Page 101 - The CNN Effect in Action - How the News Media Pushed the West toward War ini Kosovo

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THE CNN EFFECT IN ACTION
during the prelude to the Kosovo intervention. To determine this, the
media coverage of Kosovo is reviewed to see if the Kosovo civil war
grew in importance to Western media as incidents meeting the CNN
effect criteria accumulated.
The CNN Effect Media Criteria and the
Kosovo Civil War
To begin, the main television evening news programs of four major
American networks—American Broadcasting Company (ABC),
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), National Broadcasting
Company (NBC), and Cable News Network (CNN)—were reviewed
from January 1, 1998 to March 20, 1999, the final week before
2
NATO bombing. ABC, CBS, and NBC’s programs were each 30
3
minutes in length, while CNN’s was 60 minutes. In each case, a
search was made for content relating specifically to the Kosovo crisis.
These results were compiled on a weekly basis and are presented in
graph 5.1 and table 5.1.
During the Kosovo civil war, despite the efforts of FRY authorities,
conditions and external pressures did allow journalists to gain access
to and capture unexpected and emotive images from the conflict 4
zone. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), for its part, was eager to
permit international media presence, believing it to be a powerful
weapon in its arsenal. According to the findings of this review, six
notable spikes in media coverage were recorded over the 15-month
period preceding NATO intervention in Kosovo: 5
1. The Drenica massacre of late February and early March 1998
and its aftermath
2. NATO operation “Determined Falcon” involving air exercises
around borders of the FRY in mid-June 1998 6
3. The Gornje Obrinje massacre of September 26, 1998 and its
aftermath
4. The Racak massacre of January 15, 1999 and its aftermath
5. The Rambouillet Conference and its final days of negotiation
6. The week preceding the beginning of the NATO military inter-
vention involving final diplomatic efforts to avoid conflict
Of these six spikes, three were generated by images from unexpected
events from the conflict zone—the massacres at Drenica, Gornje
Obrinje, and Racak. These incidents shocked viewers and surprised
policymakers. The other spikes relating to the NATO air exercises in