ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the new methods used in restricting and controlling the international media during the Gulf War from the perspective of Finland. In the UN Security Council, Finland voted for the right to use military power to oust Iraq from Kuwait. During the war, the Finnish media were highly dependent on Western news agencies and Cable News Network (CNN). US information officers attempted to prove their reliability in many ways. One government official told the Washington Post on January 19, 1991, "We really don't get engaged in disinformation". Only one Finnish journalist was accredited to Saudi Arabia. Three different methods of controlling the media were applied during the war: feeding, competing, and restricting. After the war many journalists, especially those from the United States, described being caught between two evils: the Pentagon and the enthusiastic home front.
