Security Scandals in the Age of Mediated War

The writers look into the concept of the security scandal that according to Thompson (2000) is a special form of what defines as a power scandal. The power scandal concerns the disclosure of hidden and illegitimate power practices to the public. In this chapter they focus on three security scandals that analyzed together make up a three act play, in which the hidden power struggles between military, politics and the news media are exposed. The study also highlights how the concept of visibility is a double-edged sword (Thompson 2005) that creates both new possibilities and new riskes, not only for the military and the political power holders, but also for the news media. Thus, it is not only the hidden practices of the military and the politicias that are axposed by the Danish security scandals, but also the hidden power practices of the news media.