All You Will See is the One You Once Knew:

Portrayals From the Falklands/Malvinas War

in U.S. and Latin American Newspapers

Carolina Acosta-Alzuru
and
EUi P. Lester-Roushanzamir

©2000
BY THE A.S.SOCIATIQN FOR EDUCATION IN JOURNALISM
AND M A S S COMMUNU:ATION

The authors arn faculty membors in tho Henry W. Grady College uf Journalism
and Mass Communication tit The University of Georgia—Athens.
CAROLINA AcnsTA-Aizimu 6- Em P. L£STER-BounHANZAMm
 U n April 1982, most of the world was taken by surprise when
Argentina invaded the Falkland/Malvinas Islands thus ini-
tiating an international conflict that escalated into a war
with Great Britain. The canse of the war was a struggle for
the sovereignty of islands claimed hy hoth Argontina and Great Britain. Ten
weeks after the initial invasion, the war came to an end wilh Argentina's
surrender on June 14. However, the dispute at its root, tho question of
sovereignty, remains unresolved.
Thf( Falkland/Malvinas War was reported as a major news story all
around the world and the media's depiction of thoso events rnpresentod the
war for those not directly engaged by it. Those media accounts formed
narratives that "acquire[d] layers of meaning in the course of their use in
everyday life; some ... authentic, others ... contrived [but] all are con-
structed" (Aulich, 1992, p. 3). Thus, news became (versions of) reality.
This research explores tho portrayals of the main narratives of the
Falklands/Malviuas War presented by four major American^ newspapers;
Excelsior (Mexico), E! Mercurio (Ghile), El Universal (Venezuela), and The
New York Times (United States). We situate th(! work both theoretically and
methodologically. Then we present contextual information regarding this
specific war, the countries, and the newspapers analyzed. A literature review
of previous rhetorical studies about the Falklands/Malvinas War is followed
by a description of our method. Finally, the textual analysis is followed hy
a discussion of how the discursive strategies perform ideological work.

Au. You Wiu. SEK IS THE O.\E YOU O\LL KNEW: POHTP.K-XLS FHUM THE F.VJJ.WDS/MALVINA
U,S. AND LATIS AMERICAN NEWSPAPEFS
 Theoretical Framework
when Edward Said published Orientalism in 1978. it marked an end to
a particular kind of area studies (i.e., an unselfconscious abandon). In
international mass communication research, no less than in formal area
studies, former paradigms such
as development and communi-
This article makes a contribution to com- cation, diffusion of innovations
parative communication research and or even dependency studies were
Latin American area studies, by incorpo- problematized. If the MacBride
Report of 1980 was the apogee of
rating some of the insights of comparative communication re-
postmodernisms while retaining a criti- search, it also signaled the de-
cal perspective. sire for full participation of
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Third World countries in com-
munication policy matters, their
own and globally. However, the MacBride Report also suggested, perhaps
because of its cacophony, that international mass communication research
and policy had become mired in local politics.
The advent of a critical postmodernism (Best & Kellner, 1991) and the
articulation of post-colonialism as a theoretical position gave new life to the
ways in which critical international media research could be conceived and
conducted. While both remain controversial, their articulation and the new
research directions stimulated and reinvigorated international media re-
search. Even before those movements became part of the North American
academic vocabulary, in Latin America in particular, the '60s and '7ns saw
on the one hand, a plethora of research into the diffusion of innovations, and
on the other a critical reaction to this research stream (Marques de Melo,
1988), Postmodernist discourses had also long been explored by Spanish-
language artists and researchers. (Anderson, 1998) African and Asian re-
searchers also have introduced particular perspectives and struggle to be
heard by the global research community.-^ This article makes a contribution
to comparative communication research and Latin American area studies, by
incorporating some of the insights of postmodernisms while retaining a
critical perspective (Best & Kellner, 1991). It is comparative but with a
difference discussed below.
The four newspapers' coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas War is exam-
ined; categorizing them exposes examples of why comparative media re-
search must now be self-critical. Of the four countries/newspapers studied,
three are Latin American (formerly Spanish colonies), two are North Ameri-
can (Mexico and the United States), three are written in Spanish, one in
English, and the news story under scrutiny concerns a dispute over what was
heretofore (and is presently) part of the British Empire. But despite particular
differences, mass media in the latter half of the twentieth century is also a
globalized phenomenon.
Across a spectrum of intellectual work, issues of political economic and
cultural homogeneity (globalization) and heterogeneity (indigenization)
continue to preoccupy scholars, artists, politicians, and have had significant

CAROLINA ACOSTA-ALZI'BU B-ELU P, LESTER-ROUSHANZAMIR

consequences on politics, economics, and thi^ cultural lives of the world's
peoples. Appadurai (1996) calls this tension the "cuntral problem of today's
global int(!ractions...." ( p. 295). Or as Friedman (1990J puts it "lt]he dualist
centralized world of the double East-West hegemony is fragmenting, politi-
cally, and culturally, but the homogeneity of capitalism remains as intact and
as systematic as ever" (p. 311). hi attempting to (rR)formuIate conceptions of
the changing polilical-isconomic and cultural landscape, Marxism has been
either abandoned, reformulated, or merged with some other structuring
discourse while, concomitantly, some postmodernisms argue that structur-
ing discourse is no longer relevant. Morecrisply if less analytically rigorous.
Barber refers to "lihad vs. McWorld" in describing tho two axial principles
of postmodernism: tribalism and globalism (Barber, 1992).
It has been pointed out that in thinkingof "the World" (as in "new world
order" or "world market" or "world environment") we have been using a
"metaphorical thought process governed by space-lime patterns or scbeme
that date to much earlier stages of'civilization.'" (Balibar,1995, p. 407). The
historical world, whether a new world order or a world market is always an
ideological construct that naturalizes space and timo in a given manner,
treating that manner as a natural state of being. Balibar says that "the most
interesting property of systemic or center/periphery patterns ... is that they
are not representations of the world as a given structure so much as
representations of the process of globalization (the hocoming-a-world of the
World), (p. 407)" Araghi (1985), adapting Wallerstein's work, refers to a
"world-historical systems approach" as a way to account for localism and
agency as well as global structure and determination and applies this
concept to the deployment of small agrarian communities in Iran's relation-
ship to global political-economy. Balibar notes that tho existence of a center
and periphery in thn making of a world order necessitates the continued
exclusion of what was once incorporated. These views of the present
political-economic condition offer a place of departure for our analysis of
newspaper coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas War and for the necessity of
retaining sensitivity to how local and global meanings may meet within our
text.
During times of political-economic upheaval the ideological appropria-
tion of some aspects of the past is almost fait accompli. The French
appropriation of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and its rnappropriation by the
Khmer Rouge is a case in point. [New Left Review,199Q):^ The Falklands/
Malvinas have long been a point of contention, (and not only ideologically),
hetween Argentina and Creat Britain. Yet within the broader context of
British imperial bistory, the Malvinas are but a small footnote and their place
in British post-coloniaiism apparently negligible. However, when in 1982
Argentina invaded the islands (which are 300 miles east of the Argentinean
coast) there ensued a war in which the hegemony of British rule was
reestablished. The British defense of the Malvinas was conducted on a world
stage that provided an opportunity for extensive media coverage. For ex-
ample. Prince Andrew's valor was highlighted during a time of increasing
disillusionment with royalty and despilfs subsequent reports that the prince

You Wiu.SEEisrm. O.vf YOCO.WCLKNKW: PoiiTHAYALiFIKIMTIIEFA

WAR /.V U.S. AND LATIN A\IEHICAN NEWSFAPEIO^
 did not see combat. The impending loss of Hong Kong, which sounded a
death rattle of British world leadership and its empire, provided another
news hook for the conflict.
We use this war/media event to explore how images of the other organize
news reporting across very different political and economic structures. We
link the imperial present (a hegemonic economic order) with the past (a
colonial economic order) and examine the dense weave within the text of
political-economy with the economies of cultures and discursive economies
of nationality, race, and gender. The disjunctures and differences (Appadurai,
1996) between a "world" media event and the indigenous issues at stake are
illuminated through this analysis of the text, all American, yet each originat-
ing from countries with varying stakes in the conflict.
Comparative analysis provides access to the "war over the nature of
reality" (Wright, R. quoted in Rushdie, 1991, p.13). If, as Fanon suggests, a
primary aim of the colonialist is to impose a discourse of reality, we can also
assume a primary requirement
of global capitalism is the impo-
We use this war/media event to explore sition of a coherent version of
how images of the other organize news reality. As Herman and
reporting across very different political McChesney (1997) have dem-
and economic structures. We link the fMistrated, the early 198O's was
the initial period of "a dramatic
imperial present (a hegemonic economic restructuring of national media
order) with the past (a colonial economic systems... [and of] the emergence
order) and examine the dense weave of a genuinely global commer-
within the text of political-economy with cial market system" (p. 1).
However, wo approach com-
the economies of cultures and discursive parative analysis cautiously, less
economies of nationality, race, and gen- persuaded by mass communi-
der. cation researchers' enthusiasm
than by other disciplines' wari-
ness. Altbough we support the
initiatives towards more international media research, we prefer anthropolo-
gists Marcus and Fischer's concept of juxtaposition (1986) to comparison. As
Marcus and Fischer suggest defamiliarization and juxtaposition are ways to
highlight rather than simply "compare and contrast" different cultural
renderings of "an" event in "a" text. Thus, while Tehranian (1991) and
others'" suggest that "comparative communication theory" is a way to
understand and enlarge communication theory, comparative communica-
tion research to date has not accomplished this goal. (Lester, 1992) Too often
the comparison simply establishes a superior standard (Hachten, 1981) or
relapses into a cacophony of voices (MacBride, 1980). Tehranian (1991)
cannot unpack the issues of ethnocentrism and his use of comparative
methods harkens hack to the use of objectivity and the media theory which,
however complicated, remains a variation of the transmission model.
Tehranian's call does not differ from the calls, almost a decade ago, for an
"expansion of the data base ... facilitat[ing] more solidly established

CAROLINA ACOSTA-AIZIJRU &• Ew P. [^STEB-ROUSHANZAMIR

generalizations,,.counters to naive assumptions of universality... highlight-
ing specificities of communication strtictures in different countries"
(Gurevitch. 1989), A response to both Gurevitch and the organizers of the
1988 International Communication Association's theme, which was "Com-
parativoly Speaking," (Blumer and McLeod produced a 1992 volume based
on that theme] was to note the "dark side of comparative communication
research which is primarily its inextricable link with a specific version of
academic work, work which is tied ,.. to a power structure" (Lester-Massman,
1991,p.lO4).
Fanon's "discourse of reality" now operates on both local and glohal
dimensions (as Herman and McChesney's work shows) and so, in adapting
Marcus and Fischer's juxtaposition to our reading, the focus operates on
those levels. Discourse, in this sense, refers to a system of representation in
which shared meanings are produced and exchanged. How does meaning
become produced and exchanged; how does a text share meaning? Discourse
emphasizes relations of power while also attending to relations of meaning
and the processes of production and exchange are therefore "materialized"
within the text. The accentuation of "relations" energizes what is a structur-
alist notion of meaning, setting into motion the structures that animate,
rather than determine, phenomena within the social formation.
The relevance of this concept is that it forces an understanding that
particular texts from particular times/places are not entities in and of
themselves. Thus we can juxtapose reporting from The New York rimes with
reporting from El Mercurio because our operative dimension is not a particu-
lar nation-state, a particular form of government, or a particular language.
The operative dimension in this instance is journalism. The text that we have
defined (i.e., print news stories about the Falklands/Malvinas conflict in
specific newspapers during a specific time period) is structured in large part,
but not only by news discourse [i.e., particular practices which, even when
they maybe rejected, are dominant and defining). Gorporato practices, in the
case of our text, also form a discursive strategy. Initially we reserved an
opinion as to whether form of government was a dominant or defining
dimension regarding discursive strategies for our particular text. As dis-
cussed in the conclusion below, we found that shared meanings in this case
were bounded by other criteria.
Each discourse (journalism practice, corporate practice, nation, etc.) is
a social configuration that animates meaning. Our textual analysis helps us
discover some of the regularities of reporting on the Falklands/Malvinas War.
not simply for specific audiences (although the audiences are there, receiv-
ing, "decoding," making sense of particular news reports) but for the more
significant purpose, of producing reality. We can acknowledge that any
particular reader of any small subsection of the text may interpret it in
idiosyncratic ways. But since our text is the corpus of the "tnainstream"
reporting of an event (the fournewspapers chosen as exemplar, as explained
helow in the methods section) its impact is different than any one reading.
What is the impact of our own intervention with this text ( ourselves as
audience, one of us Venezuelan, the other, a U.S, citizen) and what are the

ALL YOV Wnj. SEI-: IS THF O.VE Yoi • ONCE A'.vf.iv .• PUHTRAY.V,^ FKIM THE FAIALV
WAH IN U.S. AND LATIN AMERICAN NEWSPAPEI^.
implication for our findings? Clearly, we must acknowledge that we are
implicated within the discoursos we wish to examine: however, we also
suggest that researchers are always implicated within their subject and
method. Because discourse is relational we examine pioces of Rmpirical
evidence for their affinity to other piecos, noting conjunctions and disjunc-
tions, and through those deriving some of the rules which produce meaning
(as meaning is the relationship hetween knowledge and power). Our partner-
ship across citizenship and language enlarges our methodological resources.
In "What is Cultural Studies Anyway?" Richard Johnson (1986/87)
enumerates three premises of cultural studies that explain the critical
theoretical basis of our textual analysis, and he also shows how critical
cultural theory can be informed by theoretical developments. He writes that
cultural processes are intimately connected with social relations, especially
class relations, sexual divisions, and other forms that are practiced as
oppression; that culture, neither autonomous nor externally determined, is
a site of social differences and struggles; and that culture involves power
(and power involves culture). Two operative research questions are always
raised; what is the object of study and what is the study abont? Johnson
clearly retains the structuralist insight that doscribes suhjectivity as pro-
duced and therefore, as his circular diagram of culture suggests, the condi-
tions of production include the objectification of processes in a text.
The text under examination comprises concrete representations of the
production and social organization of knowledge, not within one particular
country or class, but in relations among competing fields of meaning. The
text signals which meanings are privileged and how. The text, therefore, is
treated as a whole not, as in a content analysis, broken up into units
(individual stories by journalists trained in reporting skills and journalistic
values), nor as the sum of stereotypes.
Professional journalism discourse meets corporate discourse in mass
media texts. Texts (and not solely the media's content) are productive (apart
from newsroom practices of production and from audience moments of
consumption). As Johnson comments;

The repertoire of narrative forms existing contemporaneously, the

actual story-forms characteristic of different ways of life lean be
treatedj not as archetypes of, but as historically-produced
constructions...For stories... come not merely in the form of
...fictions, but also in everyday [practices such as] conversation,
...the construct ion of identities, individvial and collective, through
memories and histories. What are recurrent patterns here? What
forms can we abstract form these texts most commonly? [Wle are
at the stage in political economy which Marx, in the Grundrisse,
was as necessary.,, (p. 60).

