Research Note: The News Media and Intervention

Abstract

This article provides a summary of the current findings of an ongoing research project, the central aim of which is to search for evidence of media-driven intervention and to identify the scope of media impact on intervention. US policy responses to the humanitarian crises in Somalia (1992), Bosnia (1995) and Kosovo (1999) have been analysed. In the case of US troop deployment in Somalia it was found that media coverage did not drive policy but actually followed the decision to intervene. In the case of intervention to protect the Gorazde `safe area' in Bosnia, the research indicates media coverage was a factor in causing policy-makers to intervene. Finally, in the case of Kosovo the US headed off media pressure to deploy ground troops. Overall the research indicates that there is substance to claims regarding media-driven intervention. Precisely, the research suggests that media coverage can trigger the deployment of air power intervention during humanitarian crisis but not ground troops.

Keywords

Bosnia CNN effect humanitarian intervention Kosovo media power Somalia

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