Topic: The "CNN Effect" & Compassion Fatigue Instructor: Jack
Lule On this page are the assignments for Week Three, Day One. You should have Monday's assignments completed by Thursday, 7 p.m.
WEEK THREE, MONDAY: Our topic last week got us deeply into U.S. coverage of international affairs. This week, we look more closely at U.S. news, particularly an interesting concept called -- "the CNN effect." Many people think that U.S. television images of international events -- first on CNN, then on 24-hour cable news in general-- can influence and shape U.S. foreign policy. For example, they think that television images of starving people forced the U.S. government to send troops and aid to Somalia. They think that television images of the slaughter in Rwanda forced the United States to take action. They think television helped push us into wars in the Persian Gulf. Is it true? Researchers have studied the CNN effect. They've interviewed journalists, U.S. officials, government workers in other nations, and people who work for international relief agencies. Many agree: U.S. television does not DIRECTLY determine or dictate foreign policy. But television news does have influence. We'll look closely at how they reached this conclusion. And we'll see what they say about the real relationship between television and foreign policy. Your assignment has numerous parts: 1) A tour of CNN: I would like us to learn about CNN. In fact, I want us to travel to CNN and get a better understanding of this influential network. Though a trip to Atlanta and Washington would be nice, we will travel to CNN through the power of cyberspace. The network has established a fairly interesting online means to learn about the scope of CNN's operations. You can learn more about the network by following The Anatomy of a Story. Follow the links at that site for much information on the people and positions at CNN. The setup at CNN is similar to other cable operations, such as MSNBC and Fox. You might even find a career there. Though this feature is promotional in nature, it does indeed tell -- and reveal -- much about CNN and its philosophy toward news coverage. I'm interested in what you learned from the site. Please email me your reaction or response. Give me some details about what you found. Again, you can use direct email from this link to jack.lule@lehigh.edu, or just use your usual email. 2) Read closely a dated but well-done research study, "The CNN Effect," by Warren Strobel, White House correspondent for the Washington Times. 3) Follow that with a more recent article on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, "Everybody Wins." The article looks at the competition between the cable networks and finds that CNN's top position is being challenged. A copy can be found here. 4) Send me an email message that answers these questions: a) In "Everybody Wins," Farhi argues that CNN is being challenged by MSNBC and FOX News but that, in reality, "the cable networks aren't even playing the same game." What does he mean? What are the differences among the three networks? b) Strobel argues that television does not have a large influence on foreign policy. Yet he acknowledges that TV pictures do have emotional impact. So how does he suggest that U.S. policy makers handle the CNN factor? How should policy makers respond to television's pictures? c) Do you watch cable television news? If not, why not? If so, what network do you most often watch and why? You can use direct email from this link to jack.lule@lehigh.edu, or just use your usual email. ******* 5) For our conference discussion, let's discuss this issue by taking up the issue of "compassion fatigue." The United States is now the lone superpower, the nation best capable of aiding humanitarian crises around the world. For decades, the people in Africa have faced periods of mass starvation. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and continue to face the threat of starvation. Aid from the United States has been sporadic. U.S. news media, in various years, have given the issue some coverage, focusing on one particular crisis and then moving on. But mostly, coverage is hard to find. One possible complicating factor: compassion fatigue, a term used to describe a withering of feeling for international crises among the public, governments and the media. A colleague, Susan Moeller, has written a book, Compassion Fatigue, that confronts some of the issues. The book received numerous insightful reviews that extended and interpreted its findings. 1) I would like you to read two of these reviews. One review is by James North, a correspondent writing for The Nation. Another review is by Tom Phillips writing in Contemporary Review. When you are finished with the reviews, please send me an email that addresses these questions: a) How do each of the authors describe media coverage of international crises? b) Do the authors suggest that the news media combat compassion fatigue? If so, how? c) Compare and contrast how each author feels about the book, Compassion Fatigue. 2) For our discussion, I would like us to think more deeply about U.S. news and international crises. Should the U.S. news media TRY to play a humanitarian role and try to force the U.S. government to respond to the possible starvation? Or should the U.S. news media remain distant and objective; they've covered the story already -- does their responsibility end there? Please read the reviews, think about the issues and then head to our Discussion site. Remember, to attain the best grade for conference discussions: You should post early, responding to the assignment and making reference to the readings. Then before Thursday, 7 p.m. you should be posting more, commenting on one or more of your classmates' postings. Please let me know if you
have questions: jack.lule@lehigh.edu.
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