The notion, unaccountahly lost in recent cultural studies, that there is no

real distinction within a cultural studies paradigm between political-economy-
culture is the greatest single insight of early British cultural studies.^

CAHOUNA ACOSTA-ALZVRU 6- EUI P. l£STEB-RoUSHANZMtm

Grossherg, in answering rt-cent critiques of cultural studies states it this way:

[Some critics of cultural studies have taktm] a rather narrow and

abstract conception of production. If the very notion and practice
of production are themselves culturally produced, and if the
relations between production and consumption am more com-
plex and less stable than [previously suggested), then the model of
cultural analysis based on a separation of production and con-
sumption is itself problematic, as is tbo reduction of production to
waged labor (whicb ignores what Marx himself had point out: the
production involved in consumption/reproduction} (p. 74).

Grossbnrg hints that the intersections of production and consumption

are the areas in whicb analysis proves most fruitful and texts, as materialist
structures, provide one point of intersection.
The evidentiary attributes of textual relations aro what load to a descrip-
tion of discursive strategies and eventually to tb(; naming of the discourse.
Discursive strategies operate within texts to structure a specific kind of
message, one that defines not only the news topic at hand, hut a specific
approach to understanding the world. News organizations, with their stake
in global capitalism, will seek to establish strategies that support order and
consensus. Binary structures (us. other] and the concomitant objectification
and distancing of others help solidify identity at different levels (individual.
national) tbat serve the neods of the current social formation (Woodward,
1997).
Tb(! Falklands/Malvinas conflict provides an instance of particular
interest since the conflict revolved around construction of who "we" are:
Falklands. Malvinas. Kelpers. This overt discrepancy over naming is a
dramatic trope of the ongoing ideological battle for identity and position—
us:other; cnnteriperiphery; nortb:soutb; and other, not precisely co-terminus
oppositions, Said's "comparative literature of imperialism" (Said, 1993, p.
18) supplies a model for situating our "literature," i.e.: news reports from
four different countries "leading" newspapers. Similar to Said's evidence
(specifically Western reporting on tbe Middle East), our text is an instance of
the execution of empire. The Falklands/Malvinas conflict is an anachronism,
a vestige or trace of nineteenth century British imperialism. It existed (at the
time of the conflict and still at tbe time of this writing) as a paradox, "a sign
of how the imperial past lives on, arousing argument and counter-argument
with surprising intensity." (p. 20)
What can our multiple news media tell us? What are we looking for?
Newspapers are first and foremost commodities, and as such are consumed
in a market placo and vits with other products for attention. As such they are
always "un-autbnntic." or in Friedman's terms they are "undermined hy
objectification and potential decontextualization." However, once in circu-
lation, news reports acquire a reality-valuo tbat constitutes a structured
discourse of meaning. We have set side-by-side four different newspapers
wbich structure meaning and. together, they constitute our text. But, in the

All Y(ji' Wiu. SEf IS THE OiW yi>i:O\'(:i-Ksf:\v: PuiimAyAiJi FIIOM THi; FMAIA\'I>S/MALVI\'AS
WAH I,\ U.S. AND LAlf^ AMEHICV,' NB\fS
 last instance, each one of these is un-authentic. not in terms of telling what
happened (although also in that sense perhaps), but in the compromised
sense of any commodity. Each newspaper—and tbe text as a whole—
performs ideological work to create social and cultural identity around the
Falklands/Maivinas War. Our
analysis details bow tbose local
By taking a radical focus on the journal- identities are constructed
istic text, that text can he analyzed, not within a larger world-histori-
only for how it does or does not conform cal-perspective while our con-
to journalistic norms, hut also as a mean- clusion points to the relative
importance of this war report-
ingful artifact of political-economic and ing to the "disjunctures and dif-
social-cultural life. ferences to global cultural
^ ^ ^ ^ ^• ^ ^ ^ ^• ^ ^ H ^ ^ ^ ^ H j ^ ^ ^ ^ B ^ H economy." More concretely.
what is tbe importance of Brit-
ish begemony. not only to Britain or Argentine, but also to other nations in
tbe hemispbere? How does the imagined community of British Kelpers
become integrated with Argentine on tbe one hand or with England on the
other (race, nationality, immigrant group)? How does the clasb of worlds
defined by Britain and Argentine shape the world defined by others? What
images and stories (characters, plots, narratives) are offered by news cover-
age to tbose not directly but closely involved in tbe engagement and how do
tbese relate to pri^scriptions for action and metapbors for relationships? How
are tbe important issues of nationality and the state constructed in tbese
media that are not those of the participants? In sum, this analysis considers
tbese questions in a comparative way by juxtaposing tbeir content. By taking
a radical focus on tbe journalistic text, tbat text can be analyzed, not only for
how it does or does not conform to journalistic norms, but also as a
meaningful artifact of political-economic and social-cultural life.

Background
We bave come to appreciate bow deep the roots of the conflict
are. Britain [has been) in peaceful possession of the Falkland
Islands for 150 years.... Yet we know too bow deep is the Argentine
commitment to recover the islands they believe were taken from
them by illegal force. This is not some sudden passion, but a long-
sustained national concern tbat also stretcbes back 150 years,
heightenedby the sense of frustration at what Argentina feels were
nearly 20 years of fruitless negotiation (Kirkpatrick. 1982).

The Falkland/Malvinas Islands are located in the South Atlantic Ocean,

300 miles east of the Argentine coast (Rasor. 1992). Tbe Kelpers. as tbe
inhabitants are called in reference to the seaweed which is copious in the
islands, bold British passports, speak English, maintain cultural ties with
England and are "almost totally separated, by botb language and politics,
from the continent" (Strebeigh, 1981, p. 86). Most land was owned in Britain,
primarily by tbe Falkland Islands Company.

CAROLINA ACOSTA-ALZUHU & Em P. LESTEB-ROUSHANZAMIH

 The war was the escalation of a 150-year old territorial dispute between
Argentina and Great Britain over tbe islands. The roots of the dispute lie in
tbe differences between the Argentine and Britisb versions of the islands'
history.*' Both sides claim discovery and. consequently, ownership of the
archipelago. Great Britain had occupied the islands since 1833, when an
English crew expelled the Argentines and claimed the islands for Britain. An
Act of Parliament established the Falkland Islands as a crown colony in 1843
(Perl. 1983). Meanwhile Argentina never ceased its claim, denouncing the
British invasion as an illegal aggression of an imperialistic power (Destefani,
1982). Beck (1991) noted tbat in tbe beginning of 1982, the Falklands/
Malvinas problem occupied number 242 on the list of priorities of tbe British
foreign office. Meanwhile, the issue had been the numher one priority for the
Argentine government since December 1981 (Cardoso, Kirschbaum & Van
derKooy, 1983).
After Argentina invaded the islands on April 2. 1982, Latin American
countries were divided in tbeir judgment of tbe invasion. One side, repre-
sented by Brazil, Cbile, Colombia, and Mexico, insisted that the procedure
was unacceptable to the international community. Tbe otber position,
exemplified by Peru and Venezuela, asserted that by avoiding negotiations
for 150 years Great Britain had left the Argentines with no other recourse than
the use of force.
On April 8, U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig began his "shuttle
diplomacy" efforts (Haig, 1984). His mediation attempts failed, and on April
30. the United States openly sided with Great Britain provoking feelings of
betrayal in most Latin American nations (Ghang-Rodriguez. 1991). The
following day, Britain began naval bombardment of East Falkland/Isla
Soledad's airstrips. The F'alklands/Malvinas crisis bad escalated into a full-
fledged war. At this point, Latin American nations rallied around Argentina
in support of its cause, classifying Great Britain as tbe "real aggressor" in the
crisis (Kirkpatrick. 1989-1990). Only Colombia and Ghile proclaimed a
neutral position.
The war ended on June 14 with Argentina's surrender and tbe
reoccupation of the islands by Great Britain. But tbe war's end did not bring
a solution to tbe sovereignty dispute. The islands are still claimed by
Argentina based on what they define as their "historical rights." The British
base their claims on the principle ofself-determination of the islanders. The
matter remains unresolved.

ExciiLsioR A.\iJ MEXICO

The media in Mexico have more often served as partner of the power
elites, rather than as watchdogs. Alisky (1981) classified Mexico under the
category "nations with media guidance" (p. 27). Mainstream media rally
around the power elite, tbe established leadersbip, tbe PRL (Partido
Revolucionario Institucional [Institutional Revolutionary Party]). Founded
in 1929, tbe PRI is tbe longest governing party in the world (Heuvel and
Dennis, 1995) and its place in Mexican politics has been formidable.
Excelsior wsn the leading daily in Mexico at the beginning of the 198O's."

ALL YOL! WIU. SEK IS THE O.\'I< Yoi' ONt:/-: K.\Kw: PORTRAYALS FROM THE FAiJCiANns/MALVisA
WAH IN U.S. AND LATIN AMER/CAN NEWsPAPku
Its layout is old-fashioned, characterized hy dense writing and few photos.
International news sources vary from renowned wire services to special
corrnspondonts when considered necessary.
In 1982, Mexico was suffering the rigors of a grave economic crisis.
However, during the ten weeks of the Falklands/Malvinas War, media
attention focused on the conflict. At one point, Excehior had two special
correspondents stationed in Buenos Aires and one in London to monitor and
report the conflict.

El Mercurio and Chile

In August 1973, Salvador Allende's socialist government was toppled in
a military coup that was supported by the United States {Chang-Rodriguez.
1991). General Augusto Pinochet assumed power and enforced repressive
anti-communist policies in every avenue of Chilean life, including freedom
of expression and freedom of the press. The country was (and is still)
basically controlled by a small group of families who are decision-makers in
the government, the military, the business sector and the media. These elites
were closely associated with the Pinochet government.
El Mercurio, which was considered one of the best newspapers in Latin
America (Merrill, 1968), has now a somewhat tarnished image because of its
association with the Pinochet government. However, back in 1982 and still
today, it is "the paper of record for Chile's decision-makers" (Heuvel &
Dennis, 1995. p. 122). The paper is characterized by featuring three pages of
hard news and editorials in its first section, followed by an extensive section
of society pages, an indication of the high profile of the elites. International
news typically appears at the end of the first section. These news items are
largely drawn from wire services, especially AP, UPL AFP. ANSA of Italy, and
EFE of Spain.
Chile and Argentina have a territorial dispute regarding the Beagle
Channel that dates back to 1843 (Embassy of the Argentine Republic, 1978).
Cbiloans believed that Argentina could have cbosen to invade the Beagle
Channel islands instead of the Falklaiids/Malvinas (Sanfuentes, 1992).
There was a highly publicized story that Argentina planned to invade the
Beagle Channel islands following the Falklands invasion ("Argentina
pensaba," 1982J. Althougli ("bile condemned the invasion as an act of
unwarranted aggression from Argentina, it later declared and maintained a
neutral position throughout the conflict.

Ei. UNIVERSAL ^JVD VEXEZUI-[J\

Alisky (1981) classified Venezuela and C^osta Rica as the only Latin
American nations "witb media freedom" (p. 122). In 1982. Venezuela was
still considered Latin America's wealthiest nation (based on annual income).
Tliere is a tradition in Venezuelan newspapers to forego editorials and
El Universal is no exception. U does not bave an explicit editorial line, but
prints a variety of views on its op-ed pages (Heuvel & Dennis, 1995).
However, it is perceived as a conservative paper in contrast with the more
liberal El Nncionai El Universal's front page typically features at least

CMIOUNA ACOSTA-ALZIJRV &• Em P. LESTEB-RouSHANZAMm

fifiteen stories. Most of them consist ofonly the headline and deck headlines
with the toxt found on inside pages. Headline size indicates the story's
relative importance. Kicker lines are consistently used to clarify or qualify
the headlines. International news items are featured in the first section of the
newspaper. These stories originate exclusively from news services, espe-
cially from AP. UPl, AFP. Reuters. ANSA. EFE. DPA, and TASS of the Soviet
Union.
Venezuela shares borders with Colombia. Brazil and Guyana. In the past
150 years, border disputes have heen routine, However, the most significant
dispute is the ongoing polemic with nastsidn neighbor Guyana, a former
British colony, Venezuela took a definite pro-Argentina stance during the
conflict. More important, coverage of this war was immersed in. and deeply
influenced by, the controversy with Guyana.

THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THE UNITED STATES

In 1980. The New York Times was ranked as "the best or near-best paper
in the United States" (Merrill. 1980, p. 220). Of all U.S. newspapers it was
the closest to being a newspaper of record. A definite agenda-setter, many of
its readers are influential in American life. It also boasts an international
readership, which makes it a member of the world's elite press (Merrill,
1980).
One of its strengths is its international news coverage, whicb is consid-
ered unrivalled. Thorotigliness characterizes The New York Times and its
coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas controversy was no exception. Special
correspondents in London, Buenos Aires, and Washington. D.C... provided
eyewitness accounts. Its front page presents five to seven stories that usually
jump to the inside pages. Differences in type and placement assign degrees
of importance to the news. The lead story is always placed at the top right-
hand side. Banner headlines am unusual; therefore when one is present, the
story is automatically emphasized.
The United States were immediately drawn into the Falklands dispute.
Initial responses showed a lot of ambivalence from the U.S. government. A
neutral stance was chosen at the beginning and attempts at mediation were
made by secretary of State Alexander Haig (Kasor, 1992). Although tbe U.S.
governmont never took a stance regarding what it defined as "the substance
of the dispute." that is the sovereignty issue," the United States supported
Great Britain in the conflict. This support led to sanctions against Argentina
and British access to American weapons, logistics, intelligence, communi-
cations, and base facilities (Weinberger, 1992).

