Media as an instrument of strategic communication in armed conflicts: The CNN effect

Abstract

Media, politics and public opinion are mutually conditioned social categories. Their interdependence is particularly pronounced in armed conflicts, especially in the context of armed interventions. The forum of the interaction of these phenomena is framed by the paradigm of strategic communication, which is transmitted to the public through the actions of entities identified as strategic communicators to achieve a motivating effect for reactions that are in line with communicators' interests. One of the emerging forms of strategic communication in all its forms and contents is the CNN effect. The paper contributes to the definition of the CNN effect as a broader concept than the television station, after which it was named. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the relationship between politics, the media and the public to gain public support for military intervention. The paper also provides an analysis of the CNN effect in the function of strategic communication on the example of the media use of bloodshed in the Markale market during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995, with an analysis of the US actions and effects to support the idea of military intervention.