Digital War
School of Media Studies
The New School
Fall 2017

Instructor: Peter Asaro asarop AT newschool.edu
Time: Monday, 6:00 - 7:50 pm
Location: 6 East 16th Street

Course webpage is here: http://peterasaro.org/courses/2017War.html

Course blog is here: http://digitalwar2017.wordpress.com/

Course Description

This course focuses on exploring how digital technologies and media are transforming warfare, international conflicts, and popular uprisings and their suppression. We will explore how these technologies are changing the nature of warfare, and the rhetoric that is used to justify the development and use of these new technologies and strategies. The course critically examines the claims that technologies can produce increasingly risk-free, or even bloodless, wars, and considers how the risks of engaging in armed conflict are being redistributed. It also examines how new forms of digital and social media are being enlisted in the service of international conflicts. Topics discussed include the military's use of video games for recruitment and training; the role of digital media in war journalism, state propaganda and information warfare, and hackivist sites such as Wikileaks; the use of social media in both organizing and suppressing popular uprisings such as the Arab Spring; mass surveillance in the name of state security; developments in cyberwarfare; and the increasing use of military robotics, including armed Predator and Reaper drones, as well as the development of fully autonomous weapons.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING:

Class Attendance & Participation 30%
Blog Entries & Comments: 20%
Research Project Idea: 5%
Research Project Full Proposal: 10%
Final Project Presentation 15%
Final Research Project: 20%

Class Attendance and Participation: 30%

You are expected to have thoroughly and thoughtfully read the assigned texts, viewed the assigned videos, and to have prepared yourself to contribute meaningfully to the class discussions. For some people, that preparation requires taking copious notes on the assigned readings; for others, it entails supplementing the assigned readings with explanatory texts found in survey textbooks or in online sources; and for others still, it involves reading the texts, ruminating on them afterwards, then discussing those readings with classmates before the class meeting. Whatever method best suits you, I hope you will arrive at class with copies of the assigned reading, ready and willing to make yourself a valued contributor to the discussion, and eager to share your own relevant media experiences and interests. Your participation will be evaluated in terms of both quantity and quality.

As this is a seminar, regular attendance is essential. You will be permitted two excused absences (you must notify me of your inability to attend before class, via email). Any subsequent absences and any un-excused absences will adversely affect your grade.

Blog Entries & Comments: 20% (+ up to 5% extra credit)

You will be required to make weekly blog entries commenting on the readings for the week. You will be required to create an account on WordPress (if you do not already have one), and send me an email with your LoginID and the EMAIL ADDRESS used to create the account,so that you can be added as an author for the collective course blog. Everyone will be posting to a common blog page, and this will be readable by your classmates. When writing and making comments, you are expected to treat other students with the same respect and courtesy as you should in the classroom.

Discussion questions will be posted each week to help stimulate the writing process. You are also expected to read the posts of your classmates, and encouraged to comment on other people's posts each week. Posts will not be graded (they will receive 2, 1 or 0 points based on timely completion), but the TA and I will read them and occasionally comment on them. There will be 10 posts through the semester, thus 20 points, constituting 20% of your grade.

Comments are strongly encouraged, and you can receive up to 10 points (extra credit) for each substantial comment (paragraph or longer) that you make on someone else's post.

Blog posts will be due before the start of each class. They are time stamped when you post them, and late posts will only receive half credit (1 point). Discussion questions for the next week will be posted shortly after each class.

Research Project Idea: 5%
Research Project Full Proposal: 10%
Final Project Presentation 15%
Final Research Project: 20%

Research Project Idea Due: October 2
Length: 300-500 words (approx. 1 page)

Research Project Full Proposal Due: November 13
Length: 500-2000 words (approx. 1-4 pages)

Final Project Presentations: December 4 & 11
Oral Presentation, 10 minutes (Powerpoint Optional)

Final Project Due: December 18
Length (media project description): 500-3000 words (approx. 1-10 pages) + Media Project
Length (research paper option): 3000-5000 words (approx. 10-18 pages)

There will be no final exam. Instead, a final research project will be required. There are 2 options: Research Paper Option, and Media Project Option.

