Page 135 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

124 Benjamin Cole
wide variety of different belief systems and viewpoints. Studies have shown that
when accessing information online, people typically browse from multiple
sources, thereby reducing the influence of single sources, and online audiences
typically go to news sites to get more information about subjects that interest
them rather than to seek general enlightenment (Budha 2003: 79). The internet is
therefore a potential facilitator in the spread of popular support for minority
causes and militant ideologies, but it does not guarantee it.
Instead, the main influence of the internet on these conflicts can be seen as a
complement to reporting by the mainstream media. In the Philippines for instance,
the MILF and CPP-NPA do not need to rely on the internet because they have
excellent access to the mainstream media. People are also more likely to come into
contact with al Qaeda ideology via reports in the mainstream media, in the first
instance. The internet is useful as a source of further information on militant
ideologies for those whose interest has already been aroused by other factors.
Evidence of the limited significance of the media can also be seen in those
conflicts where groups and communities rely on other, traditional mechanisms to
achieve their purposes. The Xinjiang separatist movement, for instance, has been
able to use community and religious networks to mobilise large numbers of peo-
ple, and publicises its cause through those same networks as well as through ille-
gal publications. Similarly, the violence in Gujarat was largely initiated, organised
and driven by grass roots political activists and networks. Recruiting, indoctrina-
tion and fund-raising for many groups is still largely carried out through tradi-
tional means such as in Mosques, educational establishments, and through
community networks, personal contacts, as well as clan and family ties. This also
discredits the notion that by not reporting certain political events and issues, the
growth of certain ideologies would be prevented.
The pervasive nature of government media controls, coupled with the deep
seated deficiencies in media practice across the region, suggests that the role of
the media in any of these conflicts is unlikely to change dramatically in the near
future, although there may be a gradual shift in some states towards more
elements of the media acting as an agent of restraint. As a result, any positive
impact for the groups and communities engaged in these conflicts is likely to
remain small.