The World Is Watching (1988) was a documentary outlining the role of the media in providing news on the Contra War to various global media outlets. While the media was determined to capture emotional representations of the war at hand, various scenes showed the detachment of news personnel to the emotional relationships in Nicaragua. As a result many argue that global media was desensitized to war; in particular the role of the Reagan Administration in powering the Contra offensive.
The movie also shows that media outlets are often unable to paint a full picture of the Contra War because they are only given a short segment time to cover as much as they can. In one particular scene, an international news correspondent was begging her superiors in France for a 15 second extension to add an essential piece of her segment; unfortunately she was declined. Furthermore there was a media sensationalism surrounding Contra War. As a result the international community were oblivious to other military conflicts in Central American. The Esquipulas Nicaraguan Peace Agreement was signed in 1987 as an initiative to end the various military conflicts that had plagued Central America for years. However the media only focused on Nicaragua’s fulfillment of the peace treaty and not on the other Central American Countries; this was an extra burden on the Nicaraguan government.
Last journalists were focused primarily on the violent aspects of the war in order to please editors back home. In glorifying the violence of the Contra War, the international community lost the positive aspects of Nicaraguan culture, land and people. Ultimately, the international community was watching Nicaragua for all of the wrong reason. When the war was over, media outlets, that had daily reports on the Contra War, ceased reports.
The World Stopped Watching (2003) was a follow up documentary, outlining the aforementioned fact. Media outlets no longer cared about the Nicaraguan question. After the Contra War Nicaraguan political, economic and social institutions were devastated. Poverty and political corruption continued. A number of problems present during the war remained.
The media was needed more than even to maintain transparency during the Nicaraguan redevelopment process. Nicaraguan civilians and veterans needed media to connect them to changing Nicaragua and give the majority an active voice in the Nicaragua they wanted to see. Instead the political and aristocratic elite decided institutional changes. Journalist in the late 80s showed the devastation of the Contra War but few followed up on its aftermath.