Final Project will be due one week after the last day of class. If that deadline will not work for you, you need to make other arrangements one week in advance, at the latest. We will set aside time in the last day(s) of class for presentations of final projects. These will not be graded but will offer an opportunity for feedback before submitting your final project.

Project topics can address any aspect of the topics and materials discussed in class. Projects should include materials beyond what is directly covered in class, as appropriate for your topic. In other words, they should require research. The blog will provide many ideas for projects, as will class discussion. You will be asked to submit a short description of your Project Idea early in the semester, and will receive feedback on it.

Later in the semester you will have to write a more formal Proposal for your project, based on feedback and further research. Project proposals should state the research question, problem, or phenomenon that will be the focus of your research. It should also state your thesis or position on the issue, as well as outline the argument you will use to support your position. This applies to both papers and media projects. You should also indicate the sources and materials you will consult and utilize in making your argument and producing your final project. For the Media Project Option, you should state as clearly as possible what you intend to deliver for the final draft (i.e., video length, style, format, content; website; set of infographics, etc.).

Final Project Presentations will occur on the last days of class. These should be short 5-10 minutes summary of your research paper or project, allowing 5-10 minutes for discussion. Group projects can be presented collectively.

Research Paper Option
This will take the form of a 3000-5000 word (Times New Roman, 12pt font, double spaced) term paper. You should draw upon sources from the course readings as well as beyond the course readings. You should cite your sources properly.

Media Project Option
Media Projects can take the form of film and video pieces, audio documentaries, websites, interactive media, performance pieces, infographics, a social media campaign strategy, or other ideas. In addition to the actual media product, you will need to submit your Idea, Proposal, and a Final short written piece explaining your project, its motivations, methods and what you did to realize it.

Group Project Option
Those pursuing the Media Project Option have the further option of participating in a group research project. For the students pursuing this option, the process will be much the same, with the Idea being an individual statement of what you plan to contribute to the group project, and the Proposal and Final projects being collective efforts to realize the research project. In addition, each person choosing this option must submit a 1-page self-assessment of their participation in the group, due at the same time as the Final project.

For the Group Project Option, the topic will be to develop social media strategy and/or media content for the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (www.icrac.net). As a co-founder of this organization, I will provide guidance to the group. However, it is largely up to the group to conceive and develop the project. The actual project could range from a high-level media strategy, to infographics and clickable content, to a social media campaign, to an audio/video or digital media project, or any combination of these or other ideas.
Past group projects included a performance piece (with live drone and event poster), a short documentary film, and website: www.dronemediaproject.com.

Papers and written ideas and proposals should be submitted to me in electronic form by email (Word Perfect, MS Word, PDF, HTML and plain TXT are all fine). All assignments are due at 6pm at the start of class on the day they are due. Late final papers will not be accepted, as I must turn in grades shortly thereafter.

Extra Credit & Make-ups

In addition to the extra points available for commenting on blog posts, there will be several events during the semester which will allow you to get extra credit points, or make-up for missed (excused) classes.

READINGS

All readings will be available electronically, via the web, in PDF, MS Word, HTML, or similar format. You are welcome and encouraged to buy any of the books used.

Introduction

Week 1: August 28
Course Introduction

Student Introductions

How to create a WordPress Account, and make a Blog Entry

Watch: "Secrets of Silicon Valley: The Persuasion Machine" BBC, 59 min., 2017. (UK access only)

Week of September 4
NO CLASS due to Labor Day

Week 2: September 11
Propaganda 1.0

Required:

Edward Bernays, Propaganda, Horace Liveright Inc., 1928, pp. 1-61 and 135-153.

Edward Herman & Noam Chomsky "A Propaganda Model," in Meenakshi Gigi Durham & Douglas M. Kellner, Eds., Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks, Rev. Ed., Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001: 280-317.

Joseph Goebbels, "The Führer as a Speaker," German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College, 1936.

David Vaughn, "The Master's Voice," The Guardian, October 8, 2008.

Cornelia Epping-Jäger "Hitler’s Voice : The Loudspeaker under National Socialism." Intermédialités, 17 (2011): 83–104.

Joseph Goebbels, "Knowledge and Propaganda," German Propaganda Archive, Calvin College, 1934.

