Media and Political Conflict
News from the Middle East

This book offers and applies an approach to studying the role of media in conflicts.

Gadi Wolfsfeld (Author)

9780521589673, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 April 1997

272 pages, 8 b/w illus. 3 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.4 kg

'The book merits wide and careful attention among scholars of political communication and political participation.' American Political Science Review

The news media have become the central arena for political conflicts today. It is, therefore, not surprising that the role of the news media in political conflicts has received a good deal of public attention in recent years. Media and Political Conflict provides readers with an understanding of the ways in which news media do and do not become active participants in these conflicts. The author's 'political contest' model provides an alternative approach to this important issue. The best way to understand the role of the news media in politics, he argues, is to view the competition over the news media as part of a larger and more significant contest for political control. The book is divided into two parts. While the first is devoted to developing the theoretical model, the second employs this approach to analyse the role of the news media in three conflicts: the Gulf war, the Palestinian intifada, and the attempt by the Israeli right wing to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

Introduction
Part I. The Rules of Combat: 1. The structural dimension: the struggle over access
2. The cultural dimension: the struggle over meaning
3. Media influence and political outcomes
Part II. The Contests: 4. Political movements and media access: the struggle against the Oslo Accord
5. Competing frames of the Oslo Accord: a chance for peace or a national disaster?
6. Controlling the media in insurrections and wars: the intifada and the Gulf war
7. The contest over media frames in the intifada: David versus Goliath
8. The cultural struggle over the Gulf war: Iraqi aggression or American imperialism?
Part III. Conclusion: 9. The multi-purpose arena.

Subject Areas: Political economy [KCP]