Page 34 - The CNN Effect in Action - How the News Media Pushed the West toward War ini Kosovo

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THE CNN EFFECT
The second way in which the CNN effect can be an impediment
relates to breaches in operational security that may occur from the
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transmission of sensitive information.
As information is delivered
instantly around the globe, it not only informs the general public but
is also accessed by potential adversaries who can use that information
to their military advantage and endanger troops. For example, media
information on whether a site they had targeted was hit and how
badly it was damaged will give adversaries critical insights to decide
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whether that target should be targeted again. As Colin Powell stated
during Desert Shield, a piece of information given to a journalist
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The impediment CNN
could be “in 105 capitals a minute later.”
effect creates the possibility of grave danger to military personnel if
information falls into the wrong hands at the wrong time. The inability
of many inexperienced journalists to recognize sensitive information
and the increasingly competitive pressures to be the first to report a
breaking news story makes such breaches an increasing possibility. If
such incidents occur and operations are compromised, a policy can
easily be impeded, and it may have to be either changed or halted.
The Agenda-Setting Effect
The third way in which the CNN effect is alleged to impact foreign 9
policy is by setting the agenda. 32 This type of CNN effect suggests
that issues that receive the greatest media coverage become the ones
that receive the most foreign policy attention and resources. At its
best, such an effect can reorder existing foreign policy priorities, push-
ing those with greater media coverage to the top of the agenda. At its
worst, foreign policy formulation and prioritization can mirror the
news agenda and lose its independence. As pictures of suffering or a
perceived injustice reach television audiences in Western democratic
states, governments may feel the need to respond to them in order to
end the suffering or correct the injustice. The problem with such sce-
narios, however, is that they are not always congruent with sustainable
foreign policy goals for the following two reasons.
First, decisions on media coverage are based on a different set of
incentives than those of government foreign policy. In the West, media
is largely a commercial enterprise, based and driven by profitability;
what is covered is usually what sells best. This means that the most
sensational stories generally get greatest coverage, as these generate the
largest audience numbers and advertising revenues. As one event
becomes less spectacular or dated, more dramatic or novel stories
replace it. Foreign policy, however, does not and cannot function