Asia Pacific Media Educator
Abstract
Walters, Ian (1998)
Dasher Wheatly and Australia in Vietnam,
Northern Territory University Press, Darwin. ISBN 1876248106
Review Essay by Peter McGregor
Ian Walters, an anthropologist, presents an analysis of the significance of the death of an Australian soldier during the American War in Viet Nam. In order to interpret Dasher (Kevin) Wheatley's death, Walters provides two dimensions of context: (a) a concise, accurate and astute analysis of the political history of the war, and of the USA and Australian interventions; and (b) the theoretical tools he uses - namely cultural studies, deriving, Walters claims, from an anthropological understanding of culture, and specifically the techniques of semiotic and content analysis of pertinent newspaper coverage. The strength of his book is the rigorous empirical measurement of the levels and nature of news coverage. However, Walters' general assumption that news reports can be taken as the measure of significance, as the key index for the public reception of particular happenings, is questionable.
Recommended Citation
McGregor, P., Book review: Dasher Wheatly and Australia in Vietnam, Asia Pacific Media Educator, 5, 1998, 144-149.Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/apme/vol1/iss5/13
