The Falkland Islands (or
'Las Islas Malvinas' as referred to Argentina) are a group of islands in the south Atlantic where the ownership has been under dispute for many years - the 1982 undeclared war between Argentina and the UK which had been the colonial power since 1833.
Falklands War - The Sinking of the ARA General Belgrano |
The Sun newspaper in the UK was a vigorous supporter of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when she decided on military action to deal with the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. They produced one of the most famous front pages in newspaper history with the one word GOTCHA headline in May 1982.
The notorious GOTCHA headline in Kelvin MacKenzie's Sun newspaper when the British submarine 'HMS Conqueror' sank the Argentine light cruiser 'General Belgrano' which was outside the war zone on 2 May 1982 came to be seen as the ultimate jingoistic headline in a time of war when there was a heavy loss of life. | [Checklist] | Click on image for details [Copyright and Fair Use Issues] |
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The remote location meant that journalists had to rely upon the British forces for access to the islands and as such they were heavily censored in what they were told at military press briefings. Perhaps the greatest of all British War photographers
Don McCullin was refused accreditation because of the fear of the power of his images. There were no British pictures for 54 of the 74 days the conflict lasted and it became reported by radio journalists often far from the action. Journalists were not allowed onto the islands during the war and the pictures that came out were tightly controlled by the British government. These lessons on media control were used during the First Gulf War (1991).