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1、THEPUBLICRIGHTTOKNOWNarrativestruggles4.Reportingwar:Grammaras‘covertoperation’ABSTRACTWhileitisoftensaidthat‘truthisthefirstcasualtyofwar’,thisaphorismcoversonlyonefeatureofhowwarsarereported,namely,thedeliberateuseofmisinformationbypartiestoawar.Butlangu
2、ageisbyitsnatureahighlyplasticresource:thereisneverjustonewaytoreportasetofevents,evenwhenthe‘facts’maybeuncontested.DrawingondatafromnewspaperreportsandmediabriefingsoftherecentwarinIraq,weillustratesomeofthebasicgrammaticalsystemswhichunderliethechoicesa
3、journalisthastomake,particularlyinreporting‘highimpact’eventsofthewar.Usingafunctionalapproachtogrammar–wheregrammarisseennotasrulesbutasatheoryofreality–weintroducesomebasicgrammaticalconceptsforunderstandingtheideologicalimpactofdifferentgrammaticalchoic
4、esinconstruingtheeventsofwar.ANNABELLELUKIN,DAVIDBUTTandCHRISTIANMATTHIESSENMacquarieUniversity,SydneyHESINGLEmostimportanteventinshoringupAmericanpublicandTpoliticalsupportforthefirstGulfwarwasonethatneverhappened(Knightley,2000;Rampton&Stauber,2003).On5S
5、eptember1990,areportappearedintheLondonDailyTelegraphsayingthatIraqisoldiershadpulledbabiesoutofincubatorsandleftthemtodieoncoldhospitalfloorsduringIraq’s1991occupationofKuwait.ThestorywaspurefabricationbyanAmericanpublicrelationsfirm,HillandKnowlton,under
6、contractto‘Citizens58PACIFICJOURNALISMREVIEW10(1)2004THEPUBLICRIGHTTOKNOWforaFreeKuwait’,anorganizationfinancedbytheKuwaitiGovernmentinexile(fordetails,seeKnightley,2000:486-8;Rampton&Stauber,2003:71-5).IntheUSSenatedebateoverwhethertoengageinmilitaryactio
7、nagainstSaddamHussein,sevensenatorsspokedirectlyofthisstory,andthefinalvoteforactionwaswononamarginofonlyfive(Knightley,2000:487).ThestoryharksbacktoBritishpropagandafromtheFirstWorldWar,whenGermansoldierswereaccusedofthrowingBelgianbabiesintotheairandcatc
8、hingthemontheirbayonets(ibid).Eventssuchasthisprovidesupportforthemuchquotedaphorismthat‘truthisthefirstcasualtyofwar’.Thisaphorismgoesbackto1917(Knightley2000)butithasagainseenactioninthemostrecentwarinIraq,
