Hawkins, Virgil (2002).  The Other Side of the CNN Factor:  The Media and Conflict.  Journalism Studies, 3(2), 225-240.

The CNN Factor is a process whereby overly emotional conflict reporting that employs good versus evil dichotomies moves governments to action and helps guide foreign policy.  Hawkins analyzes the CNN Factor to learn how media agendas can influence government action as well as how a lack of coverage can result in government inaction.  The CNN Factor was coined after the television station was credited for a “reversal” in government policy that forced an intervention in Northern Iraq to protect the Kurds.  He looks at the process of gatekeeping and how the media’s agenda is set by commercial, technological and accessibility constraints.  He argues that this phenomenon is important to study because a lack of coverage often results in government inaction, which can result in unnecessary death and destruction.

The CNN Factor is relevant because it looks at how conflict reporting can shape foreign policy. How journalists report on conflict and which conflicts they decide to focus on can actively influence public opinion.  He also looks at how economic factors determine which conflicts are reported.  The CNN Factor rejects a view of the media as objective observer and demonstrates how seemingly objective reporting can determine the course of history.  This article demonstrates the power conflict reporting has in the world and why studying it is so necessary.

Abstract by Meghan Maskery

Missouri School of Journalism

MA ‘07