Showing papers in "Media, War & Conflict in 2015"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors look at the roles that WhatsApp, the popular smartphone application, played in the lives of Israeli citizens who were exposed to war menaces during July 2014, and find that during the war, WhatsApp became the subject of public, media, and political discourse, especially within the context of disseminating information related to combat.
Abstract: This study looks at the roles that WhatsApp, the popular smartphone application, played in the lives of Israeli citizens, who were exposed to war menaces during July 2014. During the war, WhatsApp became the subject of public, media, and political discourse, especially within the context of disseminating information related to combat – ‘authentic’ news items (before they were published in the media) alongside rumors that were devoid of factual basis. Research questions focused on the ways in which citizens used the application, the attributed effects of that usage on their lives, and the possible connections between proximity of residence to combat areas, patterns of usage, and perceived implications. Data are based on a representative survey of 500 Israeli citizens aged 16–75, all of whom are smartphone users (maximum sample error 4.5%). The survey was conducted during the third week of the military operation ‘Protective Edge’, which took place between Israel and Hamas in the summer of 2014.The authors’ ...
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed how the Norwegian news media framed the terrorist attacks in Oslo and the island of Utoya, which killed 77 mainly young people on 22 July 2011.
Abstract: This article analyzes how the Norwegian news media framed the terrorist attacks in Oslo and the island of Utoya, which killed 77 mainly young people on 22 July 2011. Did the news media favour or co ...
42 citations
TL;DR: The 2006 Lebanon War presented a rare opportunity to explore how the three major US news magazines visually covered a distant conflict in which the US was not directly involved as mentioned in this paper, finding that the military conflict and human interest frames dominated visual coverage of the seven-week war.
Abstract: The 2006 Lebanon War presented a rare opportunity to explore how the three major US news magazines visually covered a distant conflict in which the US was not directly involved. Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report faced the challenge of how to fairly report a conflict that was dominated by one side – Israel. A quantitative content analysis revealed that the military conflict and human interest frames dominated visual coverage of the seven-week war. By emphasizing the war’s negative impact on Lebanon and its people, the news magazines provided a largely American audience with a proportional visual representation of the conflict. Only 11 percent of the images showed the injured and dead, which is consistent with other war studies. This article discusses how the news magazines visually framed the war, why images of Hezbollah and protests were rarely seen, and why many casualty images included women and children.
41 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between information and conflict through the lens of the Syrian civil war, and argue that the conditions required for information to reduce the likelihood for violence are at fundamental odds with the conditions of war.
Abstract: Central to the longevity of the free flow of information doctrine is the idea that greater access to information will facilitate improved international cooperation, decreasing the likelihood of conflict in the international system.1 This commentary2 challenges the pervasive narrative of ‘information as peace inducing’. Political actors are employing big data tools to better understand conflicts, but not necessarily to end them. Building on an historical record of ways in which information freedom is selectively used to justify geostrategic policy, we explore the relationship between information and conflict through the lens of the Syrian civil war, ‘the most well documented conflict in history’ (Balian, 2014). Since 2011, the Syrian conflict has been mapped by various international actors, including governments and NGOs, facilitating real-time tracking of violence, opposition and government forces, as well as foreign fighters and weaponry. Yet, despite this avalanche of data, the Syrian conflict continues today, leaving nearly half of the Syrian population displaced and more than 200,000 dead. Specifically, we argue that the conditions required for information to reduce the likelihood for violence are at fundamental odds with the conditions of war. Thus, while greater access to accurate information can, theoretically, reduce the likelihood of conflict breaking out, adding an abundance of data
21 citations
TL;DR: The way we see war and its visuality is ever changing and dynamic as discussed by the authors, despite the theoretical variety in International Relations (IR) scholarship, the themes of visuality, photography, and media have...
Abstract: The way we see war – its visuality – is ever changing and dynamic. Despite the theoretical variety in International Relations (IR) scholarship, the themes of visuality, photography, and media have ...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a response to theoretical and methodological gaps witnessed in both journalism and intelligence literature is presented, and the goal of this research is to better our understanding of journalistic and intelligence research.
Abstract: This article is a response to theoretical and methodological gaps witnessed in both journalism and intelligence literature. The goal of this research is to better our understanding of journalistic ...
19 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the framing of the US drone program in American, British, and Arab news coverage and found that US coverage was more likely to frame the policy favorably, emphasizing its legality, strategic value and technological sophistication while downplaying civilian deaths.
