Blog #7: an Overview of Anti-War News Sites

 Introduction:

For this blog post, I took a look at two prominent news sources that have a large focus on antiwar voices, overviewed each one, and answered a few questions on them. 

The two sources I will be looking at are Antiwar.com, which solely focuses on posting stories on events going on in wars all over the world, and The American Conservative, a more general news source, but when covering war topics, veers towards an antiwar statement.

Antiwar.com:

In 1995, Antiwar.com was created as the United States began their intervention in the Bosnian civil war, as a place to bring together antiwar voices and document the current events within the said civil war. From there, they took off, currently reporting on the events in Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia, and the United States and Yemen. 

While I found their website user interface to be a bit archaic, the amount of coverage they provide is impressive, and shows their dedication to the cause. I also appreciated their lack of a filter, as each voice feels as if it they are independent, and not driven by a bias or political party.

The American Conservative:

In 2002, three men came together to form The American Conservative to, "reignite the conversation that conservative ought to have engaged in since the end of the Cold War, but didn't." (TAC About Us Page) It was formed due to the founders believe that the United States wasn't conserving anything, and were upset at foreign policy, such as the war in Iraq.

They cover a wider variety of topics than Antiwar.com, like the state of the union, current events such as the tariff conflict, and foreign news, but still push for antiwar efforts all the same. 

In contrast to Antiwar.com, their user interface is much more friendly, but they are on level with the amount of information they cover. I did

Political Cartoon at the Bottom of
the TAC Menu Page

enjoy this little political cartoon they display at the bottom of their website, showing their proudness in their status as an alternative media. However, I would argue their coverage still leans to the right side of the political spectrum, due to the proudness of the right in their conservative views. They also value "mans taste for the familiar, for family, for faith in God." (TAC About

Us Page) As a more left leaning person politically, this pushed me away from The American Conservative, but I did find myself agreeing with some of their takes.

Overview:

When it comes to the question of why we never seem to see these antiwar voices in mainstream news, I believe its due to the need to stay funded and popular to most viewers, which alternative media can do more independently than sponsored media's. Antiwar voices are also bad for business unfortunately, as many profit off of the spoils of war, which also pushes them further out of the spotlight. I myself have found out that not only these websites, but the widening of my news sources has contributed to my own antiwar voice.

As an aside, I have always enjoyed the "Ashes of the Wake" album by the heavy metal band Lamb of God, which has some songs that cover the exact topic of antiwar, specifically the Iraq war that was going on as the time of release. It shows that there are many ways people can use their voice to speak out against wars that are going on, which is a powerful tool we should all remember.