Page 39 - 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
costs of video equipment. A good example of this trend is reflected in
the emergence of the Qatar-based Arabic 24-hour satellite news sta-
tion Al-Jazeera. Starting from a humble beginning in 1996, this net-
work now reaches over 35 million viewers in Arab-speaking countries,
and through agreements with international networks, millions more
throughout the world. Its remarkable success has been attributed to
the fact that it is widely viewed as a source of independent news in the
region, and to the relative ease of access in the region to its signal. In
fact, anyone who can spend several hundred dollars on a satellite dish
can watch the network. Also, it has managed to gain exclusive footage
in the region due to its special relationship with regional players who
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would rather get their message to the world through a local source.
Second, the rapid growth of personal camcorder ownership in the
1990s has increased the likelihood that a camera will record an event
that may not have been captured in previous decades. Many of the
most important moments associated with the CNN effect, in fact,
were not captured by the professional journalists, but by individuals
who happened to be present with personal camcorders when impor-
tant events unfolded. The infamous images of a dead U.S. serviceman
being dragged around the streets of Mogadishu in October 1993
were captured on a hi-8 video camera. Many of such videos are later
given or sold to news organizations that distribute them throughout
global networks in combination with their own professional editing
and narratives. Looking ahead, the improving bandwidth of mobile
telephones utilizing third-generation (3G) networks will make it pos-
sible to send video from any mobile phone with a camera or a camera
attachment. In terms of reach, this trend, in combination with the
previous ones outlined, will lead to the capture of many newsworthy
images that might previously have been missed.
Density
There have been significant improvements both in the number of
participants—both news gatherers and recipients—and in the quality
of transmission. In terms of recipients, the number of television sets
worldwide has grown from 299 million in 1970 to 1.4 billion in 1997,
according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). 57 That means that for every 1,000 inhab-
itants, the number of sets grew from 81 to 240 over this period.
Even in Africa, the continent with the least number of television sets
per capita, the number of sets grew dramatically from 1.6 million (4.6
per thousand inhabitants) in 1970 to 44 million (60 per thousand