Page 118 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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PHOTO OP
Corps Rules about what could and could not be printed or shown on television.
The war officially began January 16, 1991, with a U.S.-led air offensive and
ended when President George Bush declared a cease-fire February 28, 1991.
Restrictions were bent or ignored by journalists, particularly television reporters,
who crossed the border and interviewed Saddam Hussein with almost immediate
transmission to the United States, provided live coverage of Scud missile attacks,
and aired Iraqi government responses. U.S. television coverage included patriotic
advertisements and logos framing news reports, and experts were hired to pro-
vide analysis and commentary on military strategies, cultural values, and foreign
policy. This was the most covered conflict by all U.S. media (United States and
world), with an estimated 1,500 reporters (192 in media pools) reporting at the
start of the ground war.
SOURCES: Conduct of the Persian Gulf War: Final Report to Congress, Report by the
Department of Defense, 1992; John R. Mac Arthur, Second Front: Censorship and Pro-
paganda in the Gulf War, 1992; Robert Wiener, Life from Baghdad: Gathering News at
Ground Zero, 1991.
Ardyth B. Sohn

PEW RESEARCH CENTER FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE PRESS. For
merly known as the Times Mirror Center, this center provides objective infor-
mation on news that the American electorate follows, attitudes about news
media, and use of information technologies. The center conducts public opinion
surveys on attitudes of the public about media and how values affect political
behavior. The center was founded by the Times Mirror in 1989 and was funded
by that corporation until January 1, 1996. The Pew Charitable Trusts are seven
charitable funds created between 1948 and 1979. The funds were established by
two sons and two daughters of Joseph N. Pew, founder of the Sun Oil Company,
and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. The research center is directed by Andrew
Kohut in Washington, D.C. He previously was president of the Gallup Organi-
zation and in 1989 he founded Princeton Survey Research Associates.

SOURCES: Internet site: http://www.people-press.org; Telephone interview with staff
of the center.
Will Norton

PHOTO OP is jargon for photo opportunity. These are situations created to
make it possible for still photographers and video photographers to take pictures
of politicians. They are media events and are contrived. The most obvious ex-
ample is the signing of a popular bill by the president or a state governor.
Another frequent example is the picture, usually in the Rose Garden at the White
House, of the president with the head of state of another country.
Photo ops are a press secretary's dream because they are completely con-
trolled and almost certain to be positive and favorable.