Culture, Rhetoric, and the Falklands/Malvinas

The relationship between the Anglo-Saxon and Hispanic worlds was
analyzed by Goocb (1990) in tbe two-part article "The Falklands War and a
very special relationship: The Hispanic world and the Anglo-Saxon world."
Starting with the conflicted history between Grnal Britain and Spain, Goocb
dissects tbe relationships between Great Britain and Latin America and the
United States and Latin America. Based on this cultural background, be

Au. Yoi • Win. SKK ;.•. 7Uf f Jw: Yoi' O.vi.i,- K.vi'u.- POBTRAY.ALS FBOM
WAR L\ VS. A\D Lm\' AMEIUCAN NEWSPAPKHS
pursues an examination of tho events in tbn South Atlantic conflict studying
its main participants.
One of Gooch's most peculiar analyses is the one concerned with
Margaret Thatcher: "By a quirk of history, the Falkiands conflict showed a
leador who was proud to be 'British to the backbone' at her closest to the
Hispanic mentality ... the Prime Minister's machismo was never in doubt;
she showed herself to be more macho than the machos: she out-caudilloed
the caudillos, and brought Galtieri to a South Atlantic Waterloo" [p. 285).
Fox (1Q84) argues that media treatment of the war in Argentina went
through two phases: nationalism and deceit. She analyzes Argentina's
struggle with its own cultural identity. From feeling "European" to becoming
" Latin American," the media was " the battleground of the cause of Argentine
cultural identity" (p. 50), During the war, Argentine and Latin American
music replaced English-speaking artists on broadcasting media in Argentina,
Fox characterizes the Falklands/Malvinas conflict as tho "first war
almost totally filmed in the television studio" (p, 45). No direct shots of the
battles or of tbe islands were shown. The result was the construction of a war
in which Argentineans were fighting for a just cause and winning, "Argen-
tina, from its isolated world, was powered to the Falklands invasion by a lack
of reality and this same lack of reality was reflected in the treatment of the
war by television" (p. 45). Bvit the victorious broadcasts stopped suddenly,
without explanation. Reality sunk in: Argentina had lost the war. the islands,
and the lives of many young soldiers. Deceit, as Fox points out, became the
prevalent feeling.
In his article "Argentine sociopolitical commentary, the Malvinas con-
flict, and beyond: Rhotoricizinga national experience," Foster (1987) exam-
ined some of the post-lunta Argentine writings that referred to the Malvinas/
Falklands War, His goal was to identify the discursive strategies fimployed
in these texts. For example, among the texts analyzed by Foster was Cardoso.
Kirschbaum, and van der Kooy's Malvumsiia trama sccrela [1983). The use
of irony based on the claim that they (the authors) are telling a privileged
story is the discursive strategy identified by Foster, Ho also analyzes Kon's
Los chicos de la guena: Hablan los soldados que estuvieron en las Malvinas
(1982), in which the main thome/purposo is to tell the truth about the conflict
from the point of view of those at the bottom of the military hierarchy. He
underscores that the loss of Argentine lives in the Malvinas is presented as
an extension of the thousands of lives lost in Argentina's "dirty war."
Aulich (1992) edited an important collection of essays investigating tbe
area of aesthetic and cultural practices in the context of the Falklands/
Malvinas War. "For the British and the Argentinean 'peoples.' a discursive
framework for the historical events of the war was secured around assump-
tions of racial, sporting and military superiority belonging to already estab-
lished and safely predictable narratives of national pride" (p. 3). Through tbn
analysis of particular cultural productions related to the war such as films.
art, cartoons, novels, and. to a limited extent, the British and Argentinean
press, the authors of these essays studied the discourses inherent in those
productions. Clearly researchers have found the Falklands/Malvinas War a

CAROLINA Acx)STA-ALZtm!'
fruitful site for isolating interesting cultural phenomena (as well as interest-
ing in its own right). Thisinterost persuaded us to pursue the textual analysis
of American newspapers both for their particular reports uf the crisis and for
its focal nature.

Method
Although we would argue that discourses occur in formations (and
therefore that a complele study would examinn the many discourses which
constitute any body of knowledge), here the specific topic is the strategic
discourse within a text. Language plus other practices constitute our evi-
dence within the text. The newspapers (and countries) that constitute our
text were selected for the following reasons. They represent a North-South
contrast, since the Falklands/Malvinas War hecame a North-South conflict.
The Latin American countries exhibited diversity among their domestic
political and economic situations and among their positions on the conflict.
The U.S. newspaper, unlike many others in the United States, has a strong
international news coverage tradition. And, finally, the newspapers are each
considered "of record" in their respective countries.
Textual analysis was the chosen methodology because it recognizes a
fundamental assumption: that meaning is a social production. Ultimately,
tho object of the analysis is not the meanings of the text, but rather the
construction of those meanings through the toxt: more concretely the text
itself (Lestor-Massman, 1989).'" This method has been applied to studies of
film and television (Fiske & Hartley, 1978; TuUoch & Alvarado, 1983; Fiske,
1992). As for its application to print journalism, Paper Voices is probably the
best-known and most important project since it spells out the method and
analyzed newspaper content as more than a transparent conveyor of informa-
tion. Hall further developed the study of social relations through the study
of journalistic discourse in Policing the crisis: Mugging the state, and law and
order (1978).
Lule (1989; 1991; 1993; 1995) used textual analysis to study how the
print media constructed several national and international news events such
as the shooting of KAL flight 007, the space race, the hijacking of TWA flight
847, and boxer Mike Tyson's trial. Meyers (1994) analyzed the newspaper
coverage of the murder of a battered woman in an effort to demonstrate the
interconnection of gender, race and class in the re-presentation of violence
against women. Lester has used the method to analyze the newspaper
coverage of international events (1994a; 1994b) and advertising (1992,1997,
1998). The latter demonstrate how textual analysis points to meanings and
cultural significance in a seemingly innocuous text such as direct mail
advertising.
In each of these cases the relationships between language and ideology
reify values of production and exchange into a concrete version (myth, as
Barthes or Levi-Strauss might say) or reality (the news). Understood as myth,
thenewspresentsamixtureofthehistoricalandideological traces of culture
writ large since those same myths are also present in other contexts, e.g.
production and consumption. Myths have a definite place in "the available

ALL YOU Wiij. SEE !S TIIK ONE YUU 0\'(J; K.\'En: POUTMYALS FRUM
WAR W U.S. AM? LATIN AMEHICAN NEwsPAPun.'i
stock of meanings" (Halt. 1975, p. 12) that makes the text and its circum-
stances comprehensible to readers. Languagn and other practices observable
in the text, are the clues to how discourse becomes corporeal.
The first stage of our analysis involved reading every story related to the
conflict that was printed during the seventy-four days of the war in the four
newspapers. This process allowed us to choose a sample for closer analysis
while preserving the context and complexity of the war story. The sample
was selected on the hasis of specific dates that were crucial in the conflict.
The selected dates were: (1) April 3 to April 8, the first week of coverage, (2)
April 30 to May 5. when the United States openly sided with Great Britain,
the war started, the British sunk the "General Belgrano," and Argentina sunk
the "HMS Sheffield." (3) May 28 to May 30, Battle of Darwin and Goose
Green, and (4) June 13 to June 15, the last threo days of coverage.
The next stage consisted of what Hall calls "the close reading" of our
text. Since the text is now what we had previously called a "sample" the close
reading consisted of these steps: (1) The text was read as an entity. The
selected materials were examined contextnally, noting visual and stylistic
features (sucli as placement, length of story, adjacent materials, etc.); and (2)
Individual articles were examined for uses of devices such as metaphor,
simile, allusions, tone, themes, recurring patterns, and omissions. Although
the unit of analysis is the text itself, these building blocks provide markers
to what initially presents itself as a seamless narration and digest of events.
Writing up the findings of any textual analysis presents unique chal-
lenges. Bycastingsucha wide net as dictated by the method [e.g., in this case
retrieving and reading every article—news, editorial, etc.— related to the
confiict during its duration), the researchers familiarize themselves with
their (con)text. Yet, readers of the research arrive at the analysis without
precious familiarity, perhaps without previous knowledge, of the text's
subject matter. How to present the evidence raises several dilemmas. There
must be enough textual material quoted directly to persuade readers that the
evidence has been thoroughly examined and convincingly interpreted.
Descriptions of the text itself, both its content (direct quotes) and other
elements, mnst situate readers without distracting from the continuity of the
analysis. The researchers' selections of both content and other descriptive
elements always remain a mere shadow of the text itself. And, unlike
quantitative data, in which representation of complex evidence can be
elegantly spare, the representation of textual evidence tends to be lengthy,
even cumbersome, and still only communicates a sometimes rough approxi-
mation of the data since excerpts from the evidence must suffice. Our
solution was to provide some lengthier quotations as well as briefer direct
quotes and descriptions that are dispersed throughout the analysis section.
Also, each quotation's citation is provided within our analysis as an aid for
closer reading.
The last stage of the analysis was the interpretation of the finding.s:
identification of the dominant structuring strategies and of the different
cultural consensns constructed by each of the four newspapers. The protago-
nists in the conflict are described as they appear textually; the "friends" or

CARoLaA AcosTA-Aizvm' fr ELU P. LESTEH-ROI '

allies—members of tho supporting c;ast—are identified. Woven into the
analysis, the discursive strategies are underscored so that wo can highlight
the ideological and cultural work they perform as we point to thoir occur-
rence in the news stories. This further helps the reader understand the
structure of the news narrative since the textual analysis is presented in the
dramatic form which organizes its presentation in the media.

Analysis
PHOTA a >\'iSTs/A ^'rA GO\'IS TS

Great Britain
"Albion" was the name given by the Greeks to England. The Spanish-
language news and commentaries in El Univun^cit and Excelsior, refer to Great
Britain as "Albion" usually to portray Great Britain negatively. In Spanish.
Albion is a female, as are the words lnglaterra [England] and Gran Bretafia
[Great Britain]. When Albion refers to Great Britain, htnnan characteristics
such as perfidious andrubia"[blonde
•• ] (Kiva Falacio. 19!32c. p. 42 A) Hrealso
boing attributed to the country. The journalistic technique of anthropomor-
phism "a trick of text which encourages ... travel seamlessly between levels
of analysis and therefore .., persoaaliz [Ing] every issue" (Lester, 1994. p. 16).
Great Britain equals an untrustworthy, treacherous, deceitful woman. That
the British prime minister was in fact a woman reinforces this treatment.

Y surgio inesperadamente el orgullo de Albion sintetizado en una

senora a quien elegantemente se le ha llamado la Dama de Hierru.
a pesar de que aiin no ha vestido la curaza ni ha tomado la espada
como los caballeros que existioron en un antaiio remoto. para
ponerse al frente de sus conciudadanos que eiivio al sacrificio y
que ha llevado a sii pais a una situacioii no propiamente elogante
[And unexpectedly appeared Albion's pride synthesized in a lady
who has been elegantly called the Iron Lady, although she has yet
to wear the armorand she has yet to take the sword, likt! the knights
that existed in remote times, to stand in front of the countrymen
she sent to the sacrifice. She has taken her country tn an inelegant
situation] (Venegas Filardo, 1982. p. 1-4).

Thus Great Britain, is presented to a male-dominated culture such as Latin

America as a proud, perfidious, capricious female.
Great Britain's initial feolings of frustration with the invasion are
advanced in the rmK^-s''coverage. Analysis of this frustration is grounded by
Britain's history. "In Britain, moments such as this provoke much nostalgic
reminiscing of past glory" (Rattner. 1982a, p.A6). Underscored is what is
termed British traditional sense of honor and the possibility that British
honor was injured with the invasion: "Indeed, much of the British reaction
rings faintly of bygone eras. The public debate has been dominated by the
question whether the nation's 'honor' has been irretrievably lost" (Rattner,
1982a. p,A6).

ALL YOI ' WILL SEE IS TIIK O.WE Yoi' Oxu< K.VKIV: PURTRAYM^ FROM THE FMJ:LANDS/MMVI.\.\.';
WAH IN U.S. AND LATIN A^IERICAS Nm-s
 In addition, kinship is established between the British and the Ameri-
cans. Striking a sensitive chord with American public opinion, the Times
reads; "For Britain, the takeover of the Falkland Islands has brought many
of the same reactions that the taking of the American hostages in Iran brought
to the United States" (Rattner, 1982a, p. AB). This statement implies three
things: (1) it establishes a parallel, therefore a similarity between the attack
on the American Embassy in Iran and the Argentine invasion of the Falklands/
Malvinas; (2) It implies that the islands and its inhabitants are Argentina's
hostages;" and (3) American reactions to the hostage situation in Iran were
appropriate; therefon^, British reactions to the invasion are also appropriate.
Hence, the deviance of Argentina and the justification of Great Britain is
reinforced. Drawing a parallel between the Falklands/Malvinas invasion and
the American hostage situation in Iran places both the U.S. and Great Britain
in the same situation, i.e., of being unexpectedly attacked by a "misbehav-
ing" country. It is a kinship based on victimization. Bolh countries as victims
of bizarre situations share the frustration of outsiders' attack.
Excelsior and El Universal draw on British history, tradition, and pride
to convey an image of Britain as a fallen, anachronistic seat of Empire whose
colonial intentions toward the Malvinas/ Falklands are out of date; "Gran
Bretana, un imperio de capa caida" IGreat Britain, a fallen Empire]
(Montenegro, 1982, P.7A)

(Gran Bretana] creia que estaba en la epoca dorada del imperio,

cuando t'jste podia impunemente quedarse con naciones y
archipielagos, sin que nadie se atreviese a retarlo. La reaccion de
Inglaterra no ha sido la que dicta la fuerza segura de si misma sino
la que brota de un complejo de inferioridad berido. Acostunibrado
a no tener que rugir. maullo el ledn
[[Great Britain] believed that it was in tho golden era of the empire,
when with impunity, it could hold on to nations and archipelagos
without being challenged. England's reaction has not been one
dictated by a strong sense of self, but one which emanates from an
injured inferiority complex. Used to not even having to roar, the
lion has meowed] (Rechani, 1982, p.1-2).

The inference is that British attempts to preserve their anachronistic rela-

tionship to the Falklands/Malvinas emerge from strength emasculated.
British reaction is belittled and no rationale for it is offered in either
newspaper where the prevailing presumption is that the islands by rights
never belonged to Great Britain.
HAferrun'o's treatment of the British empire/injured pride image is mild
compared to that of Excelsiorand El Universal. British feelings are described
as "controlada indignacidn" (controlled indignation] and "enojo controlado"
[controlled anger] (Entrala, 1982a, p.Dl). "Indignation." the feeling of anger
produced by something unjust foregrounds British reaction as proper.
British military response thus becomes less problematic.
In contrast, several oi Excelsior's and El Universal's opinion and analysis

CAROUNA ACOSTA-ALZIIBV &• ELUP. I^STEF-BOUSHANZAMIR

articles, call tho British pirates and burglars. "|Ingiaterra| con siis terribles
actos do colonialismo y piraterfa" [[England] with its terrible acts of
colonialism and piracy] "la vioja e insonsible loba do mar" [the old and
insensitive sea wolf] (Zerpa, 1982. p.1-5). "Argentina ha reclamado su
derocho a esas isla.s que le fuoron arrebatadas por piratas ingleses" [Argen-
tina has claimed its rights over those islands that were taken from (hem by
English pirates] (Basurto, 1982, p.7A). The stage is set once again in E]
Universal for one actor of the drama. Great Britain, to perform as the pirate,
the nsurper.
In opposition to this troatment, The New York Times prints: "Many
Britons took satisfaction in the fact that their men were fighting not so much
for territory as for the principle that aggression must no pay" ("Britons
buoyant," 1982). The New York Times ]ustifies Groat Britain's involvement
as a fight for a principle, not territory. Great Britain occupies tho high moral
ground, whilo Argentina is devalued to the more materialistic scramble for
"territories."

Margaret Thatcher
A tough loader who goos through the normal ups and downs of a crisis
snch as the Falklands/Malvinas War is Margaret Thatcher's character as
presented in The New York Times. All references to her aro respectful and,
with very few exceptions, limitod to her roln as prime mover of the action as
needed to advance tho roport. VVhon the reporting goes beyond a plain
account of her role in negotiations, or beyond descriptions of casualties and
losses, The New York Times consistently emphasizos that she is as a tough,
yet hiiman(itarian) leader. When the British lost the destroyer Sheffield, the
Times })rinted:

Roports that Mrs. Thatcher had broken into tears at the news of the
loss of the Sheffield worR dismissed hy her colleagues, but they
said sho was deeply concerned and grim. Dressod in black, as she
has been for most of the last month, sho sat silent [Apple, jr.,
1982a, p.Al7).

