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DEMONSTRATING THE CNN EFFECT
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and incompetent.”
Herman and Chomsky, of course, admit the
limitations in their model, suggesting that factors such as the limited
autonomy of media organizations, individual and professional val-
ues, and the imperfect enforcement of media policy lead to “some
measure of dissent and reporting that calls into question the accepted
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viewpoint.”
Further limitations to hegemonic theory are evident in accounts of
the NATO intervention and peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, where
hegemonic theorists have suggested that the United States bombed
Serbia to show its dominance over Europe and to maintain its global
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However, the suggestion that the United States
hegemony.
intervened in Kosovo to justify additional troops in the Balkans flies
in the face of evidence suggesting the opposite. In fact, it was the
Europeans who insisted that the United States commit peacekeeping
troops in Kosovo as a precondition for their participation in the
NATO bombing, and it was European pressure that prevented the
United States from pulling out its troops in spite of strong domestic
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pressure to do so.
As with indexing, the CNN effect has certain congruencies with
hegemonic theory. As mentioned earlier, for the CNN effect to be
possible, framing that challenges official policy is necessary. This dis-
sent is only possible, however, if it is congruent with the culture of
the state from which the media emerges. Political culture as a limit-
ing variable on media coverage has similarities to the propaganda
model filters that also act to limit what is presented and the way it is
framed. Of the five filters, the ideological filter is closest to the notion
of culture as a limiter, especially when a dominant ideology presides
within the culture. However, whereas the ideological filter of the
propaganda model assumes ideology to originate from the elite,
whose interests it serves, the cultural argument suggests that the
foundation of a dominant ideology, if there is indeed one present
within a culture, originates from the common historical experiences
of a political community. Ideology in the propaganda model is artifi-
cial to the people and is imposed from above. The cultural argument,
on the other hand, assumes such ideology to be genuinely embedded
amongst the masses.
This chapter has reviewed the main research methods used to
demonstrate cases of the CNN effect and has presented a novel model
for assessing such cases during scenarios involving third-party military
interventions. The next chapter places the CNN effect within the
larger war literature, relying primarily on Clausewitz’s concept of