CNN (Cable News Network) played a tremendous role in the Persian Gulf War. The Persian Gulf War began on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait, which Iraq long claimed. The war progressed into an armed conflict between Iraq and a coalition of 32 nations including the United States, Britain, Egypt, France, and Saudi Arabia. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein declared that the invasion was a response to overproduction of oil in Kuwait, which had cost Iraq over $14 million when oil prices fell. Saddam Hussein also accused Kuwait of illegally pumping oil from Iraq’s Rumaila oil field. CNN was there from the start covering the story. Some of the most powerful leaders in the world depended on the up to date information CNN had displayed for the world. Among some of the leaders watching were the president of the United States, George Bush, and Saddam Hussein. Bush reportedly said, “People tell me that he [Saddam Hussien] stays ‘glued’ to CNN.” CNN was always live and played raw and uncut footage which was rare for most news stations around the world. The major news stations at that time were ABC, NBC, CBS, and BBC, which had perhaps a 6 o’clock news hour. CNN was a 24 hour news sta

eduafilreiscoursetextgulf-war-arnett. CNN had established itself as akey source of information. Therefore, government agents would switch on the television andconfide in it instead of their main source of intelligence because of the ground breaking coverageand accuracy. CNN allegedly paid 16,000 dollars amonth to maintain the line, which was a bargain considering no other networks could use it. Zelizer, B, CNN, the Gulf war, and journalistic practices, Temple University Philadelphia,19927. , War and the Media; Propaganda and Persuasion in the Gulf War. Staff of US News, Triumph Without Victory; The Unreported History Of the Persian GulfWar, Times Books, 19925. He had a television that didn"tmt have cable, so he ordered a public affairs officer to buy some copper insulated wire so he could wire the television to acommand post which had cable. At ABC, Gary Shepard (a reporter) told Peter Jennings (a news anchor) that nothing was happening in Baghdad. Although CNN got criticism from the government and public, they came out on top. That"tms how important CNN was to the United Statesgovernment and it kept them informed on the situation better than anyone working for the UnitedStates. They could also use the network to send messages and signals to officials in othercountries without going through the usual channels of diplomacy.