Interview with Marjorie Murphy: War News Radio

Since March 2005, students at Swarthmore College have been on the air broadcasting stories about the war in Iraq. The program has been steadily gaining in popularity since its first broadcast over a year ago. Listeners tune in from as far away as Italy and Australia. The station broadcasts over the radio and online. Swarthmore Professor of History Marjorie Murphy oversees the program.

HNN asked Professor Murphy, who teaches social history, to discuss the War News Radio project. The interview was conducted by email.

Why did you decide to help create the War News Radio?

David Gelber had a great idea, produce a radio show that would cover the war in a way that standard news shows were not and at the same time expose Swarthmore students to the work of the media.  I had been trying to connect my students to the war for some time, they will be paying for it for years to come---the soldiers dying are in their cohort---it is their war.

What kind of grief, if any, did you get from your colleagues, the community, or the student population?

Grief, no, but not widespread enthusiasm either.  I think the problem came from the limited support we received and the demands we had to meet.  We had no place to work from, we hired the wrong journalist for our needs and we really did not know what we were doing.  My colleagues were skeptical, especially when they saw me spending as much time as I did advocating for the project.  You know we only really get credit for publishing.

Are you opposed to the Iraq War?  Did your opinion about the war inspire you to begin this project?

I thought the war was a mistake from the beginning.  After initially speaking out against it I saw no reason to protest, the majority of Americans and Congress supported the President’s decision, the debate was over.  On the other hand, I don’t believe in just going to war and then ignoring the situation.  I volunteered at the airport USO but when this project came along I thought it would help my students.  Frankly whether a student is for or against the war is not the issue, the question is, there is a war going on, and what do Americans know about it?

What do you broadcast that major media outlets such as CNN don't?

This week we revealed what is happening to artifacts that were robbed from Baghdad, with open sale of historical artifacts on US bases; we also reported more about the rape of the young Iraqi woman by US soldiers, we try to further illustrate what is going on there.  We have the time to go a bit deeper and we get some interesting folks, two weeks ago we had Jean Kirpatrick.  When something happens we try to get the folks that others do not have time to call, or in other weeks we find out what is going on by following stories others are not picking up.  We had an early story on Custer Battles, the American security company in Iraq which is now under indictment.  We were not the only ones with a report but we added to the story by our investigation.

Reporting on events occurring on the other side of the world without any direct correspondents seems like a difficult task. How has the geographic location of Iraq helped or hindered the project, and how have you found ways around this obstacle?

We do believe that students have the same advantages as most of the reporters who are there in Baghdad because most of the most experienced reporters cannot go beyond the Green Zone and we make phone calls all over the country.  We have also had students who are Arabic speakers, professors from Jordan and Egypt and experts on the Middle East.  We also have the time, thirty minutes about Iraq, all of it about this war, this week.

The War News Radio is broadcast by 22 public radio stations in the United States, along with some areas of Australia and Italy. Are there any efforts being made to expand the number of locations from which the War News Radio is being broadcast?

I think we added a few more radio stations and we are always looking to expand.  We are now beyond the initial stages of staffing and worrying about our presentation.  In the next year we should be able to add more listeners.

Are you trying to get students to put events into historical context?

I am a historian so that comes quite naturally to me.  I think that we have always tried to add in more historical information especially with the feature Iraq 101 where we call professors of political science and history to give background on the history of the Baathists and the sources of Al Qaeda.

If the Iraq war were to end tomorrow, do you believe that the War News Radio would still have value? If so, how?

The war will not end tomorrow, and it will not end within this year, 2006.  We are also expanding into Afghanistan because we believe it is such an important aspect of this war.  As I said before, this war will affect an entire generation, I do not believe we will leave Iraq until after the next presidential cycle.  And even then we will have more instability in this area of the world. 

Do you believe more people should follow your example, and if so, what do you believe the nation could gain by doing so?

I think everyone should find a path that opens the debate about where we are going as a nation and as a world.  Our minds are dulled by television and commercialism.  While we live in a world that has problems and as citizens in that world we have an obligation to open our eyes and examine it.  We are so privileged to live in a place of abundance and peace, it is not too much to ask of our selves that we find a way to think beyond our own individual lives. 

What have you, personally, learned from this project?

First, students at Swarthmore College are very smart and can do ama zing things.  Second, that if you come up with a good idea and stick with it even when your friends are telling you to back off, you ought to see it through, it is always worth it.  Third—this is more personal—I had cancer when I started working on the project, for six months I was very sick, but War News Radio and my great students kept me going.  I never once stayed at home feeling sorry for myself.  I could always come in and there was something that needed to be done.  And then we got the great Marty Goldensohn to join us and he really turned the project around in the right direction.  I cannot say enough great things about Marty, or David Gelber, or Maurice Eldridge in Swarthmore’s administration.  My work is quite modest in comparison.