Recommended:

Watch: Charlie Rose Interview with Steve Bannon, CBS 60 Minutes, September 2017, Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Watch: Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick, Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, 1992, 167 min.

Watch: Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self, 2002, 235 min.

Stuart Hall "Encoding/Decoding," in Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas M. Kellner, Eds., Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks, Rev. Ed., Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001: 166-176.

Week 3: September 18
Propaganda 2.0: Filter Bubbles, Targeted Persuasion, The Blogosphere & Democracy

Required:

Nikolas Rose, "Governing by Numbers: Figuring Out Democracy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Volume 16, Issue 7, 1991, Pages 673-692.

Nikolas Rose & Thomas Osborne, "Do the Social Sciences Create Phenomena: The Case of Public Opinion Research," British Journal of Sociology, 50, 3 (1999): 367-396.

Soumitra Dutta and Matthew Fraser, "Barack Obama and the Facebook Election," USA Today, Nov. 19, 2008.

Victoria Chang and Jennifer Aaker, "Obama and the Power of Social Media and Technology," The European Business Review, May-June 2010.

Aaron Smith, "The Internet's Role in Campaign 2008," Pew Research Center, April 15, 2009.

Ryan Holiday, Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, "Book Two: The Monster Attacks, What Blogs Mean," Portfolio/Penguin, 2012, pp. 123-236.

Levi Boxell, Matthew Gentzkow, and Jesse M. Shapiro, "Is the Internet Causing Political Polarization? Evidence from Demographics," Brown University Research Report, March 2017.

Will Oremus, "The Filter Bubble Revisted," Slate, April 5, 2017.

Watch: Eli Parser, "Beware Online 'Filter Bubbles'," Ted Talk, March 2011, 9 minutes.

Watch: Jeff Hancock, "The Future of Lying," Ted Talk, September 2012, 18 minutes.

Recommended:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_bubble

Watch: Frontline, "Digital Nation," February 2, 2010.

Watch: Jeff Hancock, "Affect Affordances and the Psychological Effects of Using Social Media," Stanford University, January 15, 2016, 61 minutes.

Week 4: September 25
Propaganda 3.0: Fake News, Deception & "Truth"

Required:

Phillip Seargeant, "Fake News, Filter Bubbles & Facebook." Open University, January 2017.

John Lanchester, "You Are the Product," London Review of Books, August 17, 2017.

Ben Collins, Kevin Poulsen and Spencer Ackerman, "Russia's Facebook Fake News Could Have Reached 70 Million Americans," DailyBeast, September 8, 2017.

Scott Shane, "The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election," The New York Times, September 7, 2017.

Jeff Hancock, "Trump's Bullsh*t: Why His Supporters Don't Care that He is Lying," CNN, October 17, 2016.

Editorial "Yes, I'd Lie to You," The Economist, September 10, 2016.

Hunt Allcott and Matthew Gentzkow, "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2), Spring 2017, pp. 211-236.

Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed, " Center for Media and Democracy, March 16, 2006.

Regina Marchi, "With Facebook, Blogs, and Fake News, Teens Reject Journalistic "Objectivity"," Journal of Communication Inquiry, 36(3) pp. 246-262.

Julia Angwin, Madeleine Varner, and Ariana Tobin, "Facebook Enabled Advertisers to Reach 'Jew Haters'," ProPublica, Septembet 14, 2017.

Kevin Roose, "Facebook's Frankenstein Moment," New York Times, September 21, 2017.

Massimo Calabresi, Inside Russia's Social Media War on America, Time, May 18, 2017.

Ryan Broderick, "A Step-By-Step Guide For How Russian Bots Trick Far-Right Trolls Into Spreading Fake News," BuzzFeed, September 24, 2017.

Antonio Garcia Martinez, "I Helped Create Facebook's Ad Machine. Here's How I'd Fixe It. ," Wired, September 22, 2017.

Amanda Hess, "Internetting with Amanda Hess: Episode 1: The Dark Art of Political Memes," New York Times, October 31, 2017. click "more episodes"

Watch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , "The Sinclair Group," HBO, July 2, 2017, 19 minutes.

Watch: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver , "The Sinclair Group," HBO, July 2, 2017, 19 minutes.

