war is that an unprecedented ‘chaos’ has arrived now that technology enables the production and dissemination of images anywhere, instantly, by journalists and non-journalists alike (McNair, 2006; Tumber and Webster, 2006). Images such as those from Abu Ghraib, or of the Iraqi twelve-year-old All Abbas who lost his arms in a bombing raid, are held to epitomise the unruly information battlefield, threatening the capacity of state governments to control news and undermining the stability of state legitimacy. At the centre of such debates is the human body, and in particular representations of the suffering, injured, or dead body. Television news retains a peculiar position with regard to these representations; despite the excesses of the medium elsewhere, television news is still held as a bastion of taste and decency. In the first part of this chapter, we deal with this ‘body paradox’.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2007 Andrew Hoskins and Ben O’Loughlin
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hoskins, A., O’Loughlin, B. (2007). The Distant Body. In: Television and Terror. New Security Challenges Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230592810_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230592810_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-22902-0
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-59281-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)