The impact of news media on foreign policy: the «CNN effect» and the Somali Civil War

Abstract

The media is important to any discussion related to conflict and peace. It is not just a means of communication, but also a tool, which politicians use to develop, improve, and encourage their own methods and agendas. Since television broadcasts live news 24 hours a day from different conflict zones, understanding media as an independent actor has become a common concern in scholarly and policy circles. The considerable changes in the global media sphere, and proliferation of participants in conflict using the media for their own purpose, demand the creation of a contemporary conceptual and theoretical method of understanding mediaconflict interactions. The Global International system was first created in the Second World War, in which events from one state influenced other states despite the distance between them. Contemporary innovations in communication technologies in 1980 and the ideas of Ted Turner helped to create a global network system of news known as the CNN effect. CNN started to broadcast live news from different regions, 24\7 through satellites and cables. For the first time in the history of cable television, CNN was able to report the news of the War in Iraq during 1990–1991 through a live broadcast. Consequently, CNN was established as a global international actor, which could influence other broadcasting networks.