Cambodian bombings and Time magazine

What is it about?

Looking at Time's coverage of the Cambodian bombings of the late 1960's and early 1970's, this article argues that mainstream American journalism often lacks the means to critique and question American military power abroad. In the case of the Cambodia, Richard Nixon became a necessary focus for criticisms, operating in a way that allowed the broader legitimacy of American militarism to persist across Time's reporting.

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Why is it important?

American media and the United States military have long had a complicated relationship, escaping more normative notions of public accountability. Done in secret and rarely deliberated openly, the Cambodian bombings reveal the limits of the press to draw public attention to workings of military power and might.