Abstract: In recent years, the United States has significantly expanded its use of drone warfare. Experts are divided: some defend drones as a legal, effective way to target terrorists while others suggest drones are inaccurate and contribute to anti-Americanism. In addition, international public opinion differs starkly with Americans largely supportive of the program while publics across the globe condemn it. Suspecting news coverage might play a pivotal role in these differences, the authors explored the framing of the US drone program in American, British, and Arab news coverage. Consistent with research on social identity theory and ethnocentrism in news, they find that US coverage was more likely to frame the policy favorably – emphasizing its legality, strategic value and technological sophistication while downplaying civilian deaths – while British and, to a greater extent, Arab coverage was more critical. The authors discuss how these findings build on existing theory and explore the implications for US dro...
16 citations
TL;DR: The response to reports of abuse during the Global War on Terror (GWOT) is often perplexing as discussed by the authors, and few of the many revelations of abuse prompted concerted reactions (e.g. scandals), and those that did were often...
Abstract: Mediated responses to reports of abuse during the Global War on Terror are puzzling. Few of the many revelations of abuse prompted concerted reactions (e.g. scandals), and those that did were often...
15 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed the media coverage of Jewish settlers' attacks against Palestinians and Norwegian press coverage of Anders Breivik's 2011 attacks and found that the media labeled all the perpetrators as terrorists, the attacks 'terror' and the motivation as 'ideology' rather than solely mental.
Abstract: Studies of US and UK media reveal that the press adheres to a dichotomous religion-based us/them worldview that portrays Muslims as terrorists but ‘repairs’ the image of Jews and Christians as criminals, creating concerns that the Western media promotes a clash-of-civilizations thinking pattern. To examine whether this pattern is representative of other Western democracies, the authors analyzed Israeli press coverage of Jewish settlers’ attacks against Palestinians (N = 134) and Norwegian press coverage of Anders Breivik’s 2011 attacks (N = 223). Content analysis reveals that the Israeli and Norwegian media labeled all the perpetrators ‘terrorists’, the attacks ‘terror’, and the motivation as ‘ideology’ rather than solely mental. The perpetrators – all subscribing to right-wing ideology – were not vindicated despite being Jewish or Christian. Beyond weakening the clash-of-civilizations notion that terrorism discourse in the West is necessarily religion-related, the findings highlight that the US press was...
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative analysis of online news coverage by CNN and BBC of Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003 is presented, concluding that structural limitations are less of a hindrance at the BBC, which is better situated to enhance rational-critical dialogue and democratic self-governance through inclusion of a greater diversity of sources and a wider array of opinion.
Abstract: The normative role of journalism in democracy is well established: democracy depends on news media to facilitate self-government. But theories of the press point to structural limitations that inhibit the democratic ideal. To examine this contradiction, this article offers a comparative analysis of online news coverage by CNN and BBC of Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations Security Council on 5 February 2003. Ethnographic content analysis is used to examine the coverage and to consider each outlet’s broad institutional context. The article concludes that structural limitations are less of a hindrance at the BBC, which is better situated to enhance rational–critical dialogue and democratic self-governance through inclusion of a greater diversity of sources and a wider array of opinion.
11 citations
TL;DR: While a patriotic tendency in traditional journalism has been intensively investigated, there is much less evidence and fewer analyses of the phenomenon regarding online journalism as mentioned in this paper, which is the case for most of the articles in this article.
Abstract: While a patriotic tendency in traditional journalism has been intensively investigated, there is much less evidence and fewer analyses of the phenomenon regarding online journalism. In this researc...
TL;DR: In this article, a descriptive comparative quantitative content analysis of the construction of Islam and Muslims in 2006-2007 in four Swedish publications is presented. But the analysis is limited to four publications: the liberal newspaper Dagens Nyheter representing mainstream media, the Evangelical newspaper Dagen, the fundamentalist newspaper Varlden idag representing the Christian right, and the journal SD-Kuriren, the official organ of the Sweden Democrats, a neo-nationalist party.