Watch: Jeff Hancock, "Truth, Trustworthiness and Technology in Political Campaigns," ACM, November 6, 2016, 70 minutes.

Recommended:

Explore: Alliance for Securing Democracy, Tracking Russian Influence Operations on Twitter, Website.

Watch: Sidney Lumet, Network, MGM, 1976, 121 min.

Watch: David Fincher, The Social Network, 2010, 120 min.

https://www.mediamatters.org/people/james-okeefe

Week 5: October 2
Project Ideas Due
WikiLeaks

Required:

Raffi Khatchadourian, "Julian Assange, A Man Without A Country" The New Yorker, August 21, 2017.

Allison Powell (2011) "The WikiLeaks Phenomenon and New Media Power," The New Everyday,April 08, 2011

Jayson Harsin, "Wikileaks’ Lessons For Media Theory and Politics," Flow, January 15, 2011.

DNC email leak: Russian hackers Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear behind breach, The Guardian.

WikiLeaks' unwitting victims are revealed: Rape victims, Saudis who are secretly gay and families embroiled in paternity disputes among hundreds of innocent people outed by whistleblowing website, Dailymail

What we know about Russia's role in the DNC email leak, Politifact

Yochai Benkler, "A Free Irresponsible Press: Wikileaks and the Battle Over the Soul of the Networked Fourth Estate," Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, forthcoming.

The Panama Papers, The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

The People Behind the Panama Papers, Mozilla

Watch: Laura Poitras, Risk, 2016, 92 minutes.

Recommended:

E. Gabriella Coleman (2011) "Anonymous: From the Lulz to Collective Action," The New Everyday,April 06, 2011

WikiLeaks release excludes evidence of €2 billion transfer from Syria to Russia, DailyDot

WikiLeaks threatens Daily Dot journalists over report on missing Syria emails, The Verge

http://fancybear.net/

Guccifer 2.0 Wordpress site

Wikipedia entry on Guccifer 2.0

Wikipedia entry on DNC email leak

Evgeny Morozov, "The age of the WikiLeaks-style vigilante geek is over," The Guardian, February 4, 2011.

Fouad Ajami, "WikiLeaks and the Art of Diplomacy," Hoover Institute blog, Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2010.

Watch: Frontline (2011) WikiSecrets, PBS, 60 min.

Watch: Amy Goodman, "Full Extended Interview With Julian Assange on WikiLeaks Crackdown," Democracy Now!, May 29, 2013, 40 min.

Watch: Alex Gibney, We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, 2013, 130 min.

Watch: Democracy Now! (2011) Special: "Conversation w/ Assange & Zizek," 120 min.

Watch: Democracy Now! (2012) "Julian Assange on WikiLeaks," Nov. 29, 2012, 55 min.

Watch: "Collateral Murder," Wikileaks, April 5, 2010.

Wikipedia, "Wikileaks"

Wikipedia, "Anonynous (group)"

Week 6: October 9
Surveillance & the Media

Required:

Watch: Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras Interview with Edward Snowden Part I, 12 min., The Guardian, July 9, 2013, and Part II, 7 min., The Guardian, July 8, 2013
Watch: Laura Poitras, "Citizen Four," 2014, 114 minutes.

Brett Max Kaufman, "A Guide to What We Now Know About the NSA's Dragnet Searches of Your Communications," ACLU Blog, August 9, 2013.

Peter Maass, "How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets," New York Times, August 13, 2013.

Peter Masss, "Q & A: Edward Snowden Talks to Peter Maass," New York Times, August 13, 2013.

Rachel Nolan, "Behind the Cover Story: Peter Maass on How He Got the Very Secret Laura Poitras to Open Up," New York Times, August 19, 2013.

Glenn Greenwald, "'Ongoing NSA Work," The Guardian, August 27, 2013.

Barton Gellman, "NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds," Washington Post, August 15, 2013.

Barton Gellman, "First direct evidence of illegal surveillance found by the FISA court," Washingtron Post, August 15, 2013.

Shane Harris, "The Cowboy of the NSA," Foreign Policy, September 9, 2013.

Watch:Laura Poitras, "The Program," 8 min., New York Times Op-Doc, August 22, 2013.

