CLARIFYING THE CNN EFFECT – Media effects and military intervention By Steven Livingston

1. CLARIFYING THE CNN EFFECT – Media effects and military interventionBy Steven Livingston Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

2. Has the media expanded their ability to affect the conduct of US diplomacy and foreign policy? Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

3. The impact of 24x7 television on government policy is dubbed as the ‘CNN Effect’ or the ‘CNN curve’ or the ‘CNN factor’. • This impact of new global, real-time media is typically regarded as substantial, if not profound. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

4. Two factors joined to bring this about • The end of the Cold War, the passing of which presented a lack of rationale for the US to formulate its foreign policy and; • Advances in communication technology that created a capacity to broadcast live from anywhere on Earth. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

5. Differentiating CNN effects Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

6. For many journalists, policy makers and scholars there is little doubt that media affect foreign policy process. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

7. “In this age image means television, and policies seem increasingly subject, especially in democracies, to the images flickering across the television screen” – James Schlesinger, former Defense Secretary. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

8. Yet, a key variable to media’s effect on foreign policy is not the presence or absence of cameras, but rather the presence or absence of political leadership. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

9. The growing literature on the CNN effect suggests at least three conceptually distinct and analytically useful understandings of media’s effect on the foreign policy process. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

10. The CNN effect is… • A policy agenda-setting agent • An impediment to the achievement of desired policy goals, and; • An accelerant to policy decision making. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

11. The agenda setting function • Emotional, compelling coverage of atrocities or humanitarian crises reorder foreign policy priorities. Somalia, Bosnia and Haiti are given as examples Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

12. Media as Accelerant • Media shortens decision-making response time. Television diplomacy evident. During time of war, live, global television offer potential security-intelligence risks. But media may also be a force multiplier, method of sending signals. Evident in most foreign policy issues to receive media attention. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

13. Media as Impediment • Two types: • Emotional, grisly coverage may undermine morale. Government attempts to sanitize war (emphasise on video game war), limit access to the battlefield. • Global, real-time media constitute a threat to operational security. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

14. The pre-global television age included a scramble to find a means to achieve what is today one of the chief characteristics of the CNN effect: accelerated, real-time diplomacy. • Today instantaneous transmission of diplomatic signals via global media is routine. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

15. While the new environment constitutes a significant change it is unclear whether this is necessarily injurious to sound policymaking. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

16. Media as impediment • Following the decisive American military victory in the Persian Gulf in 1991, President George Bush Sr had remarked, “By God, we have kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all”. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

17. What had happened differently in the Gulf War? Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

18. The fear of an unsanitized presentation of the carnage of battle was perhaps central to the military’s efforts to control the media through the sue of press pools and military escorts. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

19. “We were escorted away from most of the violence because the bodies of the dead chopped up by artillery, pulverised by B-52 raids, or lacerated by friendly fire don’t play well politically” – John J Fialka, Correspondent, Wall Street Journal Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai

20. Media effect-as-policy-impediment • The psychological effect. It concerns the corrosive effect that some types of media content may have on public opinion, particularly public support for war. • Violations of operational security. Sanjay Ranade, Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Mumbai