Silencing the opposition : antinuclear movements and the media in the Cold War
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Silencing the opposition : antinuclear movements and the media in the Cold War
（The history of communication）
University of Illinois Press, c1999
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
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ISBN 9780252025105
Description
Some of the most important strategic decisions of our times can be traced to compelling official fictions, such as Kennedy's "missile gap" and Reagan's "window of vulnerability." Exploring links between nuclear arms policy and the visibility of oppositional groups in the media, Andrew Rojecki assesses the extent to which antinuclear movements have succeeded in debunking official fictions, raising public consciousness, and reorienting government policy. "Silencing the Opposition" examines how two cycles of political protest - the test ban movement of the first Eisenhower and the Kennedy administrations and the nuclear freeze movement of Reagan's first term - were represented by the media. He finds that the space devoted to the opposition as well as the quality of the coverage varied widely from the first to the second period, reflecting vastly different climates of public opinion and foreign policy. Rojecki determines that a subtle shift in political culture has reduced the grounds of legitimacy for citizen protest. This shift finds its roots in the rationalization of policy making that characterizes large government agencies, think tanks, and university departments.
As public debate over nuclear politics has become increasingly restricted, the potential for ordinary citizens to influence policy has become more and more circumscribed, while nuclear weapons have continued to proliferate.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780252068249
Description
We can trace many important strategic decisions to compelling official fictions such as Kennedy's "missile gap" and Reagan's "window of vulnerability." Over the years, antinuclear movements have had mixed success debunking these fictions, raising public consciousness, and reorienting government policy.
Andrew Rojecki explores links between nuclear arms policy and the visibility of opposition groups in the media. He pays particular interest to two cycles of protest: the test ban movement of the Eisenhower and the Kennedy administrations and the Reagan-era nuclear freeze movement. As Rojecki shows, space devoted to the opposition as well as the quality of the coverage varied widely from the first to the second period. The change reflected different climates of public opinion and foreign policy but also a subtle shift in political culture that undermined the legitimacy of citizen protest. As the rationalized policymaking of government agencies, think tanks, and university departments increasingly restricted public debate, the potential for citizens to influence nuclear politics became more circumscribed while nuclear weapons continued to proliferate.
by "Nielsen BookData"