The complex relationship between the United States and Japan lends itself to mutual distrust. For Japan, the scars left by 1853 (when U.S. gunships forced Japan to allow U.S. trade access), the turn-of-the century "yellow peril" bigotry, and the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are deep and enduring. For the U.S., where memories of Pearl Harbor are still painful, the relationship has recently become more difficult, as the U.S. recession deepens and Japanese politicians disparage the United States. The situation is only worsened when U.S. media substitute facile xenophobic notions for clear-eyed analysis. The recent 50th anniversary of [...]
Search Results for: Margaret Quigley
Nov
01
1991
Uncritical Coverage of the '2nd Russian Revolution'
The enormous press coverage generated by the recent coup attempt in the Soviet Union soon resolved itself into several recurring themes: the lionization of Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin that obscured his troubling political history; a misrepresentation of the history of the Baltic states coupled with a shallow explanation of resurgent nationalism in the Baltic nations and the Soviet republics; an uncritical overreliance on conservatives as experts on the Soviet Union; and a wholehearted embrace of U.S.-style capitalism and George Bush. THE LIONIZATION OF BORIS YELTSIN The press' uncritical promotion of Yeltsin led it to dismiss troubling aspects of his [...]
May
01
1990
The Anti-Semitic Roots of Eastern European Nationalism
Press coverage of the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe in late 1989 and early 1990 has failed to provide adequate context concerning the anti-Semitic and fascist currents in Eastern European nationalism. As the New York Times has noted (10/8/89), the term "nationalist" has a "more extremist connotation here [in Eastern Europe] than in the West." But most reporting on Eastern Europe's nationalist movements, including that of the Times, has been rife with euphemistic references to "Christian values" and "Christian nationalism" without an explanation of the historic anti-Semitism that echoes in such rhetoric. News coverage of Eastern Europe has generally overlooked [...]