When one ofher character traits is included, it usually serves to improve her
image. Her intransigence is played down. "Mrs. Thatcher's tone sounded to
many members slightly less intransigent than on othor recent occasions. She
was noncommittal, rather than hostile" (Apple Jr., 19B2b, p.A9).
Thatcher's nickname "Iron Lady" ratos only one mention and then only
to oxplain that she acquirod it "in the days as leader of the opposition becanse
of her firm stands against the Soviet Union" ("Mrs. Thatcher's resolve," 1982,
p.A4). Naming the Soviet Union as onoiny in this context condomns Argen-
tina by association.
Her role as Great Britain's leader is emphasized, consistently reported as
tho "right way" to lead a country through difficulty and linkod to the well-
known "great men" of Britain's twentieth century past.

ALL Yot • Wiij. SEE IS THE ONE YOU ONIX. KVI;II .• POUTRAYALS FMIM
WAR IN U.S. AND LATIN AMIOIICAN NEWSPAPEHS
 As Britain struggles through ono of its most difficult periods since
World War II, the woman at tlie center of it all remains a picture
of calm and resuUition... Sho is trying with her public appearances
and statements, to inspire and unify a people in wartime with a
degree of success that even her opponents admire.... The 56-year-
oid Prime Minister, who has beon in office tbree years this month,
still arises at 6:30 every morning in her third-floor bedroom at 10
Downing Street and makes her own breakfast while she listens to
the news on the radio ("Mrs. Thatcher's rosolve." 1982, p.A4).

Such statements humanize Thatcher with details of overyday life on the

one hand and evocations of moral rectitude (not only hers) which raise her
above ubiquitous politics. Her toughness, leadership and responsibility are
underscored while concomitantly, she is somebody "who is just likons," i.e.
who wakes np early and prepares her own breakfast while listening to the
news.
Fivo days after the invasion of the islands. El Mercurio printed this
description of Margaret Thatcher's demeanor at the House of Gommons:

La senora Thatcher, tantas veces calificada de 'Lady de Hierro',

aparecia hiimillada en su banca, el rostro palido, la cabeza hundida,
tratando de mantenera pesar de los pesares nna postura soberana.
[Mrs. Thatcher, so many times called the 'Iron Lady," appeared
humiliated in her chair, her face pale, her head bowed, trying to
maintainin spite of everything a regal posture] ("Ola de
patriotismo,"1982, p. A8).

This paragraph appeared in a story about how Great Britain's pride had
been injured with tho invasion. The imago of that woman "himiiliated,"
"bowed" under tho circumstances, but still proud and regal, is conflated with
the image of Great Britain.
This strategy is repeated in El Mercario in a feature article headlined:
"Maggie Thatcher: Tan fuerte como la Reina" [Maggie Thatcher: As strong as
the Queen] {Entrala, 1982b, D6) printed on May 2, Like in The New York
Times. Thatcher, ("Maggie" as the headline proclaims), is "just like us," i.e.
she shops for her groceries and c:ooks her own meals. Sho is strong, "as strong
as the Queen," but she is also "muy autentica" [very authentic]. "Authentic"
in this context implies the opposite of snobbish, a "regular" person. El
Mercurio's Thatcher resembles The New York Times' Thatcher: a determined
leader with a domestic side, thus acceptable and potentially likable.
KxceAs/or'stroatrnentofMargaret Thatcher is, with one important excep-
tion, limited to the allusions necessary to roport tho conflict. Tho front-page
story of its April 5 edition is the sole exception. The author, Garlos A. Mutto,
is Kxce/s/or's special correspondent based in London. The headline: "^Gomo
es posible que no conocioramos los planes argontinos?: M. Thatcher" [How
is it possible that we didn't know of the Argentine plans?: M.Thatcher]. The
story provides an account of how Thatcher learned about the invasion, and

OIJNA ACOSTA-ALZURU &• ElJJ P. l£SrER-!inilSHANZAMIFI

her reactions, Lacking mentioned sources, tho story takns a fly-on-the-wall
perspective, as if the reporter had been with Thatclmr during those important
moments. He narrates how Thatcher left the Palace without eating, going
directly to her office on 10 Downing Street, where she was duly informed of
the invasion. "Margaret no pudo reprimir su impaciencia y estallo como
fiera" iMargaret could not control her impatience and exploded like a wild
animal] (Mtitto, 1982, p.l3A). Not a "humiliated" but "regal" woman who
leads Britain with d(!termination, characterized Thatcher as "impatient," "a
wild animal" and "avara" Igreedy].
The story maintains thematic consistency by concluding with a descrip-
tion of London's atmosphere after initial news of the invasion: "'Esto nos
pasa porque ostamos gohnrnados por una mujer', se escandalizo un viejo
mayor en el 'pub' The Red Lion" ["This happens to us because we are
governedby a woman,' said an old mayor at The Red Lion pub| (Mutto, 1982,
p.l3A). Instead of presenting a Thatcher that the reader can relate to, she
occupies a role as villain, a nasty character, who cvon the English, her own
people, do not like.
El t/mVersa/'s treatment is harsher still. Thatcher is freqtiently called "la
Thatcher" [the Thatcher] (Schael, 1982. p.1-4) (Colina, 1982.p.l-5) (Herrera,
1982, p.1-4) which in Spanish is a disrespectful.evenpejorativo way to refer
to a woman. Thatcher is portrayed as an insensitive, cold woman, not attuned
to the needs of her country. Guillermo Jose Schael, one of Venezuela's most
respected columnists, includes a photograph of Thatcher in his May 5
column with the following caption:

Esta cara de angel y actitud de orar de Margaret Thatchfjr contrasta

con su caracter implacable que !e ha valido en circulos do la
oposicion laborista deGraiiBretafiaelcalificativode: 'LaDamade
Hiorro.'... El pueblo hritanico y los laboristas no lian dado
aprobacion a sus arrestos imperialistas
[Margaret Thatcher's angel face and praying attitude contrasts
with her relentless character which has earned her the nickname:
'Iron Lady' among the Laborists in Great Britain.... The British
people and the Laborists have not approved her imperialist
impulses] [Schael, 1982b, p.1-4).

Margaret Thatcher is often presented in El Universal as "the cause" of

this war. "La guerra de la senora Thatcher" [Mrs. Thatcher's war] (Gomez
Mantellini, 1982. p. 1-4) is a common statement throughout El Universal's
coverage. The implication is that it is "her" intransigence that caused the
escalation of the initial conflict into a war not the Argentine invasion of the
islands. The fact that she is a woman increases the negative weight of the
portrayal. Gender is tied to capriciousness. Her nonconformity to the stan-
dard, i.o., masculinity, leaves her with an emptiness; waging a war is "her"
way of filling it. "El berrinche de una primera ministra inglesa tratando de
domostrarquetienem-sagallasquG los homhres" [The temper tantrum of an
English Prime Minister who is trying to demonstrate that she has more guts

ALL YOU WILL SHE IS THE 0>ih: Yoi • O.vf.'F KVBV: PoHTRAYA
WAB IN US. A\D LATI\ AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
than men] (Najera Saravia, 1982, p. 1-2). El LZ/jJuersa/'s Margaret Thatcher is
a cold, intransigent and even insane woman "la sicopatica Sra. Thatcher"
[the psychopathic Mrs. Thatcher] (Coronil Hartman. 1982. p.1-5) who. in a
whim, has decided to wage an unnecessary war.
The attribution of human characteristics to corporate groups or inani-
mate entities such as countries reconstructs things into (natural) creatures.
Anthropomorphism is an often-used strategy. Excelsior and El Universal
construct Great Britain as a treacherous, deceitful, capricious woman by
conflating the country with its most public figure. Margaret Thatcher "is"
Great Britain, and vice versa.
However, anthropomorphism, while attributing human qualities, does
not necessarily "humanize"'- inanimate ohjects. It can also contribute to the
demonization of that object. In Excelsiorand El [//nVersoi this strategy works
to demonize Great Britain. "Perfidious." "pre-potent," "pirate," and "bur-
glar" are some of the epithets assigned to this country/woman. Animal
imagery is also used: "sea wolf." "wild animal." The woman, Thatcher, is
also conflated with a child, "the temper tantrum of an English Prime
Minister," implying that the country. Great Britain, acts in an impulsive.
immature manner.
Latin America was in 1982. (and remains so. although to a lesser degree),
a male-dominated culture in which women are equated with the "emotional"
in sharp contrast to male "rationality." There is a widespread and deep
suspicion that women who play non-traditional roles are trying to prove that
they are better than men. Thus their feminine traits and their traditional roles
of wife and mother are doubted, while their non-traditional roles are not
taken seriously. These are the cultural conditions into which Excelsior and
El Universal comparison of Great Britain with a bad female were inserted.

Argentina
"Domestic issues led to Argentine move" asserted The New York Times
on April 5. Edward Schumacher, Times' correspondent in Buenos Aires,
writes the story. "Underlying the seizure of the British islands are a fervid
nationalism, a frustrating sense of national failure in recent years and a
Government with its back against the wall domestically" (Schumacher,
1982c, p.A.^). The reporter chooses a clear position regarding the conflict;
the islands are British and Argentina's initiative is obscured, understandable
only within the narrow context of their idiosyncratic domestic situation.
Argentina seems annoyingly irrational. "Argentina, a nation that has
never lived up to its own expectations," "The frustration and failure of a
promising land that is a cornucopia of fertile soil, mineral resources and
educated people" (Schumacher, 1982d, p.A14). Argentina is portrayed as a
country with a low self-esteem, a "frustrated" country that made a poor
choice by attempting to take the Falklands/Malvinas.
The New York Times' editorials repeatedly emphasize that Argentina
and Great Britain do not share the same significant relationship to the United
States. "There is no sense pretending that Washington's relations with the
two protagonists are symmetrical" ("1,800 hostages," 1982, p.Al8). When

CABOIJNA ACXySTA-ALZHHI.' 6- EUJ P. LES

then-President Ronald Reagan declared that the United States was friends of
both contending countries, The New York Times censured him in an edito-
rial, classifying his statnment as "a perverse description of the American
people's relations with the two countries" "He is wrong even to imply ... that
democratic Britain and Argentina's military jnnta have an equal claim on
American estnom and affection" ("Friendly fire," 1982, p.A22).
Yet again, Argentina is placed
at a lower level than " domocratic
Britain," The two countries do With these statements and tone, The New
not elicil the same feelings from York Times takes a definitive and consis-
the American people, nor shou]d tent pro-Great Britain stance. It estab-
they. With these statements and lishes an Us:Other ratio in which the
tono. The New York Times takes a
definitive and consistent pro- "Us" is the United States and Great Brit-
Great Britain stance. It establishes ain. The "other" is Argentina. The "us"
an UsiOther ratio in which the side is the legitimate standard. The
"Us" is the United States and "other" is deviant and illegitimate.
Groat Britain. The "other" is Ar- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
gentina. The "us" side is the ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
logitimato standard. The "other" is deviant and illegitimate. Furthermore,
the "us" is bestowed witb the moral authority that places "us" on a higher
moral level; thus "we" judge and criticize the "other" and the war from the
position of the norm. "We" bave democracy and respect for human rights and
international laws, while "they" have an authoritarian government, abuse
human rights and shamefully disobey the most basic laws of international
coexistence. Tbus, "they" cannot be rigbt and "tboir" actions should not be
condoned.
El Mercurio C(mstructs a different Us:Other ratio. In this case, "us" is
Chile and "other" is Argentina and its supporting Latin American countries.
Again, the "us" is placed at a higher moral level, and judgement is passed
over the "other," Argentina, the unrnly deceptive neighbor. Empbasis is
placed on what differentiates "us" from "them," rather than on the similari-
ties and common ground that tho two sides of this ratio actually share.
Similarly to The New York Times, Argentina's domestic woes aro the
focus of much of El Mercurio's content. The conflict is presented as tbe moans
to forget or bypass Argentina's internal problems. "En Buenos Aires: Olvido
de la politica y do problemas econdmicos" [In Buenos Aires: F'orgotting
politics and tbe economic problems] (Alvarez, 1982, p.Gl]. Argentina's
situation is described as one of "paralisis e impotoncia" [paraiysis and
impotence] (Perez de Arce, 1982b, p.A3),
Tho idea that instead of the Faiklands/Malvinas. Argentina could have
taken the territories disputed with t^hile is repeated throughout the ten
weeks' coverage. References to the Beagle territorial dispute and Argentina's
refusal to relinquish its allogod rights over tboso lands aro mentioned
repeatedly ("Embajada trasandina," 1982)["Diario argontino," 1982].
Furthermore, as journalistic practice dictates, several Chilean "experts"
are quoted; their opinions about the conflict, however, are uniform: Argen-

ALL YDI' WILL SEE IS n!K ONE Yoi' OSCE KNEW: POUTIL^YALS FIKJM THE F.^LiJANDs/MALVL\AS
WAR IN U.S. AND LATL->I AMEHICAN NEWSPAPERS
tina has no rights over tho islands; they belong to Great Britain, "Desde el
punto do vista do historia diria quo a Inglaterra lo asiston d(!rcchos soHdos"
[From tho historic point of viow, I would say tiiat England has solid rights]
("Analistas chilenos," 1982, p. Al 1), "Los antecodontes histdricos demuostran
que las islas .,, son incunstionahlemonte hritanicas" [The historic anteced-
ents show that the islands ... aro unquestionably British] ("Las islas son,"
1982, p. Cl),
The implication is that Argentina "should" loso the war. Argentina
losing the war is described in El Mercurio as a necessary lesson: " [Argentina]
esta siondo humillada aloccionadoramente" [[Argentina] is being humili-
atod teacbing tbem a mucb-neoded lesson] (Perez do Arce, 1982a, p.A3).
Argentina is presented as "[el] hermano que nos ha ofendido gravemente"
[[the] brother who has gravely offended us] (Perozdo Arce, 1982a, p.A3), The
words oxpress a love-hato relationship, in which Argentina's loss is doomed
as deserved and essential to Ghilo's future woll-being.
Anthropomorphism is usod by The New York Times whon it endows
Argentina with a porsonality,i,e,, a nation that "has never livod up to its own
expectations," a "frustrated" country with a low solf-esteom. At the same
time, K/Mercun'o stresses the need to teach Argentina amuch-neodod lesson
so it will hehave in the future, Argentina is a child in need of oducation.
Anthropomorphism is used to roinforce the differences stressed in tho
Us:Other relationships established by The New York Times and E! Mercurio.
Argentina's low self-esteom is contrasted with "our.'" (the United States'),
self-esteem. Argentina's immaturity is contrasted with "our." (Chile's),
grownup behavior.
According to E.xcolsior's writers, Argentina, although wrong in its
procedure, is right regarding the soveroignty of the archipelago. Excelsior's
treatment emphasizes the humhiing changes in Argentina as the conflict
began to oxact a price:

Argentina, conformada socialmonlo por una poblacidn heterdgenoa,

nunca se ha sontido mionibro de America Latina, Con la suficiencia
de un arraigado convencimiento de superioridad, mira con la ceja
levantada al resto dol continonte [Argontina. socially composed of
a beterogonootis population, never felt that it was a membor of
Latin Amorica, With a sufficiency product of a deep sense of
superiority, it looks at tbe rest of tbe continent with a raisod
eyobrow] (Madrazo, 1982, p.7A),

Only montbs beibre the Malvinas/Falklands War, the Argontine Foroign

Minister had openly stated that Argentina did not consider itsolf a membor
of the so-called Third World (Hogo, 1982). Excelsior's two reportors in
Buenos Aires published soveral stnrios about how Argentina, wben facing a
moment of crisis, has only Latin American countries to turn to for support.
The process of "mea culpa" Ihat the Argentines endured is thoroughly
reported in Excelsior.
Excelsior, unlike The New York Times, describcis the human impact of

CAHOUNA ACOSTA'ALZUHU &• Em P. LESTER-ROUSHANZAKBR

the war on Argentina. Several stories detail how Argentineans are coping.
"Lagente roalmento tiene miedo, temor, panico de verse en una situacidn que
no hahi'an sufrido antes. Esto no es el campeonato mundial de futbol como
pensaban quo eran ]as cosas haco unos di'as" [The people aro really scared,
they fear, thoy panic just by thinking they might be involved in a situation
thoy have never suffered before. This is not the World Gup'' as many thought
a few days ago] (Riva Palacio, 1982c, p. 42A).
The symmetry of "war as a sport" and "sports as a war" increases the
impact of the process of hunianization. The fear of war is human and
universal. The cold facts of Argentina's domestic situation and unacceptable
invasion evoke empathy, and when combined with a disconrse of mythic
Latin American unity work within Excelsior as effectively consistent textual
strategies.
This myth of Latin American unity also appears in El Universal: Latin
Americans must support Argentina. Moreover, an association is established
between Venezuela and Argentina as victims of a common enemy: British
imperialism. "Venezuela, al igual que Argentina, ha sido victima del
imperialismo britanico" [Venezuela, like Argentina, has been a victim of tho
British imperialism] (Key, 1982, p. 1-13). The strategy of victimization works
as the link that establishes kinship. Used by The New York Times in
establishing an affinity between the United States and Great Britain, the
strategy is again effective in establishing a bond between Argentina and
Venezuela.
Once kinship is established, its significance is increased when reporting
tios knowledge of snffering to the experience of perfidy: "Vivimos como
nuostra la guerra que se ha dosatado, por eso, admiramos la heroicidad de
quienes defienden su libertad, su soberania" I We live as ours this war that has
developed; this is why we admire the heroism of those who defend their
liberty and their sovereignty] (Vonfigas Fi]ardo, 1982, p.1-4).
All Venezuelans, it is suggested, should take Argentina's side in re-
sponse to "our" sudden surge of love. No opposition appears in El Universal;
it is uniform in its solidarity. Argentina's domestic situation receives no
mentions, nor are there reports on human rights violations. No mention
appears of Argentina's past disdain toward the rest of Latin America.
Argentina becomes a David who daringly challenged Goliath, Great Britain,
and for thti correct reason; to "recover" what is thoirs.

Loopoldo Galtiori
With few exceptions, allusions to Genoral Leopoldo Galtiori in the four
newspapers aro mechanical and reduced to the minimum necessary. Most
simply report something that he said to the media. During the dates studied,
neither Excelsior nor E! Universal report moro than the bare minimum.
However, even in the most mechanical routine reporting, variations of
language differentiate Galtieris. The British first attacks were reported on
May 2. Galtieri declared that Argentina would respond to the attack.

The New York Tinws: "The 55-year'Old leader of the Argentino

Au. Yoi' Wiu.SF.EisifiFO.w. You ONCE KMhw: PoFlTlL^YALS FROM THE FA!JJAMK/MALVI.\AS
WAB IN U.S. AND LATIN AMEBICAN NSWSPAPEHS
 junta angrily declared..." (Markham, 1982, p.13).
El Mercurio: "Desafianto discurso de Galtieri" [Defiant spooch by
Galtieri] ("Respondornmos con fuego," 1082, p. Al).
Excelsior: "En una disertacion que duro mcnos de 10 minutos,...,
Caltiori anuncio que ..." lln an addross that lasted less than 10
minutRS,..., Caltieri announced that ...1 (Horroro, 1982b, p. 18A),
El Universal: No mention of Galtiori's spooch.

Tho simplo reportorial language constructs: an angry military dictator whose

country doos not abide by international rules, a man who defies Groat Britain
to a fight, a leador who succinctly hut firmly lots his opponont know his
country will not bo submitted.
El Universal althcjugb vocal about Margarot Thatchor, never mentions
Galtieri. Statements refer to Argontina or tho Argontinoans, nover to Galtiori
or any member of tho Junta. He is nonexistent in this discourse.
A fow days after tho invasion, The New York Times printod a story which
focusos on Galtieri (Scbumachor, 1982o). Tho first threo paragraphs doscribo
Galtieri saluting tho pooplo of Buonos Aires from the balcony of his presidon-
tial palace aftor tho invasion was announced. "Tho scene ... was reminiscent
of another timo and another man, Gon. Juan Domingo Poron, who with his
wife, Evita, fillod that same plaza with admirers, 30 yoars ago" (Schumacher,
10820, p. A7). Thus Galtieri, an apparontly all but unknown Argontine is
equated with Peron, a bettor-known Argontine.
The comparison frames the story by evoking Argontina of the 195O's;
Galtiori is vosted with certain characteristics that aro not his but Peron's
"Evita." tho famous musical also providos a perspective on what otherwise
might appear foreign. Tho toxt domesticates tho foroign with no hint of tho
ironic (although tho personal and political difforoncos betwoen Galtiori and
Peron aro striking). The Times' shift from Galtiori's "shrewdnos.s that has
surprisod both frinnds and foos" (Schumacher, "I982o, p. A7), to his gravo
miscalculations ("Presidont Galtiori thought that a popular land grab could
savo his faltoring junta from Peronist mobs. Hfi nover dreamed the British
would fight to win" ("A merciful," 1982, p. A28)] shows a hardening of tho
Times' position as a British ally.
Galtieri's miscalculation also receives prominence in El Mercurio. A
Galtiori interview with the famous Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci was
printod on Juno 15 ("Entrevistade Galtiori." 1982), One oftho deck headlines
is: "El Presidento argentine dijo que no ponso que Gran Brotafia iba a
roaccionar tan onergicamonte on el caso de las Malvinas" [The Argontine
Presidont said that he did not think that Groat Britain would react so
energetically in the Malvinas case] ("Entrovista de Galtieri," 1982, p. A8).
The covorago of Galtiori in tho four newspapors under study did not
grant him a main part in the conflict. Ho is never conflatod with Argontina
as Margaret Thatcher was with Groat Britain, but is relegatod to a mero
supporting role in tho war.

CAROLINA ACOSTA-ALZVUH & Em P.. l£si^n-RousHANZAMin

 CAST

United States
The New York Times highlights the difficuh position in which the
United States finds itself in this conflict. The United States faces a quandary:
Argentina is not as essential as Great Britain, a NATO ally; yet the Cold War
makes Argentina meaningful to U.S. objectives. After the United States
openly sided with Great Britain, The New York Times blamed Argentina for
the failure of Secretary of State Alexander Haig's mediation attempts:
"Argentina has only itself to
blame for the loss of Mr, Reagan
as an honest, outwardly nentral Thus, the United States as a stern but just
broker in the long attempt to save father "punishes" Argentina hy siding
face all around" {"Shock with Great Britain, when the United
therapy," 1982, p.A26). Once
again, Argentina is endowed with
States "fails to hring Argentina to its
a human characteristic, a person- senses." The Us:Other ratio performs its
ality. The Now York 7i'jjies places strategic work.
yet another responsibility on Ar-
gentina, that of causing the fail-
ure of the negotiations. On the other hand, President Reagan is depicted as
an "honest, outwardly neutral broker." The contrast between Argentina's
"conduct" and Reagan's implies both that Argentina caused the failure of the
negotiations, and that the United States had but one recourse, to side with
Great Britain. In the same editorial, U.S, neutrality in the negotiations is
characterized as a "pretense" ("Shock therapy," 1982, p.A26). So the
"honest, ontwardly neutral broker" has a "pretense" neutrality, a definite
contradiction. U.S. support of Great Britain is called "the shock therapy ...
plainly necessary to shake the junta from its trance" ("Shock therapy," 1982,
p.A26).
On June 15, The New York Tinms' editorial revisits the moment when the
United States sided with Britain: "After failing to bring the Argentines to
their senses, it (the United States] stood squarely with Britain" (" A merciful,"
1982, p. A28). Both statements Imply that Argentina is "insane." The New
York Times makes the United States a paternal figure, a father facing conflict
in "his" household. The father tries to mediate but finally takes sides. Thus,
the United States as a stern but just father "punishes" Argentina by siding
with Great Britain, when the United States "fails to bring Argentina to its
senses." The UsiOther ratio performs its strategic work.
E! Mercurio seldom refers to the United States in its coverage. The few
mentions are either nentral or positive. The only direct reference to the
United States found in the dates studied was in an editorial printed on May
29. "... el Secretario de Estado norteamericano ha mantenidn un enfoque
conciliador...." [... the American Secretary of State has maintained a concil-
iatory approach....] ("Confrontacidn," 1982, p.A3).Haig, in this case, "is" the
United States. By characterizing his approach as "conciliatory," the United
States appears amiable and even-handed, a removed but concerned outsider.

An. Yol' WILL SEE IS THE ONE YIH < ONCE KNEW: POHTBAYALS FRUM THE FALKLANDS/MALVL^AS
WAH IN U.S. A!vv LATIN AilEivcAN NEWSPAPERS
 In contrast with El Mercurio's lack at referennes to the United States.
Excelsior and El Univarsal frequently mention the United States. Imperial-
ism is usually associated with tho United States in Excelsior. Valentin
Campa, a socialist analyst, frankly writes about "el imperialismo yanqni"
[yankee imperialism] (Clampa, 1982, p. 6A) since the United States has
already imposed its colonial methods on Pnerto Rico.
U.S. neutrality in its mediation efforts in the conflict is questioned
repeatedly in Excelsior. In an editorial headlined "Ineficacia sospechosa"
[Suspicious inefficiency] ("Ineficacia sospechosa," 1982, p. 6A), U,S. con-
duct is described as "aparentementn un acto de neutralidad amistosa"
[apparently an act of neutral friendship]. The word "apparently" under-
mines the "neutral friendship" conveying that the United States mediates
with interest.
A cartoon map of the Americas appears to the right side of this editorial.
In a gap left between the United States and Mexico, an arrow points to what
the cartoon defines as "Canal de Reagan" [Reagan's Canal] (p.A6). This
cartoon portrays the United States as a separatist country who has differen-
tiated itself from the hemisphere. For Excelsior the United States is imperi-
alistic, dishonest and separatist de facto acting in collaboration with Great
Britain against Argentina.
El Universal also donbts U.S. neutrality, with the text shifting from real
doubt to more direct disbelief. "Estados Unidos demostro ser mas un
representantedeinglaterra ... queunanacianrealmentemediadora,es decir,
imparcial" [The United States showed that it was more England's represen-
tative ... than a mediator, an impartial nationl (Alves das Neves. 1982, p. 1-
2).
Before it sided with Creat Britain, the United States is presented as a
country facing a dilemma. El Universal frames this dilemma: "EE.UU. dehe
decidirse entre el colonialismo o los paises de America" [The U.S. must
decide between colonialism and the American countries] (Plaza Marquez,
1982. p. 1-4). By thus defining the dilemma to the Venezuelan readership.
Plaza Marqnez provides the "right answer" to the quandary. "Colonialism"
is a loaded term in Latin America, never the "right" choice. The United States
"should" hack Argentina, an "American country."
Plaza Marquez defines the United States as a country with "[una]
tradicion racista y de colonialismo" [a tradition of racism and colonialism]
(Plaza Marquez, 1982, p. 1-4). On the next page of £/ Universal "la inmensa
hipocresia de los Estados Unidos" [the immense hypocrisy of the United
States] (Petkoff, 1982, p, 1-5) is underscored. Negative images set the stage
for the ultimate betrayal: the United States siding with Great Britain.
Betrayal then, becomes the standard when El Universal writers refer to
the United States. Images of a fraternal love deceived are set forth. "La
America Latina, que creia ver en los Estados Unidos a su hermano mayor"
[Latin America, who viewed the United States as its older hrother] (Lopez
Herrera, 1982, p. 1-4), "EUA hirio el corazon del sistema interamericano"
[The U.S.A. has injured the heart of the interamerican systeml ("Eduardo
Fernandez." 1982. p. 2-1). The United States, by supporting Great Britain,

CAHOUNA AcOSTA-ALZUnU & ElU P. L£STEH-RoUSHANZAMm

has "injured" Latin America. Once again, countries and regions assume
human characteristics. This time the language is that of a saga: the "big
brother," the "betrayal," the "injury." For E! Universal readers, the bottom
line regarding the United States is best exemplified in Luis Esteban Rey's
commentary on May 5: "Los Estados Unidos del senor Reagan dijeron
claramente: entre ustedes los latlnoamericanos y nuestra aliada tradicional
el Reino Unido, no vacilamos en apoyar a este" [Mr. Reagan's United States
clearly expressed: between you, Latin Americans, and our traditional ally,
the United Kingdom, we do not hesitate in supporting the latter] (Rey, 1982.
p. M3).