Watch:Glenn Greenwald & Amy Goodman, "Greenwald: Snowden "Doing Very Well" in Russia After Sparking "Extraordinary Debate" on NSA, Spying," 29 min., Democracy Now!, August 5, 2013.

Watch: Frontline, "The United States of Secrets", May 2014.

Recomended:

Watch:Laura Poitras, "Citizenfour," 114 min., 2014.

Wikipedia, "Edward Snowden"

Wikipedia, "National Security Agency"

Wikipedia, "PRISM (surveillance program)"

Wikipedia, "FISA Court"

James Bamford, "The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)," Wired, March 15, 2012.

Week 7: October 16
Hacktivism, Social Media & Social Movements from Arab Spring to the Alt-Right

Required:

Joshua Holland (2011) "How Video of Police Behaving Badly Made Occupy Wall Street a Global Phenomenon," AlterNet, October 24, 2011

Philip N. Howard, "The Lasting Impact of Digital Media on Civil Society." U.S. State Department Global E-Journal, January 25, 2010.

Charles Hirschkind (2011) "The Role of Social Media in the Egypt Uprising," Jadaliyya, February 9, 2011.

Charles Levinson and Margaret Coker (2011) "The Secret Rally That Sparked an Uprising," Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2011.

Jack Z. Bratich (2011) "Kyber-Revolts: Egypt, State-friended Media, and Secret Sovereign Networks," The New Everyday,April 25, 2011.

Zeynep Tukfekci and Christopher Wilson, "Social Media and the Decision to Participate in Political Protest: Observations from Tahrir Square." Journal of Communication, 60 (2012) 363-379.

Andy Cush (2014) "NYPD is Sick of 'Techie Brat' Protestors Using Dang Titter to Organize," Gawker, Dec. 1, 2014.

Philipp Oehmk, "The Alt-Right Movement Behind Trump's Presidency, Der Spiegel, July 14, 2017.

Anrew Marantz, "The Alt-Right Branding War Has Torn the Movement in Two," The New Yorker, July 6, 2017.

Isaac Arnsdorf, "Pro-Russian Bots Take Up the Right-Wing Cause After Charlottesville," ProPublica, August 23, 2017.

Official Statement in Response to ProPublica from Sputnik News.

Jesse Singel, "Undercover with the Alt-Right," New York Times, September 19, 2017.

"Portland State Sociologist Randy Blazak Discusses Youth and Hate," Intelligence Report, December 15, 1999.

Recommended:

Hannah Arendt, (1968) On Violence, New York: Harvest Books.

Watch:Frontline (2011) Revolution in Cairo, PBS, 60 min.

Philip N. Howard (2011) "Digital media and the Arab spring," Reuters, February 16, 2011.

Philip N. Howard (2010) "#IranElection: Inside the cyberwar for Iran's future." Miller-McCune Magazine. January-February 2010. pp. 28-33.

Jennifer Preston and Brian Stelter (2011) "Cellphones Become the World's Eyes and Ears on Protests," New York Times, February 18, 2011.

Anti-Defamartion League, "Alt Right: A Primer about the New White Supremacy"

Southern Poverty Law Center, "Alternative Right."

George Michael, "History of the alt-right: The movement isn’t just Breitbart and white nationalists — it’s worse," Salon, November 24, 2016.

Week 8: October 23
Cyberwar

Required:

Fred Kaplan, Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War, Chapters 1-10, pp. 1-190, Simon & Schuster, 2016.

Joel Brenner (2011) "The Calm Before the Storm: Cyberwar is already happening -- and it's about to get much, much worse. A veteran intelligence official explains how America can prepare itself," Foreign Policy, September 6, 2011.

David Post, "NATO and an "e-SOS" for cyberattacks," The Washington Post, September 2, 2014.

Brian Fung, "How to talk about blowing things up in cyberspace, according to the military," The Washington Post, July 23, 2014.

Ellen Nakashima, "Chinese hackers who breached Google gained access to sensitive data, U.S. officials say," The Washington Post, May 20, 2013.

Adrian Chen, The Agency, New York Times Magazine, June 2, 2015.

