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THE CNN EFFECT IN ACTION
The Quantitative Test
This section begins with a quantitative review of all the Kosovo-specific
Western government actions, which are recorded and accumulated on
a weekly basis from January 1, 1998 to March 24, 1999. These find-
ings are first analyzed and then compared to media activity over the
same period in order to answer the question “who leads whom?”
Finally, government actions are distinguished between those that
are diplomatic and those that are policy oriented, in order to gain
additional insights into the nature of government actions over time.
Throughout the 15-month period preceding NATO interven-
tion, many developments occurred in the Kosovo civil war. A review
of all government actions over this period on a weekly basis,
however, shows that only seven periods garnered a significant
number of government actions, as outlined below and in graph 6.1
4
and table 6.1:
1. The Drenica massacre of late February and early March 1998
and its aftermath
2. NATO’s Operation Determined Falcon involving air exercises
around the borders of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY)
in mid-June 1998 3
3. The third week of September, after the passage of a UN Security
Council resolution and NATO activation warning
4. Beginning of October and lasting for two weeks. Based on gov-
ernment reactions to the Gornje Obrinje massacre and attempts
to broker a cease-fire and monitoring agreement
5. Mid-January lasting for two weeks after the Racak massacre
6. Mid-February lasting for two weeks during the Rambouillet
Conference
7. The week preceding the beginning of the NATO intervention
involving final diplomatic efforts to avoid conflict
In relation to the media criteria outlined in the fifth chapter, three
of the seven periods of heightened activity are closely linked to the
incidents in Drenica, Gornje Obrinje, and Racak. In the first case,
the Drenica massacre broke the uneventful months of January and
February and sparked a pattern of Western activities involving three
phases that would repeat after other massacres. The first phase involved
shock and condemnation, as manifested through press releases and
statements; the second was highlighted by the introduction of some
form of imposed solution; and the third entailed a relatively quiet