Page 138 - 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
Table 6.3 Continued
Week Beginning
2
November 8
1
1
November 15
0
0
0
November 22
1
November 29
0
1
December 6
1
December 13
3
2
2
December 20
0
0
December 27
0
0
0
January 3
0
2
January 10
2
January 17
8
January 24
3
8
0
January 31
4
7
February 7
1
8
February 14
4
February 21
2
11
1
0
February 28
March 7
4
2
3
7
March 14
March 21
6
2
Total Policy Diplomacy
161
69
occasions, preferring to act largely through the Contact Group, its
involvement did increase as the crisis escalated.
The Coding Test
The second research method reviews Western government documents
related to the Kosovo crisis in order to assess change in government
8
attitude. While change in attitude is not the same as change in policy,
which is reviewed more specifically in the next chapter, it serves as a
good proxy for such a potential shift. To demonstrate a change in atti-
tude at a macro level, three qualitative gauges were coded and tracked
over the 15-month period before the NATO intervention, based on a
review of all press releases and statements by relevant Western gov-
ernment institutions regarding the Kosovo crisis over this period. The
three factors that were diagnosed related to how the West framed
the conflict between the two sides, which side the West blamed for the
specific problems during the conflict, and the propensity for Western
military involvement in the conflict. A policy that would not promote