Peter Elkind, "Inside the Hack of the Century: Part 1, 2 and 3," Fortune, June 25, 2015

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchieri, FBI Says a Mysterious Hacking Group Has Had Access to US Govt Files for Years, Motherboard, April 4, 2016

Matthew M. Aid, Inside the NSA’s Ultra-Secret China Hacking Group, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2013

Eric Lipton, David E. Sanger, and Scott Shane, "The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.," The New York Times, December 13, 2016.

APT28: A Window into Russia's Cyber Espionage Operations?, FireEye

Nicole Perlroth and Scott Shane, "How Israel Caught Russian Hackers Scouring the World for U.S. Secrets," The New York Times, October 10, 2017.

David E. Sanger, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Nicole Perlroth, "The World Once Laughed at North Korean Cyberpower. No More." The New York Times, October 15, 2017.

Joe Uchill, "New Bill Would Allow Hacking Victims to 'Hack Back'," The Hill, October 13, 2017.

Watch: Nova (2015) Cyberwar Threat, PBS, 54 min.

Watch: Cyber War, Season 1, Epsiode 8, "America's Elite Hacking Force", Viceland, 23min.

Recommended:

Watch: Fault Lines (2010) Cyberwar, Al Jazeera English, 24 min.

Watch: Frontline (2003) Cyberwar, PBS, 53 min.

Wkipedia, "Operation Aurora"

United States Strategic Command, Cyber Warfare Lexicon: A Language to Support the Development, Testing, Planning, and Employmnet of Cyber Weapons and Other Modern Warfare Capabilities, January 5, 2009.

Tallinn Manual for Cyberwarfare

Tallinn Manual 2.0

Wikipedia, "Tallinn Manual"

Wikipedia, "Cyberwarfare"

Wikipedia, "U.S. Cyber Command"

United States Army Field Manual on Electronic Warfare (2012)

United States Department of Defense, "Cyber Strategy"

Week 9: October 30
Media War

Huw Lemmey (2012) "Devastation in Meatspace," The New Inquiry, November 28, 2012.

Chaim Levinson (2013) "To tweet or not to tweet? The IDF answers the question," Haaretz, Sep. 16, 2013.

Rebeccas L. Stein (2014) "How Israel militarized social media," Mondoweiss, July 24, 2014.

Max Schindler (2014) "In social media battle, IDF uploads while Hamas accounts are deleted," Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2014.

Faisal Irshaid (2014) "How ISIS is spreading its message online," BBC News, June 19, 2014.

Patrick Kingsley (2014) "Who is behind ISIS's terrifying online propaganda operation?" The Guardian, June 23, 2014.

Mustapha Ajbaili (2014) "How ISIS conquered social media," Al Arabiya News, Tuesday, 24 June 2014.

David Carr (2014) "With Videos of Killings, ISIS Sends Medieval Message by Modern Method," New York Times, September 7, 2014.

Jay Caspian Kang (2014) "ISIS's Call of Duty," The New Yorker, September 18, 2014.

Glenn Greenwald (2014) "Americans now Fear ISIS sleeper cells are living in the US, Overwhelmingly Support Military Action," The Intercept, September 8, 2014.

Watch: Frontline (2014) The Rise of ISIS, October, 28, 2014, 53 min.

Watch: Viceland (2016) Cyber War Episode 5, Syria's Cyber Battlefields, 23 min.

Recommended:

Israeli Defense Forces_Spokesperson's_Unit

U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Media Activity

Wikipedia entry on DoD Defense Media Activity

DVIDS

Week 10: November 6
Digital War Journalism & The Targeting of Journalists

Required:

Ciar Byrne, (2003) "War reporting 'changed forever' says BBC," The Gaurdian, March 31, 2003

Donald Matheson and Stuart Allan (2009) Digital War Reporting, Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.

Micah Lee (2014) "Ed Snowden taught me to smuggle secrets past incredible danger, now I teach you," The Intercept, October 28, 2014.

Allison Shelley (2014) "The dangerous world of freelance journalism," Los Angeles Times, September 6, 2014.

U.S. Filmmaker Repeatedly Detained at Border, Salon, 2012.

Jim Boumelha (2010) "US must deliver justice on friendly fire," The Gaurdian, April 10, 2010.

