Television news and human rights in the US & UK : the violations will not be televised / Shawna M. Brandle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brandle, Shawna M., author.

Series:

Routledge studies in global information, politics and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights in mass media.

Human rights--Press coverage--United States.

Human rights.

Human rights--Press coverage--Great Britain.

Television broadcasting of news--Political aspects--United States.

Television broadcasting of news.

Television broadcasting of news--Political aspects--Great Britain.

Human rights--Press coverage.

Television broadcasting of news--Political aspects.

Great Britain.

United States.

Physical Description:

182 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

Does the CNN Effect exist? Political communications scholars have debated the influence of television news coverage on international affairs since television news began, especially in relation to the coverage of massive human rights violations. These debates have only intensified in the last 20 years, as new technologies have changed the nature of news and the news cycle. But despite frequent assertion, little research into the CNN Effect, or whether television coverage of human rights violations causes state action, exists. Bridging across the disciplines of human right studies, comparative politics, and communication studies in a way that has not been done, this book looks at television news coverage of human rights in the US and UK to answer the question of whether the CNN Effect actually exists. Examining the human rights content in television news in the US and UK yields insights to what television news producers and policy makers consider to be human rights, and what, if anything, audiences can learn about human rights from watching television news. After reviewing 20 years of footage using three different types of content analyses of American television news broadcasts and two different types of British news broadcasts, and comparing those results with human rights rankings and print news coverage of human rights, Shawns M. Brandle concludes that despite rhetoric from both countries in support of human rights, there is not enough coverage of human rights in either country to argue that television media can spur state action on human rights issues. More simply, the violations will not be televised. A welcome and timely book presenting an important examination of human rights coverage on television news. ghts, and what, if anything, audiences can learn about human rights from watching television news. After reviewing 20 years of footage using three different types of content analyses of American television news broadcasts and two different types of British news broadcasts, and comparing those results with human rights rankings and print news coverage of human rights, Shawns M. Brandle concludes that despite rhetoric from both countries in support of human rights, there is not enough coverage of human rights in either country to argue that television media can spur state action on human rights issues. More simply, the violations will not be televised. A welcome and timely book presenting an important examination of human rights coverage on television news.

Contents:

Introduction

Human rights and the media in the US & UK

Content analysis I: US phrase search

Content analysis II: US & UK transcript analysis

Content analysis IIIi: comparing twenty years of American and British television news coverage

Case studies: China, Somalia, and Sudan

Conclusion

Appendix I: methodology

Appendix II: coding instruments

Appendix III: all countries featured in human rights stories, 1990-2009.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781138908413

113890841X

OCLC:

914225937