Page 35 - 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
in this manner. For a policy to be successful, it usually must have a
long-term focus that is feasible and economically sustainable. This is
particularly relevant in periods such as the 1990s in which many
defense and foreign aid budgets shrank. If foreign policy is to follow
the agenda set by the media, it will increasingly be forced to engage in
a variety of theatres, only to shift resources abruptly once that situation
becomes less fashionable. Furthermore, if foreign policy engagements
lead to military operations, it is functionally impossible to deploy
troops without great risk to life and to the military’s credibility.
Second, and more contentiously, the CNN effect as an agenda set-
ter is considered problematic because it provokes prioritizing and
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action incongruent to the national interest. The media, as previously
suggested, are drawn to events that display significant levels of human
suffering. These events, however, often have no clear link to perceived
threats to national security—a leading factor in what traditionally con-
stitutes national interest. Although in an ideal world, as critics have
often suggested, all human suffering should cease, the limited military
and financial resources available to Western democracies makes it
impossible to intervene in all cases of suffering. Therefore, critics have
argued that limited resources need prioritization, free of media influ-
ence, to fit the varying levels of perceived national interest. 34
Related Effects
Although the CNN effect assumes that media images impact the
policymaking process, the anticipation of such an impact or “poten-
tial effect” can sometimes be just as important to policymaking. 35 In
consideration of the impediment effect, for example, policymakers
and military strategists might incorporate the media’s presence in
planning in order to manage and neutralize its future impact. This
can be done by a number of means such as the denial or limitation
of access to journalists or pool and embedded reporting. 36
Another type of media effect sometimes inaccurately associated
with the CNN effect is the propaganda effect. 37 Propaganda is
defined as “the systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause through
information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating
such a doctrine or cause.” 38 While it could be argued that any party
advocating a particular policy through the media is propagandist, this
study limits the definition of the propaganda effect to only cases
involving the promotion of official government policy.
Propaganda has played a significant role in the prelude and
execution of war throughout the twentieth century. Propaganda was
institutionalized for the first time during World War I, when combating