Suchergebnisse

Most of the world's conflicts take place largely unreported by the media, and the deadliest conflicts are among those ignored. If we assume that the media do have the power to influence policy responses to conflict, it follows that, by ignoring conflict, the media contribute to the lack of policy response. This article suggests that a major consequence of this effect is unchecked conflict-related death tolls (mostly indirect deaths caused by sickness and starvation) since little progress is made in achieving conflict resolution, the waging of the conflict is unrestrained, and relatively little humanitarian aid is forthcoming. With so few chosen conflicts and so many 'off the radar' stealth conflicts, the stakes of such media choices are high. This article focuses on this other side of the CNN effect, examining just how selectively and disproportionately the media cover conflict, and on the consequences of the lack of attention.

Most of the world's mass media have largely ignored the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite the fact that it is by far the deadliest conflict in the world today. Other much smaller conflicts are instead chosen to be the subject of intense focus and attention, ostensibly on grounds of relevance to national interest and humanitarian concern. But neither of these rationales holds up to scrutiny. The Australian newspaper is no exception in this sense. This article quantitatively and qualitatively examines coverage of conflict in the DRC in The Australian, comparing it with that of other conflicts and crises, primarily Israel—Palestine, Darfur and Zimbabwe. It concludes that some subjective and narrow perceptions of national interest as well as business interests (producing news that `sells' and following international news flows) serve to explain the DRC's marginalization in The Australian .

"This book analyses the use of communication in resolving conflicts, with a focus on de-escalation and processes of peacebuilding and peace formation. From the employment of hate radio in the Rwanda genocide, to the current conflict between Russia and the Ukraine following events in the Crimea, communication and the media are widely recognized as powerful tools in conflicts and war. Although there has been significant academic attention on the relationship between the media, conflict and war, academic efforts to understand this relationship have tended to focus primarily on the links between communication and conflict, rather than on communication and peace. In order to make sense of peace it is essential to look at communication in its many facets, mediated or not. This is true within many of the diverse strands that make up the field of communication and peace, but it is also true in the sense that a holistic and interdisciplinary approach is missing from the literature. This book addresses this widely acknowledged lacuna by providing an interdisciplinary perspective on the field, bringing together relevant, but so far largely isolated, streams of research. In doing so, it aims to provide a platform for further reflection of the meaning of, and requirements for, peace in our contemporary world with a focus on de-escalation, conflict transformation, reconciliation and processes of peacebuilding - as opposed to conflict escalation or crisis intervention. This volume will be of much interest to students of peace and conflict studies, peacebuilding, media and communication studies, security studies and IR in general"--