Steve has written widely in the academic and mainstream media on Corporate Communications and Middle East affairs. He is also the author of a polemic study of the Iraq War. A selection of his work is shown below.
BOOKS
LOSING THE BATTLES FOR ARAB HEARTS AND MINDS: The Coalition, Al-Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion.
To be published by Hurst & Co in Dec 2005.
Publisher's Extract:
From November 2002 to May 2003 Steve Tatham
worked alongside American military planners in the Gulf, coordinating the huge
media campaign that foreshadowed and accompanied the eventual invasion of Iraq.
From first hand experience he witnessed how, in advance of the outbreak of
hostilities, the US planned to win over sceptical Arab hearts and minds.
Yet as the campaign unfolded, Tatham, the Royal Navy's public spokesman in Iraq
saw how differently the British and Americans regarded the media and how badly
the journalists from the Arab world, in particular from Al-Jazeera satellite
television, were treated in comparison to those from coalition nations.
His book is highly critical of the how the United States handled its information
war. Notwithstanding the best efforts of well meaning senior US officials,
the mounting death toll, both military and civilian, saw the Americans all but
ignore the Arab media, focusing instead on a largely acquiescent domestic press,
one still obsessed with Al-Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on the homeland and only too
happy to fly the Stars and Stripes. Images of dead and captured coalition
servicemen led to Arab channels being accused of bias against Western forces,
and such was the demonsiation of some channels that many observers began to
wonder if President Bush's declaration that 'you are either with us or against
us' applied not just to nations states but to the world's media as well.
http://www.hurstpub.co.uk
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
Live from Qatar
Steve was interviewed for an article about the Al-Jazeera International channel by TIME magazine in the US.
http://www.time.com
Operation Telic and the Media
This article considers the relationship between the Royal Navy and the world's
media during the 2003 Iraq War. It considers in particular the use of embedded
War Correspondents and was commissioned by The Officer magazine.
Al-Jazeera
This article details the history of the Al-Jazeera TV channel and considers if some of the accusations made against it are justified. It too was commissioned by The Officer magazine.
Al-Jazeera International
Commissioned by the British Journalism Review, this article considers the likely impact of the new English language TV station, Al-Jazeera International and the challenges it faces to earn market share.
http://bjr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/47
Al-Jazeera
Commissioned by the US Naval Institutes Magazine, Proceedings, this article reviews the Al-Jazeera TV channel from a US perspective.
http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1?file=NI_0805_Jazeera
Managing the Media in battle
This article, which was commissioned by The Naval Review, considers the relationship between the Royal Navy and the world's media during the 2003 Iraq War. It considers in particular the use of embedded War Correspondents.
Al-Jazeera: Political Phenomena?
Commissioned by The Naval Review this article reviews the Al-Jazeera TV channel
and its effect on the region's international relations.
Arab Hearts and Minds. Operations in Iraq
A commissioned paper for the American University in Cairo, trans-national
broadcasting studies unit. This article appeared both online and in hardcopy.
http://www.tbsjournal.com/tatham.html