Propaganda War?
In most wars, people believe what they want to believe!
The CNN effect is the theory that continuous coverage of major events on TV networks, such as CNN, can influence domestic and foreign policy agendas. The CNN effect works through the molding of public perception, which, in turn, affects policymakers’ agendas.
The concept originated in the 1990s, when CNN covered the American military intervention in Iraq (1991), Somalia (1992), and Bosnia (1995) in real-time.
The CNN effect, then, can be defined as the independent news media promoting discussion and raising awareness amongst the public with the aim of creating a specific policy response to the events being covered.
Saddam Hussein had adopted the same flawed strategy in the 1991 Gulf war. The power of CNN, and later Al-Jazeera, especially the visuals of dead and dying civilians, sometimes can influence western politicians if there is a policy vacuum. The sight of Kurds fleeing in the snow in northern Iraq did influence John Major, then Britain’s prime minister, to draw up a hasty no-fly zone.
By playing the dramatic images over the air non-stop, the media provoked public opinion, which in turn provoked policymakers to lead a military intervention. But Saddam’s sometimes staged pictures of bombed civilians did not deter the Pentagon in the next Gulf war.
A nation determined with a clear strategy is likely to manipulate media and not be manipulated by it. Usually, TV pictures do not persuade stubborn or determined leaders.
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly!
