Strategic communication and its role in conflict news: A computational analysis of the international news coverage on four conflicts

Abstract

Marc Jungblut extends existing knowledge on the role of strategic communication in conflict news by examining four violent conflicts. He relies on an automated content analysis of texts by 52 strategic communicators, such as politicians, NGOs, social movements, as well as on the international news coverage in 17 media outlets. By analyzing over 80,000 texts in seven languages, the book demonstrates that media visibility is almost exclusively granted based on ethnocentrism and elite status. The journalistic framing of conflict events, however, is much more context-dependent and shows a higher degree of independence from elite voices and strategic communication in general.