History is the first casualty of war

Abstract

"The cliché (variously attributed) has it that the first casualty of war is the truth. Today it may be better to say that the first casualty is history." That’s the starting point for media academic Will Barton’s polemic on the failure of journalists to explain the history and context of Afghanistan’s relationship with the countries now fighting a war within its borders. He claims that a "profound ‘ahistoricalisation’ of Britain’s present Afghan adventurism is typical of much contemporary news reporting practice."