Latin America
The New York Times' Latin America consists of countries south of the
U.S. border and characterized by their "emotional outbursts" ("A merciful,"
1982, p. A28}, and "a long-standing suspicion that the United States was
always on the margins of that [hemispheric] sense of community" (Grossette,
1982b, p. A7). "Emotional" is opposed to "rational." Thus, an "emotional"
Latin America fits perfectly with established stereotypes about the region:
fervent, temperamental, passionate, and vehement. Within this context,
since Latin American choices are irrational, supporting Argentina seems
irrational. By contrast, the United States is depicted as dispassionate, calm,
collected and rational. The United States is a true mediator who tried to
"bring the Argentines to their senses," but who "stood squarely with Britain
and against the emotional outbursts of Latin friends" ("A merciful," 1982,
A28).
Moreover, Latin American support of Argentina is defined as "ritual."
"Even the Rio nations'" gave only ritual support" ("Shock therapy," 1982, p.
A26). In this editorial. The New York Times not only diminishes the
importance and significance of the support, but also omits that the United
States is also a "Rio nation."
Belittling Latin American support as "emotional" is not exclusive to The
New York Times. El Mercurio also defines it as "una muestra de solidaridad
emocional mas que de resguardo de las normas internacionales" [more like
a sample of emotional solidarity than one of safekeeping of international
rules] (Olave, 1982, p. Dl). Just as Excelsior and El Universal portrayed
Great Britain as "emotional," The New York Times and El Mercurio construct
an "emotional" Latin America. Again anthropomorphism proves useful.
This time, it reinforces a dichotomized world view in which the dualism of
reason v. emotion is central to assumptions about the character and conduct
of human beings,'^ and also of countries and cultural regions. "Rational" is
better than "emotional," a superior state that allows Latin America to be
dismissed within the text, not equal to a role as an important player.
Besides being "emotional," El Mercurio's Latin America is a deeply
divided region, where Ghile's "neutrality" stimulates uneasiness (Olave,
1982). El Mercurio presents a misguided Latin America supporting Argen-
tina, ironically, during this conflict, it is Chile not Argentina, which is the
country that differentiates itself from its Latin neighbors. El Mercurio

ALL YOI • Wiu, SEE ;S 77(ft" ONE Yen • ONCE KNEW: POUTHAYALS FHOM THE FAUCLANDS/MALVINAS
WAH IN U.S. AND LATIN AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
suceeds in working the Us:Other ratio by showing that Latin American
countries who rallied around Argentina are the misguided "others." It
becomes clear that "we" (Chile) have nothing in cotnmon with Argentina,
and "we" are also different from "them," other Latin American countries who
condone Argentina's behavior.
In contrast, Latin America looks unified and important in Excelsior's
coverage. Several times during the war. Excelsior's front-page main head-
line, usually a banner headline, has Latin America as the subject: "Repudiu
latinoamericano a la alianza Cran Bretana-EU" [Latin American rejection to
Creat Britain-U.S. alliance] ("Repudio," 1982, p. lA), "AL [America Latina]
rompe el dialogo coti Europa por la sancion a Argentina" [Latin America
breaks dialogue witb Europe due to sanctions against Argentina] ("AL
rompe," 1982, p.lA), "Llegada la hora, las fuerzas de AL [America Latina]
combatiran: Galtieri" [When the time comes, Latin American forces will
fight, says Caltieri] ("Llegada. 1982. p. lA).
Excelsior's Latin America is a unified region, a power that faces Europe
tete-^-tete, an actor that can, when appropriate, threaten the enemy. The
cause of this unity and strength is buried within a news report, but nonethe-
less stated clearly: Latin American countries are united against the United
States because it sides with Britain. This common objective bonds countries
as different as Venezuela and Cuba ("Repudio," 1982, p. lOA) and within that
bond lies Latin American strength.
A Latin America disdained by Creat Britain and the United States is the
one described by El Universal. "Es que nos [Cran Bretafia y Estados Unidos]
consideran de segundo orden" [They [Creat Britain and the United States]
consider us as second class] (Comez Mantellini, 1982, p. 1-4). Repeatedly
that image is linked with the notion that Latin America deserves better from
the world powers, since it is endowed with spiritual qualities"^ that make it
morally "better" than the United States and Britain. In consequence. El
Universal implies that if the United States and Britain snub Latin America,
it is because "ellos padecon una suerte de complejo de superioridad" [they
suffer sort of a superiority complex] (Crondona, 1982, p. 1-2), not because
"we" have any problem.
In another instance of an UsiOther ratio, in which the "us" part is
presented as correct and better. Excelsior and El Universal portray "us" as
Latin America while the "other" is the conflation of Creat Britain with the
United States. In this instance, discourses of anti-colonialism and anti-
imperialism define the "other" supporting the idea that "they" are morally
inferior to "us." The relationship is underscored by stressing that even
though "they" are more economically developed than "us," "our" spiritual
development is superior and more important.
The construction of Latin America as the "Us" side of the ratio is based
on the long-standing yearning for mythic regional unity. This construction
emphasizes what "we" Latin American countries have in common. The
construction is centered around Argentina, stressing its Latin American
heritage, and establishing a fraternal relationship with a country that tradi-
tionally had frowned on the idea of being called "Latin American."

CAHOUNA ACOSTA-ALZimi! &• EUJ P. LESTER-RaVSHANZAMm

THE PRIZE

The Islands and the Islanders

"The Falklands. a group of bleak, windswept islands" ("Falkland is-
lands,'* 1982. p. A6). This is The New York Times' first depiction of the
islands. The adjective "bleak" is used with almost every mention in this
newspaper.
hi contrast, references to tlie "Kelpers," the islanders, are warm and
friendly: "hardworking Britishers" and "pastoral people" (Strebeigh, 1982.
p. A19). These inhabitants "wore in tears and don't want to be Argentinean"
(Rattner, 1982b. p. A18). Kelpers are simple, loyal British subjects who have
become "hostages" of Argentina ("1,800 hostages,"1982).
Fred Strebeigh, who lived three months in the Falklands/ Malvinas
while preparing an article for Smithsonian magazine,'" wrote a feature story
for The New York Times April 6 edition. In it. the Kelpers are described in
minnteiy human detail, treated as subjects rather than ohjectified. Thiw are
"pastoral people" who after the invasion "havo heard their own radio
stations harking at them in Spanish" (Streheigh, 1982, p. A19), Words such
as "pastoral" suggest images of an idealized non-urban setting in which a
pleasingly peaceful farming lifestyle in a manner reminiscent of the familiar
British countryside flourishes. The contrast between this "pastoral people"
and the "barking" in Spanish, which describes Argentines as furious "dogs"
who have disrupted the Kelpers' peaceful life is reiterated.
Another story provides detailed descriptions of strict restrictions im-
posed on the islanders hy the Argentine government (Schumacher, 1982g).
This report is the only instanc^e in any of the four newspapiirs in which the
Kelpers speak:

In television interviews Saturday, before controls were imposed,

the islanders often argued with their Argentine interviewers. 'I
don't accept the Argentine claim,' said Bill Everich, the postmas-
ter, 'because my people have been here for 150 years.'... 'This has
completely upset our lives' (Schumacher, 1982g, p. A6),

The New York Times' Kel pers are consistently shown to be good, mild people
wbo feel British and whose idyllic lives have been "upset" hy a harsh
irrational country with whom they share nothing in common.
Excelsior's Malvinas and its inhabitants differ starkly from those of The
New York Times:

[El archipielago] estd bahitado por unas 1,800 personas que viven
do !a agricultura. la pesca y la cn'a de ovejas. La capital es Puerto
Stanley y el archipielago se distingue por ser el mas retrasado de
America, con extensos latifundios y arcaicas formas de trahajo.
despues de 149 anos de ocupacion hritanica [[The archipelago]
is inhabited by approximately 1,800 people who make a living

ALL YOU WIU. SEE IS rut: OM: Yoi' ONCE K,\f\i': PoRTiiAYALs FROM TIIH F.^LKLA>JDS/MALVL\AS
WAH /N U.S. AND LATLW AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
 through agricnltnre, fishing, and the tending of sheep. Its capital
is Port Stanley and it is the most backward archipelago in America,'"
with extensive latifundium''' and archaic working methods, after
149 years of British occupation] (Herrero, 1982, p. 31A].

There is nothing ideal ahout these Malvinas, 7b the contrary, "after 149
years of British occupation" the islands remain primitive. Malvinas' under-
developed condition is "due" to the British occupation. "Tierras de las
cuales no se tiene memoria, sin huella, sin edad, sin dueno" [A land from
which there are no memories, no footprints, ageless, ownerless] (Montenegro,
1982, p. 7A).
"Un reducto de cabreros, de parias de nacionalidadambigua, sin sentido
de patria, sin mayores expectativas de progreso, fantasmas en un ambito
idilico, nada mas" [A group of goatherds, of pariahs of ambiguous national-
ity, without major expectations of progress, ghosts in an idyllic environment,
that's all] [Montenegro, 1982, p. 7A). These Kelpers are scripted out of time,
known simply as "jiariahs." misfits without a "real" nationality, stuck in
"their" time and place. That time and place, idealized in The New York
Times, are ridiculed in Excelsior.
El Mercurio develops a kinship between the Kelpers and the Chileans.
" [Los Kelpers] asumieron las costumbres britanicas, su lenguaje y se mostraron
siempre reacios a aceptar a los inmigrantes argentinos. lo que no ocnrria con
los chilenos" [[The Kelpers] assumed the British customs, their language.
They were always very hesitant to accept the Argentine immigrant but not
the Chileans] ("Las islas son," 1982, p. C6).
On April 5, E! Mercurio printed a story about a family who at the time
was living in Chile and had relatives in the Malvinas/ Falklands ("Lo que ha
ocurrido," 1982). The story cites the family as "experts" about the islands
(attributing their expert status to their experience of having relatives there).
The islands are calird "Falkland" and symmetry is established between the
Kelpers and the people from the area of the Strait of Magallanes, the Chilean
territory closest to the archipelago. "La gente de las Falkland tiene mucho
parecido a los magallanicos" [The people from the Falklands are a lot like
the people from Magallanes] ("Lo quo ha," 1982, p. C2). Furthermore, one
of the members of this family states that the Chileans who live in the island
"se han integrado muy bien, son qneridos y mny trabajadores" [have
integrated very well, they are loved and hardworking] ("Lo que ha," 1982,
p. C2).
These statements holp make the link between Chileans and Kelpers by
pointing to the common ground between Chileans and Falklanders. By
innuendo. Chileans are better than Argentines since the Falklanders accept
them while they reject the Argentines. In turn, this defines the Kelpers as an
"authority," on character assessment. The kinship strategy demonstrates that
Chileans and Kelpers areallie.s through character similarities as well as their
common dislike for Argentina. Just as in The New York Times' Creat Britain/
United States kinship and El Universal's Argentina/Venezuela kinship,
victimization also helps link Kelpers and Chileans. The Kelpers are the

CAIKSJNA AcosTA-Aij:umi
current victims of Argentina's irrational behavior, and El Mercurio suggests
that the Chileans are potential victims of the same foe.
El Universal emphasizes Britain's alleged neglect of the islands. "Alli
habi'a mil doscientos seres hurnanos que hasta eso entdnces la Gran Bretana
practicaniente habi'a ignorado. Pastores de rehanos de ovejas, Pescadores,
qtie solo lograban el auxilio del mundo moderno a traves de Argontina"
[There were 1,200 human beings who np until that moment had been
practically ignored hy Great Britain. Shepherds, fishermen, who only found
holp from the modern world through Argentina] (Venegas Filardo, 1982, p.
1-4). Throi! positions are advanced: (l) The islands and its inhabitants have
been disregarded by Great Britain; (2) The islanders are not "modern"; and
(3) Thfiir only glimpses at "tho modern world" are modiatod by (bad)
Argentina (and therefore, Argentina is not "bad" for the islanders).
It is important to point out that the strategic importance of the islands is
mentioned in both El Mercurio (Entrala, 198:ia) and El Universal
("Recuperacion ," 1982). Also, the possibility that oil may be found in the
Falklands/Malvinas is mentioned in the three Latin American newspapers
under study. Both factors, strategic importance and the possibility of oil
reserves, are essential to the different constructions of this war and its
objective: the Malvinas/Falkland Islands.

Conclusion
As one text among many, and as one news story among many, our
finding.-^ are partial but suggestive. For example, as we expected there is
further support for Herman and Chomsky's thesis regarding connections
between the U.S. media and U.S. foreign policy. Our analysis of The New
York Times Falklands/Malvinas coverage supports the growing body of
evidence that supports their thesis that the purpose of U.S. mainstream news
media i$ "to inculcate and defend the economic, social and political agenda
of privileged groups that dominate the domestic society and the state." (1988,
p. 298) We also provide reasons for expanding their thesis by testing its
relevance in other nations; we certainly fotmd support for a somewhat
reformulated version, i.e, the media tend to follow national foreign policy
regardless of which nation or which political system. We would argue that
such a reformulation is suggestive of a radical revisioning of the nature of
media and that it should propel researchers to examine the ties, not only
between the press and the state, but between the press and other, perhaps
even more dominant, corporate and ideological apparatuses. Certainly, in
each of our four cases, the needs of the political-economic structure super-
seded journalistic professional values.
It seems of ongoing importance to continue to document the ways in
which the media and other culture industries form a thick web of meaning.
Our analysis demonstrates that these new media actively define reality as
they purport to observe it. We think that through the identification of
discursive strategies we can arm readers for noting ideology in the making.
This process is perhaps especially crucial in situations in which an other is
marked out (obviously not only in foreign news reporting) for attention.

ALL YIII! WIU. SEE IS THE ONK YUV Oxct: KNEW: PanTinYALS FROM THE FA
WAB IN U.S. AND LATIN AMEWCAN NuwsPAPbii
 There were continuities betvi'een this news reporting and earlier repre-
sentations of others; some were of content and some, of kind. For example,
the U.S. reporting conformed to the binary oppositions and stereotypes
associated with representations by the west of the rest. Each of the others,
while interpreting events differently, employed startlingly similar textual
strategies as well as followed western journalistic practices. But conversely,
what—if any—new dimensions separate this news writing from earlier
structures of representations?
A conjuncture in this regard is found in tho work of Mary Louise Pratt
(1992) who, in her recent book on how 18th century European travel writing
performed the ideological work of creating the "domestic subject of
Euroimperialism... Ito help accrue] the material benefits lof colonialism]..."
(p. 4) to a privileged European few, also wrote that the period when she
herself was writing was marked hy the ideological upheavals that began in
the 1980s.... It was begun during the anguish of the Reagan-Thatcher years,
when demystifying imperialism seemed more urgent than ever, and also
more hopeless (p. xi).
Pratt was working on her study while the Falklands/Malvinas conflict
ensued. That same time period was, as Pratt notes, a time of concerted
attempts to "renovate celebratory narratives of European superiority." It was
therefore not surprising that the U.S. reporting was dominated by an
extremely pro-British stance, one that superseded even an appearance of
neutrality.
However, the thrust of Pratt'sresearc:li was to look for how the colonized
both appropriate and even create forms by examining the interstices of texts;
further although travel writing is (and was in the 19th century) a commodified
form, it is not as constrained as journalism is (or was) by ownership of the
means of production. Pratt's interest in the expressions of the colonized is
paralleled in our examination of American jonrnalism as each evaluates the
conflict.
The choice of Marcus and Fischer's method of "juxtaposition" and our
decision to define our text as four major newspapers from one hemisphere
(rather than those of the antagonists), led to evidence of how a form can be
negotiated with or even appropriated. As our analysis discusses, the dis-
course in two of the three Spanish-language papers provided a thought-
provoking counter-point to The New York Times. The Chilean newspaper
presented us with a fascinating opposing stance toward its neighbor and
colleague (in the sense that these countries shared the same philosophy of
government), Argentina. Also this juxtaposition exposes the gaps between
media events and indigenous interpretation. Yet we cannot argue that the
modifications, alterations, and other practices that we examined in the
Spanish-language media truly provided openings at the interstices of dis-
course. The dominant discourse remains the western-driven one of profes-
sional journalistic practice and objectification of others through a variety of
textual strategies.
We noted initially that comparative research has been reconfigured by
the global realignments of the latter half of the twentieth century and that
global turbulence perhaps prompts researchers to tread the comparative road
lightly. We found that our collaboration helped obviate some of the dangers
(whilfi not diminishing the difficulties). The interaction between us—a
Venezuelan who "lived" the Falklands/Malvinas in the United States and an
American interested in the representation of others from the position of
Amorican cultural hegemony—helped keep the analysis on the thin line of
what Pratt calls the "contact zone" of "anti-conquest." Pratt coins these terms
to invoke the "spatial and temporal co-presence of subjects previously
separated by geographic and historical disjunctures. and whose trajectories
now intersect" (p. 6-7].'" However, it remained difficult to road thn text in
other than its own binary oppositional terms. The text, the newspapers under
investigation, adhered to the strategy of defining us by defining an other, and
of constructing narratives—from whatever their perspective—to simplify,
drawing on stereotypical nationalized images to do so.
Choosing the reporting of non-participants in the war helped us explore
how the peripheral us (in this case, peripheral to the conflict) define the other
and how "they" become "we." But we also had askod how did the four
newspapers, operating within four different locales, negotiated global and
local meanings. Our text presented us with completed narratives in which
issues of nationality were aggressively represented. In each case, shifting
loyalties based on geography, language, history, and ethnicity emerged to
define nationality. Great Britain and Argentina, using their own definitions
of their relationship to Malvinas/Falklands, sought to redefine the world by
making those shifts static. But the responses within the text remained fluid.
The Venezuelan and Mexican news defined Argentina as a Latin American
brother in need, linking that (male) sense of kinship with a definition of the
United States, their American neighbor, as a close cousin to Britain—and
tberefore a suspect neighbor. The Chilean news constructed a version that,
unlike most others, spotlighted the Kelpors. The U.S. news, by rejecting the
Argentinean time-line of events, supported Great Britain's definition of
Kelper suzerainty.
The relevance of gender as a news strategy to support the foreign policy
decisions regarding this conflict was unanticipated. Yet gender consistently
helped identify and promote national interests in each of the four cases. The
anthropomorphism that we expected was suppinmented hy the use of
"feminine" to impugn threat Britain, to forge the link between Margaret
Thatcher, the perfidious Albion, the cold heartless female. On the other
hand, favorable Spanish-language reporting also stressed the feminine.
Contrarily. In the U.S. reporting. Thatcher's gender is structured out; her
femininity is ignored and "masculine" traits (although normative) such as
objectivity and rationality are mentioned repeatedly. The U.S. news employs
the masculine as its neutral starting point; the Spanish-language news (like
the Spanish language) begins with an acknowledgment offenders. However
across cases, the feminine is always viewed as controversial.
Another finding which became apparent through the juxtaposition of
media was the observation that other relationships were dovetailed in the
reporting, especially in the three Spanish language newspapers vis-a-vis the

