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50. Ibid., 54. According to Robinson:
. . . The absence of any mention of humanitarian intervention in
the press briefings indicates that no decision had yet been made.
This inference is consistent with other accounts of the policy
process that indicate no decision regarding intervention was made
during this period. According to the typology outlined in the
methodology section, the existence of no policy with regard to an
intervention indicates policy uncertainty during the period.
51. Robinson’s model only assesses policy uncertainty in relation to armed
intervention to keep the dependent variable (intervention) consistent
across all cases. Correspondence with Robinson, July 2, 2004. This
argument, however, suggests that all foreign policies not in favor of
armed intervention during a humanitarian crisis equal no policy and
therefore involve policy uncertainty, even if there is an active policy of
nonintervention in place.
52. Robinson, The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, 60.
53. According to Robinson, this was not needed as the limited media cov-
erage before the decision to intervene militarily already negated the
possibility of a strong CNN effect. Correspondence with Robinson,
July 2, 2004.
54. According to Robinson, this was because it was a secondary case
study. Correspondence with Robinson, July 2, 2004. NOTES 193
55. Robinson, The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, 64–65.
56. Ibid., 83.
57. Ibid., 89.
58. Ibid., 60.
59. Ibid., 73–74, 78–80.
60. Ibid., 90–91.
61. Ibid., 83.
62. The issue of political commitment is examined in more detail later in
this chapter.
63. Robinson, The CNN Effect: The Myth of News, 83.
64. It should be noted that the model itself is not under test here. To test
this model, a number of proven cases of the CNN effect must first be
available from which this model can be validated. As such cases are not
available, it is not possible to test the model. Robinson presents a sim-
ilar rationale for the inability to test the policy-media interaction
model in ibid., 139–140.
65. Logistics, of course, is critical. For example, the British were greatly
aided in their desire to control the media during the Falklands cam-
paign due to the remoteness of the conflict location.
66. Gadi Wolfsfeld, Media and Political Conflict, 13–30.
67. Ibid., 20–21.
68. Livingston and Bennett, “Gatekeepers,” 373.
69. Wolfsfeld, Media and Political Conflict, 25.