Television and U.S. Foreign Policy: The Case of the Iran Hostage Crisis

Abstract

by James F. Larson A number of general propositions about TV and foreign policy provide the backdrop against which U.S. television network news coverage of Iran between 1972 and 1981-and especially the crisis--can be interpreted. Iran is both a compelling case study and a major landmark in our understanding of the structural relationship between television news and U.S. foreign policy. One focal point of such a study is the 444-day crisis involving U.S. hostages in Teheran, beginning with their seizure on November 4, 1979. The Iran crisis was quintessentially visual in nature. It evokes visual memories of angry crowds outside the U.S. embassy in Teheran, armed ''students'' who overran the embassy and seized hostages, the bearded Ayatollah Khomeini surrounded by followers, clergy visits to the hostages at Easter and Christmas, and charred bodies of U.S. servicemen left in the desert after an abortive rescue mission. Additional imagery emanated from the United States: repeated briefings by State Department press spokesman Hodding Carter, comments from the White House by President Carter's press secretary, Jody Powell, the statements and activities of wives and families, ABC'S creation and promotion of an evening news special called America Held hostage and, not least, Walter Cronkite's weeknight newscast reminders of the duration of the hostages' captivity. James F. Larson is Assistant Professor in the School of Communications, University of Washington. 108