ALL YOI • Wiu. SEE IS THK (}>IE Yoi • O.\I:K K\EH':

WAH IN U.S. AND LATIN AMEHICAN NEWSPAPEH-.
United States. The New York Times reporting, not surprisingly, simplified
the story by unabashedly linking the U.S. interests with (Jreat Britain's. This
supersedes journalistic professional values, but there was never any signifi-
cant discnrsive indication of the relevance of the conflict, merely an overt
consistent promotion a pro*British perspective. However, in the Spanish-
language newspapers, a sub-toxt consistently marks tb(! association of the
United States with the conflict in particular and Latin American affairs more
generally. Its presence signifies other issues and the relevance of specific
political-economic relations which have an ongoing impact on Latin America's
own image and identity (as an entity and as its constituent parts) which are
profoundly affected by the presence of the United States, their neighbor, in
the same hemisphere.^'
In sum, while it is probably true that each separate text represented for
its readers "what they once know" the juxtaposition of texts led to an
increased understanding of how that process works. We believe that the
importance of looking at texts in this manner lies in the nature of the text as
an ideological artifact within which resides meaning neither fully intended
hy producers nor necessarily operationalized by readers. That meaning is
material in and of itself.
The value of textual research is three-fold: we provide citizens with
strategies to negotiate their own readings of texts by foregrounding the
structure of the text (and therefore, its ideological practice); we indicate for
working journalists how corporate interests may infiltrate their work (even
while those corporate interests may be at odds with their own); and we shed
lighl on the specific historical instance of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict
and how regional international relations influence the story that is told and
consequently the history of these events.

i:os7A-ALZumi &• Em P. issT

 Endnotes
For Central and Soulli Amttririans. "Amt!ri(:a"i.s not thRlliiited StatfiS. but thn large continent
cddHtitutecl by North. Cuntral and South America.

For instancfl, setiClritical Arts: (oiirnHl lor Cultural Sturlies. Keyan'Ibmast'lli, editor-in c.hivt
and Shin, S-C. [1998]. Impelling. iiHgatiating and artirulating Identitie.s; Popular music and
teon fiulturfi in Knrey. Unpublished i!iaster',s thesis. University uf Georgia.

3. See also Lesttir. E. [1994a;

4. In a special 1991 issue of Contmiinication Ibfory. \ focusing on "comparative theory."

5. John.soii also say.s: "The text" is no longer studied for its own sake, nor even for the social
effects it may be thoiighi to produco, hut rathtT for the subjective or cultural forms which it
realizes and makfi.s available. The text is only a means in cultural study: strictly, pttrhaps, it
is a raw material from which certain forms...may be ahstra(:t(!d...(T|he ultimate object of
cultural studies is not. in my vit;w. the toxt. Iml thf sociai lift! of siibjurlivo fornis at each
moment of their circulation, including their textual embodimtmts. This is a long way from a
literary valuing of texts for themselves.,.[p. 62).

6. Peter Beck 11988) describes the two versions in pp. 29-8,'j of his brxjk Tlit: Falkland hlands
as an iriturnationa! problem.

7. Today, Excelsior is the serond newspaper in Mexico. Coiistirvativo daily £/ Universal is thu
circulatiiin leader (Heuvel fi Dennis. 199r)].

8. It must be pointed out. however, that in their respective memoirs, both Ak^xander Haig and
th<^n-Minister of DefcnsR Caspar Weinberger, stress that they considered the islands as being
liritish (Haig, 19t)4; Weinberger. 1990).

9. Other studiiis that analyze the media and ihe Falklands/Malvinas War hut that do no( center
on issues of culture, ideology and rhetoric include: Kennedy, VV.V. (I9n3). Tht^ military and
thn media: why thf press cannot be tivstvd to vovava war. Hooper, A. (1902). The military and
the media.; Harri.s. R. (198:i). Gotcim!: the mudia, the government, and tha Falklands rrisis:
Adams, V. (1986). Tbe media and the Falklands cumpaigiv, Caistor, N. (1992). Whose war is
it anyway? The Argentiiw press during Ihe South Atlantic conflict (In [. Aulich (ed.) ).

10. It also has hvtin suggested that the media frame issues in various ways. A frame is "a central
organizing idea for ntsws content that supplies a context and suggests what the issue is
through the use of selection, emphasis, exclusion, and elaboration" (Tankard et al., 1991).
Frames are subtle and not as overt and evident as biases, thertsfore they ari^ more powerful
precisely because of the auilieuce's difficulty in detecting them (Severin & Tankard, 1997].
For Goffman (1974). frames help us discern reality, it organizes ".strips" of our everyday life
into recognizahle events. However, uur approach to this study—although it recognizes the
media as constructors rather than reflectors of reality—is centered on the ideological role
performed by the media: therefore, our choice of textual analysis instead of frame analysis as
the method for thi.s study.

11. In its April 6. 1982 edition. The New York Ti/nes prints an editorial titled:'1,81)
• 0 hostages:
The empire needs an umpire," In it. the hostage idea is rea.sserted: "The Argentine military
has not only seized disputed territory, but holds some 1,800 unwilling hostage.s" (p, Al8).

12. By "humanize" we mean cojistruct it as a likeahle, acceptable, "morn like ns" character.

13. Refers to the upcoming Soccer World Cup. the most important spurting m-ent for Latin
Americans in general and Argentines in particular.

14. Refers to the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistiince, also known as the Rio Treaty of
1947, in which signing nations agree to defend each other from my • extra-hemispherical
menace.

ALL Yoi' WII.L SHL IS nil-: O.vt Yai' OMUKSEW: PUHTHAYALS FHO.M THE F.•
UJJ.,-l^^^syM/li.lT.v,^. s
WAH L\ U.S, AW LATIN AMEHiCAN NEWSPAPEBS
15, For more on thit! and othtir ilualisins rtilatecl fo the male-female dichotomy, see Girksenn, K.
and Ciiklanz, L. (1 y92). Male is to ftimalfi as is to: A guidod tour of five feminist frameworks
for communication studies. In L, Rakow (Ed.) Women making meaning: New feminist
direclians in comnmnication. New York:

lfi, Thereisa widRspread notioiiamong Latin Americans that they art; bestowed with "spiritual"
qualities that are in frank fipposition with what they define as the vulgar and materialistic
ways of the United States (Acosta-Alzurii. 1996),

17. Strebeigh, F. (iflHl). A lonely but free life at the southern edge of the world. Smithsonian, pp.
84-93.

IB. Here, again. "America" refers to what North Americans call "the Americas."

19. A landed estntR with primitive agriculture and labor often in a state of partial servitude.

20. We also tried to keep in mind I'ratt'sroncept of "autoethnography" which refers to "instances
in which colonized subjents undertake to represent themselves in ways that engage with the
colonizer's own terms." This seems particularly germane when examining a journalistic text
given the commonly accepted news values which are historically located in U.S. journalistic
practice.

21. As Leopoldo Zea (195^) aptly explains: "Possibly one cannot find in history an example of
how on« people can he in the consciousnuss of another people like that of the United States
in the consciousness of the Hispanic American people. Sometimes North America symholizes
the finest model of their ideals; at other times she stands as the supreme negation of those
ideals, as their betrayal (p. 135).

CAROLINA AcosrA-ALZimv
 References
A merciful Falkland finish, (19(12. )une 15). Thf Neiv York Timns, p. A2ii.

Acosty-Alzuru, C. (l!)<)(i, February). Tho magir mirror: What Latin America thinks of the
United States. Paper presented Lit the Thirteenth Annual Intfrculttiral and international
Communications Conferenciv Miami. FL.

Adams. V. (inilti). The media and tite Falkianils rcimpaign. New York: St. Martin's Press.

ALrompeeUUalogoconEuropaporlasanciona Argeiitina.(]9ft2,May 2fi).Excfc>/wor. p. lA.

Alisky, M. (1H81). Latin American media: Guidance and censorship. Ames. IA: Iowa State
University Press.

Alvarez, ).M. (1982). En Buenos Aires: Olvido de la politicay de prohlemaseconomicos. (April

7].EIMercarin.p.Ci.

AlvesdasNevesJ. (1982). Laguerrade las Mai villas vista desdeUrasil. {May '.iO). El Universal,
p.1-2.

Analistaschilenosopinansobreocupacion de Malvinas. (1982. April 6). ElMerciirio. p. A l l .

Anderson, Perry. (1998) History of postmodernism. New York:

Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Ciihural dimensions ofglobalizntion. Minneapoli.s.

Minn: Universitv of Minnesota.

Apple,)r.,R.W. (1982a). British destroyer set afire: about :50 are reported lost. (May 5). The New
York Timrs. p. Al. p. A9.

Applti Jr.. R,W. (191)2!)). Mrs. Thatcher asserts Argentina holds 'key to peace"(April 30). The
Neiv York Times, p. A9.

Araghi, il.A, (1985). Ciipitalist development in Iran from a world-historical perspective.

Doctoral liissertation. University of Cleorgia. Athens.

Argentina peiisaba repetir invasion en Canal Beagle. (1982. May 13). La Prensa Austral.

Aulith, J. (lid.) [1992). Framing the Ealklands War: Nationhood, vulture and identity.
Philadephia, PA: Open University Press.

Balibar, E. (1995). Has the 'World' Changed? in A. Callari et al. (Ed.) Marxism in the
postmodern age: Confronting the Nt-w World Order, (pp. 4{];>-414). New York: Guiiford Press

Barber, B. (1992). )ihad vs. McWorld. The Atlantic. 269(3). 53-82.

Basurto, L.G. (1982). Archipielago Austral: Soherhia britanica. (April 5). Excelsior, pp. 7A.
11 A.

Beck. P. (1988]. The Falkland Islands as an international problem. London: Rout ledge.

Beck, P. (1991). The conflict potential of the "dots on the map." International History Breview.
13. 124-133.

Berger, A. A. (1995]. Cultural criticism: A primer of key concepts. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.

Best. S. and Kellner, D. i 1991). Postmodern theory: Critical interrrogations. New York: Gui lford
Press.

Blnmler,). and McLeod.J. (Eds.) (1992). Comparatively speaking: communication and culture
across space and lime. Newhury Park. CA: Sage.

ALL YOV PV/IX SEE IS THF O.VE Yna ONCE KJ^-EW: PORTPAYALS FROM THE F.-\LKL.WDS/MALVINAS
WAH IN U.S. AND LATIS AMEHICAN
 Britons buoyant and apprehensive. (1982. May ;(), The New York Times, sect, p.l.

Caistor. N. 11992). Whose war is it anyway? The Argentine press during the South Atlantic
conflict, [n I. Aiilich |Ed.) Frnmin^ the Falklands iVar: Nutionhood. culture, and identity, (pp. 50-
57). Philadelphia. i^A: Open University Press,

Campa. Valentin. (19Hi), Aspectos de la situacion; Compliraciones internacionales. (April 8).

Excelsior, pp. fiA. 8A.

Cardoso. O.R., Kirschbaum. R. J4 Vjin der Kooy, E. (1983). Malvinas: La trama secivta. Buenos
Aires: Sudamuricana.

Cardoso, O.R., Kirschbaum. R. & Van der Kooy. E. (1983). Falklands: The secret plot. Buenos
Aires; Sndamericana.

Chang-Rodriguez. E. (1991). Latinoamerica. su civihzacion v su rulturtt. Boston: Heinle S:

Heinle.

Cirksena, K. andCuklanz.L, (1992). Male is to female as is to : Aguidt;d tour of five feminist

frameworks for communication studies. In L. Rakow (Ed.) Women making n>eaning: New feminist
directions in communication. New York: RoutletLge.

Coliiia, E. (1982). Encuentro del Papa con la Thatcher. (May 28). E! Universal, sec, \, p.5.

Confrontacioii en el TIAR. lt<)82. May 29). El Merrtirio. p. A3.

Coronil Hartmann. A. (1982). America. EE.LIU, y las Malvinas: Tercer acto ;y fin de fiesta?
(May 311). El Universal, set;. 1, p.5.

Crossette, B. (1982b). Latins fear move by U.S. will harm relations. (May 1). The Nf;w York
Times, p. A7.

Destefani. L.H. (1982). Malvinas. Georgias y Sandwich del Sur. ante el conflicto con (Wan
Bretafia. Bnenos Aires: Edipre.ss.

Eduardu Fernandez: EUA hirio cl corazon del sistema interamericano. (1982. May 3). El
Universal, p. 2-1.

Embajada trasaniiina explicn los hi'chos. (1982. April fi). El Mercurio. pp. At. A12.

