Page 52 - The CNN Effect in Action - How the News Media Pushed the West toward War ini Kosovo

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DEMONSTRATING THE CNN EFFECT
intervention originated from a particular group in the government
that promoted an agenda with the help of media images, it is not clear
why this invalidates the CNN effect. The position of those desiring
intervention, after all, was still at odds with the official policy of the
time and without the media images and framing of starving people
in Somalia, it is doubtful whether the official policy would have changed
as it did. Given the complex and contentious nature of foreign policy–
making, often involving a struggle for influence amongst numerous
interests, departments, and individuals, it would not be surprising that
certain groups within a government would favor a policy of interven-
tion when it is a viable option. This does not mean that their calls for
an intervention when it is not official policy negate the impact of media
images that may emerge to strengthen their case at a future time.
Livingston also discounts the CNN effect because the majority of
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the media coverage followed official action instead of preceding it.
While Livingston’s scenario is one way in which the CNN effect can
unfold, there are other ways that may be just as legitimate that his
assumption omits. For example, in another scenario, only one powerful
image may generate public outrage and government response that can
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Although the coverage
in turn trigger additional media coverage.
might be greater after the official response, the basis of that reaction
was still the original media report. Also, given the fact that nothing
sells in the media better than war, it is obvious that any govern-
ment decision to engage in a military intervention is going to lead to
a dramatic increase of media coverage, as has been the case in all past
military campaigns. The market realities of military engagements, in
such cases, skew any attempt to conduct unprejudiced quantitative
analysis. The more important questions to ask when validating the
CNN effect are whether initial media reports, especially those framed
in a challenging manner to official policy, came before official actions
or after, and whether these reports were an important contributor to
the policy change.
The Policy-Media Interaction Model
In the late 1990s, Piers Robinson introduced the policy-media inter-
action model that he derived from a number of theoretical insights
into the existing literature. 38 This model represents one of the most
sophisticated attempts to create a measurement that might confirm or
reject instances of the CNN effect. The model initially assumes that
a CNN effect is possible when two factors are in place: policy
uncertainty and sympathetic media framing. 39