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THE CNN EFFECT IN ACTION
of challenging framing and the assumption that media coverage must
precede policy change. It also points to the need for a multivariable
approach in qualifying the CNN effect. The approach that will be
employed in the case study of this book incorporates some of the key
findings from each of these methods within the challenging CNN
64
effect model.
Going forward, all references to the CNN effect,
unless explicitly referred to as another type of CNN effect, relate to
the challenging CNN effect. To begin, it is important to highlight the
period when this type of CNN effect may occur in an idealized time
line involving a third-party military intervention, as presented in
graph 2.1.
As graph 2.1 illustrates, in an idealized setting, a time line involv-
ing a military intervention will usually have three phases. Phase one is
the period when official policy on a particular issue is against military
intervention. Phase two is the period when policy has changed in
favor of an intervention but before the intervention has begun. Phase
three is the period after the intervention has commenced. In this time
line, the challenging CNN effect is at play during the period when
official policy is against intervention right up to the period when pol-
icy has officially changed, but it is not relevant after an official policy
changes to support intervention.
For the CNN effect to occur, requirements from both the media
and government are essential. In terms of the media, the key finding in
the literature highlighted three factors that are important in validating
occurrences of the CNN effect. The first is access to the territory where
images need to be captured—without access, as evidenced by case stud-
ies of southern Iraq and Sudan, there are no images and therefore no
CNN effect. The issue of access, of course, is not only a logistical one,
but also part of the larger political struggle over what is newsworthy. 65
Policy Intervention
Change Begins
Official Against Pro-Intervention
Policy: Intervention
Timeline:
CNN Challenging
Effect: CNN Effect
Graph 2.1 The Challenging CNN Effect Time Line