Blog Post #5 Where Are the Antiwar Articles?

Anti-Vietnam War Movement 1963-1973

I had the opportunity to deep dive into two websites, focusing on the anit-war movement. I have never heard of these websites until today. Why are these websites not more well known? I believe that I have grown up learning about the repercussions of war and how it contributes to economic destruction, mass human death, political strain, and damage to the environment. Learning about these causes and issues while growing up has caused me to become very anti-war and I think that goes for a lot of my generation (Gen Z).

Looking into the two articles Antiwar.com and The American Conversation. You can see that they challenge the ideal of pro war and the interventionist foreign policy. Specifically Antiwar.com dives deeper into their mission as promoting non-interventionism and going against military intervention. The American Conservative began as an opposition to the Iraq war and still has publishing writers speaking out for “realism and restraint”. 

However, traditional media organizations do not specifically stay tied to a single foreign policy position, and their topics are fit around what’s trending, what will be considered newsworthy, timelines/deadlines, and what the audience wants to see. Government officials have the “right” to influence what these traditional media organizations can post and write about.

A reason to me why these voices and activists feel hidden from the public is that we just aren't searching hard enough for them. We want to consume our media the easiest way. We want to have it thrown in our faces whether that's via social media, television, the radio, etc. Getting your sources and information only through this way can cause you to only believe there is one side to something. We do not get to see the broader media and what is really out there for us to consume. 

Whether your information comes from a mainstream, traditional media organization or through a smaller less known outlet doesn't make one any more or less right or wrong. The stereotypes on the people speaking out on antiwar is what's causing it to be pushed to the side and not taken more seriously from other generations.