Abstract: This article is a descriptive comparative quantitative content analysis of the construction of Islam and Muslims in 2006–2007 in four Swedish publications – the liberal newspaper Dagens Nyheter representing mainstream media, the Evangelical newspaper Dagen, the fundamentalist newspaper Varlden idag representing the Christian right, and the journal SD-Kuriren, the official organ of the Sweden Democrats, a neo-nationalist party. The aim is to see where a chasm between those media that accept the presence of Muslims and Islam in Sweden, and those that do not, occurs. The results put the liberal Dagens Nyheter and the Evangelical Dagen on one side of the divide and the fundamentalist Varlden idag and the neo-nationalist SD-Kuriren on the other. Varlden idag and SD-Kuriren tend to describe Muslims and Islam as threatening, and ‘our’ elite as retreating. In these two media, Muslims are consistently described as aggressive and the cause of social and political problems. Finally, in both media, Muslims are relate...
TL;DR: The authors used the thematic analysis developed by the Glasgow University Media Group to explore how the US, UK and German national press covered the US/Coalition assault on the Iraqi city of Fallu...
Abstract: This study uses the thematic analysis developed by the Glasgow University Media Group to explore how the US, UK and German national press covered the US/Coalition assault on the Iraqi city of Fallu...
TL;DR: The authors focused on contemporary media coverage of two controversial wars and how the news media tasked with recording those wars subscribed to the politically charged "digger" trope, which effectively served both to shield soldiers from any political fallout and to perpetuate the myth itself.
Abstract: Australia’s World War I veterans, particularly the Anzacs of Gallipoli, are a quintessential part of Australia’s cultural imagining. Mythologised by the war correspondents of the time, refined and embellished by generations of politicians and myth makers and stripped of their shortcomings and human foibles through repeated renditions, the diggers of the ‘Great War’ continue to define duty and courage in contemporary Australian society. This article focuses on contemporary media coverage of two controversial wars – Afghanistan and Iraq – and how the news media tasked with recording those wars subscribed willingly to the politically charged ‘digger’ trope, which effectively served both to shield soldiers from any political fallout and to perpetuate the myth itself.
TL;DR: A scholarly consensus suggests that the press largely followed public opinion in its coverage of the Vietnam War, only becoming critical after the US public turned against the conflict in Fall 1967 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: A scholarly consensus suggests that the press largely followed public opinion in its coverage of the Vietnam War, only becoming critical after the US public turned against the conflict in Fall 1967...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors utilize the case study method, hyperlink network analysis and centering resonance analysis to uncover details of the linkage and message features of the blog and find that this blog developed a highly polarized network that engaged like-minded others, prominent public figures and mainstream media.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to understand how an extremist blog advanced its perspective in the public sphere and further generated public support for prejudicial opinions against Muslims in the US. The authors utilize the case study method, hyperlink network analysis and centering resonance analysis to uncover details of the linkage and message features of the blog. The findings show that this blog developed a highly polarized network that engaged like-minded others, prominent public figures and mainstream media. Additionally, content of the blog employed cultural stereotypes that resonated deeply with public sentiments. Further, the network position and content features of the blog were not static attributions, but constantly evolved as the issue developed. Theoretical and political implications are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors describe a social drama in which actors interact with other actors, witness an event, and translate their observations into sensible texts to communicate with audiences who are not ‘on the same wavelength.
Abstract: Journalists plunge into a social drama in which they interact with other actors, witness an event, and translate their observations into sensible texts to communicate with audiences who are not ‘on...
TL;DR: In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the US, the ideological undercurrents of America's popular music culture were brought into sharp focus, with the music of the pop'mainstream' revealed as be...
Abstract: In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the US, the ideological undercurrents of America’s popular music culture were brought into sharp focus, with the music of the pop ‘mainstream’ revealed as be...
TL;DR: The authors identify and examine filmic frames from the day of the landings; from the grand narrative of The Longest Day; and from Spielberg's confronting representation Saving Private Ryan, and show how, through the lens alone, cinematographers approximate the character of a tumultuous and terrifying day in ways that are surprisingly similar and profoundly different.
Abstract: In that it privileges the grand perspective (the landscape, and the battalion arrayed in all its splendour), The Longest Day (1962) is typical of big-picture World War II films produced up until the mid-1970s. There are few close-ups, and takes are ponderously long. The focus is on grand strategy, and an attendant grand narrative; the lens offers a blow-by-blow assessment of the massive assault. Shot in 1998, Saving Private Ryan periodically echoes this perspective but reflects modalities informed by changing technologies and a hyper-mediated culture. The result is more intimate framing, punctuated by shots sometimes adapted from the source material: footage captured on Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944, by the Signal Corps cameramen. This portrayal serves two purposes: it opens the film in spectacular fashion, introduces the main characters and prefaces their mission. This article identifies and examines filmic frames from the day of the landings; from the grand narrative of The Longest Day; and from Spielberg's confronting representation Saving Private Ryan. The aim is to show how, through the lens alone, cinematographers approximate the character of a tumultuous and terrifying day in ways that are surprisingly similar and profoundly different.