"The Iraq War: The Heaviest Death Toll for the Media since World War II, March 2003 – August 2010," Reporters Without Borders, September 7, 2010.

"Journalist deaths spike in 2012 due to Syria, Somalia," Committee to Protect Journalists, December 18, 2012.

Frank Smyth (2013) "Iraq war and news media: A look inside the death toll," Committee to Protect Journalists, March 18, 2013.

Morgan Weiland, "Protecting Journalism in the Digital Era," Stanford Lawyer, Nov. 8, 2013.

Seymour Hersh (2004) "Torture at Abu Ghraib," The New Yorker, May 10, 2004.

Gary Younge and Julian Borger (2004) "CBS Delayed Report on Iraqi Prison Abuse After Military Cheif's Plea," The Guardian, May 4, 2004.

Watch: Excerpt on U.S. Strike on Al Jazeera Office, Control Room, 2004. IMBD

Watch: "Israel: Unlawful Attacks on Palestinian Media," Human Rights Watch, 2012.

Recommended:

Explore: Witness.org website

Watch: Errol Morris (2008) Standard Operating Procedure, Sony Classics,116 min.

Watch: John Pilger (2010) The War You Don't See, BBC, 120 min., YouTube link

Week 11: November 13
No Class: Project Proposals/Drafts Due

Week 12: November 20
Information Warfare

Required:

Herbert Lin, and Jaclyn Kerr, "On Cyber-Enabled Information/Influence Warfare and Manipulation," Oxford Handbook of Cybersecurity, 2018.

Alice Marwick, and Rebecca Lewis, "Media Manipulaiton and Disinformation Onine," Data & Society, 2017.

Alice Marwick, and Rebecca Lewis, "Media Manipulaiton and Disinformation Onine: Case Studies," Data & Society, 2017.

John Brockmiller, "PSYWAR in Intelligence Operations," CIA Report (SECRET), Declassified September 18, 1995.

Peter Pomerantsev, "Brave New War," The Atlantic, December 29, 2015.

Peter Pomerantsev, "Russia and the Menace of Unreality: How Vladimir Putin is revolutionizing information warfare," The Atlantic, September 9, 2014.

Jill Dougherty, "How the Media Became One of Putin’s Most Powerful Weapons," The Atlantic, April 21, 2015.

Peter Pomerantsev, "Inside the Kremlin's Hall of Mirrors," The Guardian, 9 April 2015.

Emerson T. Brooking, and P. W. Singer, War Goes Viral: How Social Media is being Weaponized Across the World, The Atlantic, October, 2016.

Kurt Eichenwald, "Dear Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, I Am Not Sidney Blumenthal," Newsweek, October 10, 2016.

Bill Gertz, iWar: War and Peace in the Information Age, Threshold Editions 2017.

Samatha Power, "Why Foriegn Propaganda is More Dangerous Now," New York Times, September 19, 2017.

Niraj Chokshi, "How to FIght 'Fake News' (Warning: It Isn't Easy)", New York Times, September 18, 2017.

Nina Jankowicz, "The Only Way to Defend Against Russia's Information War," New York Times, September 25, 2017.

Daisuke Wakabayashi, and Nicolas Confessore, "Russia's Favored Outlet is an Online News Giant. YouTube Helped." The New York Times, October 23, 2017.

Jim Rutenberg, "RT, Sputnick and Russia's New Theory of War," New York Times Magazine, September 13, 2017.

Recommended:

Glenn J. Voelz, "The Rise of iWar: Identity, Information and The Individualization of Modern Warfare, Strategic Studies Instititue, October2015.

Watch: "Peter Pomerantsev: The Mechanics of Russia's Information War," YouTube, September 1, 2016, 10 minutes.

Watch: "Peter Pomerantsev: From Information to Disinformation Age - Russia and the Future of Propaganda Wars," YouTube, February 16, 2016, 72 minutes.

Christopher Paul, "Assessing and Evaluating Department of Defense Efforts to Inform, Influence, and Persuade: Worked Example," RAND Report, 2017

Week 13: November 27
Military Robotics: Autonomous Lethal Robots, a.k.a. Killer Robots