Throughout the invasion of Panama, the media tended to unquestioningly parrot the line of US government. One example of this is when the US government, in a cynical push of propaganda, named the invasion Operation Just Cause. The media took up this name, and within an hour of government using this name, also began to refer to the invasion as Operation Just Cause.
The media got much of its information from government press releases. There was little focus on why the international community opposed this action, even though the US action was unilateral. Discussion of international opinion saw its main role as legitimising US actions.
The media focused on the US perspective of how successful the operation had been. Two weeks after the invasion, the Pentagon Southern Command first claimed there were 84 Panamanian civilian deaths, then a few days later changed the figure to 202. Human rights and other groups, however, estimated more than 2000 dead. The media did not focus on civilian deaths, and hardly challenged the numbers.
Johns and Johnson (1994) identified five major themes in print media coverage:
1. The Panamanian people represented as being overjoyed about US invasion.
2. Negative reaction of international community ignored or treated with disdain.
3. Representation of army as squeaky-clean boys fighting for a “just cause”.
4. Noriega completely demonised, and this was used as an excuse for disregarding international law in relation to him.
5. Events personalised- historical, political, and economic context ignored. Portrayed as a battle between Noriega and Bush.