Embassy of the Argentine Republic (1978). Argentina Chile: Present situation on thii border
controversy in the southern region. Washington. DC: Embassy of Argentina.

Entrala. I. (1982a). Invasion argentine: El fin de la diplnniacia. (April 4). El Mercurio. p. Dl.

Entrala. 1. (1982b). "Maggie" Thatclier: Tan fuerte como la Reina. (May 2). E! Mercurio. p.Dfi.

Entrevista de Caltieri con t^riana Fdllaci. (1982. June 15). El Mercurio. p. A8.

Falkhmd Islands at a glance, (19B2. Ajiril 3). Thi- New York Times. p.A6,

l-'anon. F. (I9(ifi). Thr ivretched of Ihe enrth. New York: Grove Press.

Fiske. |. (1992). British cultural studies and tt'levision. In R,C. Allen (Ed.) Channels of
discourse reassembled. Cbapel Hill. NC: The University of North Carolina Press.

Fiske. J, Si Hartley. |, (1979). Heading television. London: Methuen.

Foster. D,W. (1987). Argentine sociopolitical commentary, the Malvinas conflict, and beyond:
Rhetoricizing a national I'xperience, Lutin American llesearrh Review, 22(1), 7-34,

Fox. E. 11984). Mass communications in the I'alklands/Malvinas war. Media, Culture and

CARnu,\A Acc'STA-ALzam: &• ELU P. LiiSTKii-Ii(ii'S!iA,\'z.-\Miii

 , 6.45-51.

Friedman, J, (1990). Being in the World: Globalization and Localization. Theory. Culture and
Society, 7. :n\-^2i\.

Friendly fire. (1982. Aprii 8). The Mew York Times, p. A22.

Goffman, E. 11974). Erame tmalysis. Philadelphia. PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Gomez Mantelliiii.). (1982). Argentina, honra de America. (May 30), El Universal, seel, p.4.

Gooch, A. (1990). The Falklands War and a very special relationship; The liispanic world and
the Anglo-Saxon World: Part one. Contemporary Review. 257(1498). 225-232.

Gooch. A. [1990). The Falklands War and a vary special relationship: The hispanic world and
the Anglo-Saxon Worlil; Part two. Contemporary Review. 257(1499), 285-296,

Grondona, M. (1982). Error en las premisas. (May 29). El Universal, p, 1-2.

GnTevitch, M. (1989). Comparative research on television news: Problems and challenges.

Amnriran Behavioral Scientist. 33. 221-229.

Hachten. W. A, (1981). The world news prism: changing madia, clashing ideologies. Ames,
Iowa: Iowa State University Press.

Haig. A.M. (1984). Caveat: Realism. Heagan. and foreign policy. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicholson.

Hall, S, (1975). Introduction. \nA.C\\.Sm.\\.]\(^A.],Paper voices: The popular press and social
change. 19:i5-1965 (pp. 11-24). London; Chatto & Windus.

Hall, S, (1982). The rediscovery of'ideology'; return of the repressed in media studies. In M.
Gurevitch. T, Bennet, |. Curran & ). Woollacott (Eds.) Culture, society and the media. (pp.5B-90).
London: Methuen.

Hai), S.. Critcher, C. Jefferson, T. Clarke, J. & Roberts, B, (1978). Policing the crisis:
Mugging the state, and law and ordt'.r. New York; Homes & Meier.

Harris, R. (1983). Cntcha!: The media, the government, and the Ealklands crisis. Boston, MA;
Faber& Fa her,

Herman. E.and Chomsky. N. (1988). Manufacturing consent: the political economy of the mass
media. New YoTk; Pantheon Books,

Herman, E. and McChesney, R. (1997). The dlobal Media: the new missionaries of corporate
capitalism. London; Gassell.

Herrera. A. (1982). La comprension que pide el Emhajador Luers, (May 30). El Universal, s e e l ,
p.4.

Herrero, R, (198L!a). Argentina ocupa las Malvinas; G.B, rompe relaclones. (April 3]. Excelsior,
pp. 1A, 31A.

Herrero, R. (1982h], No quedo otro recurso que responder con la violencia, (May 2). Excelsior.
pp. lA, IBA. 38A.

Heuvel. ].V. & Dennis. E.E, 11995). Changing patterns: Latin America's vital media. New York:
Columbia University Press,

Hoge, W. (1992), U.S. strategy irks Latins. (May 5), The New York Times, p. A19,

Holmes. D. (198fi). Coverning the press: Media freedom in the U.S, and Creat Britain. Boulder,

All. Yoi: WILL SEE IS THE O.\E YO: • ONCE K.\EW: PORTRAYALS FR<IM THE FALKL-\.\PS/MALVL\AS
WAR LW U.S. /i;vn LATI!\ AMERICAN NEWs
CO:WtiStvifiw.

Hooper, A, (1982). The military and the media. Alriershoi, Englanri: Gower.
Inefiracia soaperhosa. [1982, May 3). Hxcehior. p. 6A.

IntemationalCommissionfijrthpStLitlyofConimunicationl'roblHms, (1980). Ma/iyvojces, one

world Cowmuniratioii and society today and tomorrow: towards a nmv more just and more efficient.
London: Kogan Page,

edvp W,V. (199:i|. The mililary aiul the madia: Why the press cannot ha trusted to cover
(1 war. Westport, CT: Fraeger.
Kirkpatrick, ].]. nq89-19!tOl, My Falklands War and theirs. Thf National hnerast. IB, 11-2{).

Kon, D. (1982). Los chicos de la gutsrni; Hahlan las soldados cjue estuvieron en Malvinas.
Buenos Aires: Editorial Galerina.

Lds islas son de Gran Uretafid. [1382, April 7). El Mercurin. pp. Cl, C6,

Lester, E. (1992). Buying the exotic "Other": Rtiading the "Banana republin" mail order
catalogue. Journal of Communiration Inquiry, 1R(2), 74-85,

Lester, E. {1994a). The "[" of the storm: A textual analy.sis of U.S. reporting on Democratic
Kampuchea, journal of Communication Inquiry. 1B(1), 5-2B.

Lester, E. (1994h), The colidctible other and inevitable interventions: A textual analysis of
Washington Post foreign Reporting. Argumentation. 8. 345-H5r>.

Lester, E. (1997). Finding the path to signification: undressing a Nissan Pathfinder direct mail
package. In K. Toland Frith [lid.] Undressing the Ad :RnadingCulture in Advertising. New York: Peter
Lang.

Lester, E. (1998, March), The "real" Petorman: a postmodern cultural sludy of an ad an artifact.
Paper presented at the American Academy of Advertising. Lexington. KY.

Lester-Massman, E, (1491), The dark side of comparative research, journal of Communication

Inquiry. 15(2), 92-inB.

Lester-Massman, E, (1989). The Ptin Africanist discourse and the creation of an imaginary
Africa: A textual analysis of "New African " magazine. Doctoral dissertation. University of Wiscon-
sin, Madison.

Llogada la hora, las fuerzas de AL combatir^n: Galtieri. (1982, May 30). Excelsior, p, lA

Lu que ha or.urrido es muy lamentable. (1982. April 5). El Mercurio. pp, Cl, C2.

L6pez Herrera, F, (1982). La hora de la verdad. (May 5), El Universal, p, 1-4.

Lule. J. (1989). Victimagf) in Times coverage of the KAL flight 007 shooting. fournuUsm
Quarterly. 66(3). 615-620. 778.

Lule, J. (1991). Roots of the space race: Sputnik and the language of U.S. news in 19S7,
Journalism Quarterly. 68(1;2), 76-86.

Lule,), (1993). Murder and myth: New York Times coverage of the TWA 847 hijacking victim.
Journalism Quarterly. 70(1), 2B-:i9.

Lule, I, (1995|, The rape of Mike TVson: Race, the press and symholic types. Critical studies
in Mass Communication. 12, 176-195.

Madrazo, C, (1982). Lsla,s Malvinas: Giierra de la soberbia. (May 4), Excehior. p. 7A.

CAHOUNA AcosTA-Ai^uni! B- Em P. L£.sTEn-RousiiAMZAMm

 Markham, J.M. (1982). Argentine says security of the world is in danger. (May 2], The New
York Times, p. 13.

Marcus, CE. and Fischer, M. (198ti), Anthropology tis Cultural Critique: an experimental
mnmeni in the human sciences. Chicago: LIniviTsity of Chii:ago Press.

Marques de Meiu.), (1988), Communication theory and research in Lalin America: a prelimi-
nary balance of the past twenty-five years. Media. Culture and Society. II), 405-418.

Merrill. J.C. (1968). The elitr press: Creat nmvspapers of the world. New York: Pitman,

Merrill. I.C. (1980). The world's gwat dailies: Profiles of fifty newspapers. New York:
Hastings.

Meyers, M. (1994). News «f haltering, journal of Communication. 44(2). 47-63.

Montenegro, M.R. (I9fi2). Ndocolonialismo.(April 5), Excelsior, p, 7A.

Mrs. Thatcher's resolve wins approval at home. (1982, May 29), The New York Times, p. A4,

Mueller, C. (197,')). The politics of communication: A study of ideology in the political

sociology of language, socialization and legitimation. New York: Oxford University Press,

Mutto, C. A. (1982). jComo es posiblc que no conocieramos los planes argentinos?: M,Thatcher,
(April Ti). Excelsior. p.Al.

Najera Saravia, A, (1982). Guerra en iiuestru America. (May 29). El Universal, sec.l, p.2,

O'Ballance, E. (1983). The ulher Falklands campaign. Military Review. 6.'), 9-16.

Ola de patriotismo en Gran Bretana, (1982, April 7). El Mercurio. p.A8.

Olave, ). (1982). Fn el mundo: "Detengan las armas", (May 30). El Mrrcurio, pp, Dl, D2.

Perez de Arce, H. (1982a). Lloro por ti, Argentina... (May 5). El Mercurio. p,A3,

Perez de Arce, H, (1982b), Proceso iuterno argenlino. El Mercurio, p. A3.

PerLR, (1983), The Falkland islands dispute in international law and politics: A documentary
sourcehook. New York: Oceana.

Petkoff, T, (1982). Malvina.s y iisequibo. (April :»)). F.I Universal, p, 1-5.

Plaza Marquez, R. (1982). EEUU debedecidirse entreel i;olonialismo o los pai'ses de America.
(April :JO). El Universal, seel, p,4,

Pratt, M.L. (1992). Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and TYansculturation. London: Rout ledge.

Rasor, E.L. (1992). The Falklands/Malvinas campaign: a bihiiography. New York: Greenwood
Press.

Rattner, S. (1982a), Britons, frustrated and angered, assail failure to foresee invasion. (April
5). The Neiv York Times, sec. 1. p.l.

Rattner, S. (1982h), London ordering 35-ship task torce to the Falklands. (April 4). The New
York Times, pp. lA, 18A.

Rechani Agrait. L. (1982). ;Y la solidaridad hispanica? (May 2). El Universal, sec. 1, p,2.

Recupuracion de las Malvinas hecho de la semaiia. (1982. April 4), El I'niversal. p, 1-11.

Repudiolatinoamericanoa la alianza Gran Bretana-EU. (1982, May 3]. E.^celsior. pp. lA, lOA,

nr WiiJ, SEE IS THE ONE Yui' O.vti'fcvtii': PDRW.KMS FROM THF, F.MJ^UWS/MALVINAS
WAR I.\ U.S. AND LATI\' A.wmiiiv^ NBVHPAPEHN
:!4A.
RRspnnderemos con fiiiigo. (1082. MLIV 2], El Mercuriu. p, Al,

Rey, L.E. (19B2). Crisis del Atldiitico Sur, crisis del sistema interamerirano. (May 5). El
Universal, p. 1-13.

Riva Palacio, R. (1982c), Tension y raras largas de Ins Portenos. pese a la po(;a informacion.
(April .10). Excelsior, pp. lA, 14A, 42A.

Rushdie. S. (19!};i]. Imagiiinry haiiKjltinda: Essays and criticism. 1981-1991. London; Cranta
Hooks.

Said, E, (1978). Oriunkilism. New York: i'antheon.

Said, E, (1993), Culture and inipprinlism. New YorkiKnopf.

Saiifuenles. R (1992). The Chilean Falklands factor. In A. Danchtiv (Ed ) International

perspectives on the Falklands conflict: A matter of life and death, [pp. 67-M).NfiW York. Si.Manin's
Press.

.Schat!l, G.J. (l<J82al, Del Canal dt^ Sura a las Malvinas. (May 3). El [Iniveisal. p. 1-4.

Schaiil, G.). (1982b). ^Estaba escrito? (May 5), El Universal, p. 1-4.

Schumacher. E, (19li2r:). Dompstic is.sues le(i to Argentine move. (April 7). The New York
Times, p. A3.

.Schumacher, E. (1982dK Falkland aftermath: Frustrated and bitter, many Argentines turn
inward.(|une 15). The New York Times, p. A14.

Schumacher, E.(l 982e). Man of hour in Argentina: LeopoldoF.Galtieri. (May 6). The New York
71'mes, p. A7.

Schumacher, E. (1982g). :i Argentines slain as troops occupy British outposts, (April .'i). The
New York Times, pp. Al. A6.

Severin, W.J. and Tankard, ),W. (199(i). Communication theories: Origins, methods, and uses
in the mass inediii. Mt:w York: Longman.

Shock therapy. (1982, May 1), The New York Times, p. A2fi.

StTeheigh, F. (19H11, A lonely hut free life at the southern edge of the world. Smithsonian. 84-
93.

Strehuigh, F (1982). Falkland islanders' future. (April ti). The New York Times, p. A19.

Tankard, ).W.,Hendrickson.L.,Silberman,).,Blliss,K.. and Ghanem.S. (1991), Media frames:

Approaches to cnnceptuatization and measuremont. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
Communication Theory and Methodology Division of the Association for Education in )ournalism
and Mass Commimication, Boston, MA. August.

Tehranian. M. (1991]. Is comparative communication theory possihle/dusirable? Communi-

cation Theory. 1, 44-59,

Tulloch. ). St Alvarado, M. (198:)). Doctor Who: The unfolding text. London: Macmillan.

Venegas Fiiardo, P, (1982], Las Malvinas ^tliiaguerra ju.stay ([une 14]. El Universal, sec.l. p.4,

Weinberger, C. W. (1990). Fighting for poacc: Seven critical years in the Pentagon. New York:
Warner.

CAII()I1\A ACUSTA'ALZVUU &• ELU P. L£sn;H-RovstiANy.AMiii

 Woodward, K, (1997). (ed.) Identity and difference. London: Sage.

Zea. L, (1953). America como conciencia. Mexico: Ediciones Ciiadtsrnos Americanos,

Zerpa.). (1982). Unaproposicion sohreel caso de las Malvinas. (May 29). El Universal, sec. 1,
p, 5.
1,800 hostages: The empire noeds an umpire, (1982, April fi). The New York Times. p,A18.

Au. Yci' WILL SEE IS THE ONE YOV ONCE K-WEW: PunrK^YALS FnoM T
WAB LS U.S. AND LATIN AuEiucAN NEWSPAPERS