TL;DR: In London, Washington DC and Brussels, "information warfare" has returned to policymakers' lips of late. The concept is used in the framing of Western efforts to counter and overcome the persuasion campaigns of Russia in Ukraine and ISIS targeting of potential Western recruits as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In London, Washington DC and Brussels, ‘information warfare’ has returned to policymakers’ lips of late. The concept is used in the framing of Western efforts to counter and overcome the persuasion campaigns of Russia in Ukraine and ISIS’s targeting of potential Western recruits. It is not simply that Russia’s ‘hybrid war’ model might be destabilizing audiences’ sense of certainty about what is happening in world affairs. It is that such a strategy undermines the very fundamentals of information and credibility that informed debate are supposed to rest upon. The return to information warfare also signifies frustration that ISIS’s social media content appears to be driving a very visible and unstoppable flow of young Westerners to Syria. In short, there is a palpable sense that the West is losing its information wars. The return of information warfare is only likely to deepen the condition of permanent war that seemed to take hold of the imaginations of policymakers and journalists in the last 15 years. The war on terror was framed as a generational strategy – by 2009, US military leaders spoke of ‘the long war’. Security was understood to have diffused to include any causes of instability, uncertainty or danger. This justified the interpenetration of military and intelligence agencies with economic, social and even cultural and religious institutions. Digital connectivity expanded the speed and immediacy of news coverage of global crises. While it is a practical burden for journalists to trawl through endless user generated content, that content has brought vivid footage of war and conflict that has enlivened and resurrected traditional news organisations. There are a number of factors, then, that explain why war has become the ongoing backdrop to our lives. One of the biggest problems with the explicit turn to information warfare is that it continues the blurring of war and not-war. The field of media, war and conflict can help clarify how this is happening. Scholars bring theoretical lenses, attention to historical comparisons and concern for communication ethics. Consider a few examples. In terms of theory, we can explain how the mediatization of war contributes to the blurring of war and peace. Stig Hjarvard (2008: 114) writes:
TL;DR: This article examined the credibility of the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which released a series of statements claiming responsibility for several of the most important jihadist attacks perpetrated between 2003 and 2005, and concluded that the questions concerning its involvement (or otherwise) in acts of violence and its formal ties (or lack thereof) to al-Qaeda remain unresolved.
Abstract: This article examines the issue of the credibility of the organisation known as the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which released a series of statements claiming responsibility for several of the most important jihadist attacks perpetrated between 2003 and 2005. A critical analysis of the information available on the group leads to the conclusion that the questions concerning its involvement (or otherwise) in acts of violence and its formal ties (or lack thereof) to al-Qaeda remain unresolved and existing hypotheses regarding the nature of the Brigades must therefore remain open.
TL;DR: In this paper, Belair-Gagnon's findings add to Andrew Chadwick's (2013) conceptualisation of a hybrid media system, in which he suggests that media power is secured in the contemporary period by those who are able to blend both old and new forms of media to further their own strategic goals.
Abstract: within Britain and elsewhere can make their voices heard? In this regard, Belair-Gagnon’s findings add to Andrew Chadwick’s (2013) conceptualisation of a ‘hybrid media system’, in which he suggests that media power is secured in the contemporary period by those who are able to blend both old and new forms of media to further their own strategic goals. This is not to suggest that Social Media at BBC NEWS is limited in scope, however, but rather that its findings raise important questions related to media power in the 21st century. Indeed, this is where the strength of Belair-Gagnon’s work lies, as it serves to invite further inquiry into the way new communications technologies and media platforms are challenging the traditional power relations that govern news media production, and may be establishing the conditions for a more empowered and democratic public service news media. As such, Social Media at BBC NEWS is a timely and much-needed empirical and case study analysis of the changing journalistic practices not just at our much-beloved ‘Auntie’, but also across the contemporary news landscape, and thus will serve as a rich source of information for students and academics alike.