{"title":"From national identity to state legitimacy: Mobilizing digitally networked publics in eastern Ukraine","authors":"O. Boichak, Sam Jackson","doi":"10.1177/1750635219829161","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219829161","url":null,"abstract":"Social media enable broad and diverse publics to mobilize around a shared collective identity. In this article, the authors use social movement literature and studies of peace and conflict to foreground the role of platform-mediated communication in creating a national identity in a fragile state. We argue that, by affording activists with a possibility of public, yet anonymous interactions, social media may play a crucial role in conferring state legitimacy during a violent conflict. Investigating the case of Mariupol, Ukraine, where a small group of citizens employed social media to support and legitimize the Ukrainian state among the city population, the authors illuminate the use of new media affordances to construct a national identity among digitally networked publics, mobilizing support for a threatened state.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"13 1","pages":"258 - 279"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635219829161","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42918401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Good Fooling: Journalism’s Narrative of Surprise Military Homecomings","authors":"R. Bishop, Maggie Fedorocsko","doi":"10.1177/1750635219828760","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219828760","url":null,"abstract":"A narrative analysis was performed on recent media texts regarding the return of members of the US military and staged reunions with their family members. The USA’s current state of permanent war means that it needs more instances of closure. The narrative that emerged from news coverage is a reminder that reunions, while providing closure, are also one of the last bastions of war coverage, even as journalists have ceded control of it to event organizers. War has been made perfectly safe for public consumption at long last. It is argued that such coverage causes us to disassociate from war and its cost, and to recognize, but not truly understand, the hardships endured by military families. We see only their tears of joy upon the return of their loved ones. The media contribute to this misunderstanding by crafting purportedly more personal connections to military personnel by portraying their experiences through a human-interest lens. We recognize – for a scripted moment – the hardships endured by military families. We see only their tears of joy upon the return of their loved ones. The narrative analyzed here is operationalized by officials to encourage us to think about the military, not the wars.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"13 1","pages":"300 - 317"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635219828760","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46334385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dealing with the dark side: The effects of right-wing extremist and Islamist extremist propaganda from a social identity perspective","authors":"Diana Rieger, L. Frischlich, G. Bente","doi":"10.1177/1750635219829165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219829165","url":null,"abstract":"Right-wing extremists and Islamist extremists try to recruit new followers by addressing their national (for instance, German) or religious (Muslim) social identity via online propaganda videos. Two studies examined whether capitalizing on a shared group-membership affects the emotional and cognitive response towards extremist propaganda. In both studies, Germans/non-migrants, Muslim migrants and control participants (N = 235) were confronted with right-wing extremist and Islamist extremist videos. Emotional and cognitive effects of students (Study 1) and apprentices (Study 2) were assessed. Results showed a general negative evaluation of extremist videos. More relevant, in-group propaganda led to more emotional costs in both studies. Yet, the responses varied depending on educational level: students reported more negative emotions and cognitions after in-group directed videos, while apprentices reported more positive emotions and cognitions after in-group directed propaganda. Results are discussed considering negative social identities.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"13 1","pages":"280 - 299"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635219829165","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42210431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Visual Framing of ‘Failed’ States: Afro-Pessimism vs Afro-Optimism","authors":"Olli Hellmann","doi":"10.1177/1750635219828773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219828773","url":null,"abstract":"The ‘failed state’ frame equates the collapse of formal state institutions with violent anarchy and destructive chaos. By analysing newspaper imagery of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia through a multi-method research design, this article shows that tabloid newspapers are significantly more likely to adopt the ‘failed state’ frame than broadsheet newspapers. Visual narratives in the latter, on the other hand, tend to shift the focus away from issues of violence and instability, emphasizing instead the ability of alternative forms of governance to organize social and economic life. Of wider significance, the article therefore also shows that tabloids feed Afro-pessimism discourses to a much greater extent than broadsheets, which visualize Africa in more positive terms.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"13 1","pages":"318 - 335"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635219828773","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44340415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crises as catalysts of foreign reporting on Latin America: An evaluation of the German press over 15 years","authors":"Regina Cazzamatta","doi":"10.1177/1750635220945737","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220945737","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates whether, in light of the political and economic changes that occurred in the region in the last decades, crises are still a catalyst for foreign reporting on Latin America. The study comprises 3,831 articles related to the 20 Latin American countries published from 2000 to 2014 in the German press: the dailies Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the political magazine Der Spiegel and the alternative newspaper tageszeitung. The author found that more than half of the coverage on the continent depicted some sort of crisis, especially non-violent ones and controversies (36.4%). However, the portrayal of crises is sectorial. The ‘invisible’ Central American states (Honduras, Haiti, Guatemala and El Salvador) and the countries against the Washington Consensus (Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela) exhibit a higher coefficient of crisis intensity. Colombia, despite considerable press attention, has the most crisis-centred reporting due to the conflict with FARC.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"15 1","pages":"315 - 333"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220945737","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44804130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Women, body and war: Kurdish female fighters through Commander Arian and Girls’ War","authors":"Aina Fernàndez Aragonès","doi":"10.1177/1750635220948554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220948554","url":null,"abstract":"The historical relationship between women and war is largely mediated by their body, used as a symbolic expression of the process of occupation, extermination and subjugation of one people by another through the systematic violation of women and girls. Kurdish women live a triple struggle: against the Daesh, against the national oppression of their people by the different states of the Middle East into which Kurdistan is divided, and last – but not least – against patriarchy. In this fight, their body is their weapon: Daesh fighters are put into panic by them, since if they die at the hands of a woman they will not go to paradise. Commander Arian (2018) directed by Alba Sotorra and Girls’ War (2016) directed by Mylène Sauloy portray the struggle of Kurdish women against Daesh in the area of Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan). This article explores the media frame used in those documentaries to explain the relationship that these women establish with violence, a relationship allegedly denatured but sustained throughout history.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"15 1","pages":"298 - 314"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220948554","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41595180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Examining determinants of adherence to peace journalism: Empathy, reporting efficacy, and perceived journalistic roles","authors":"Oluseyi Adegbola, Weiwu Zhang","doi":"10.1177/1750635220948548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220948548","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the practice of peace journalism by Nigerian journalists and how factors including empathy, reporting efficacy, perceived journalistic roles, and training may promote adherence to peace-oriented reporting. Data were collected using surveys (n = 324) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10). Results suggest that Nigerian journalists subscribe more to the tenets of peace journalism than to war journalism. Findings also demonstrate that, while empathic concern and conflict reporting efficacy can enhance adherence to peace journalism, inadequate training may undermine efforts to promote peace through reporting. Further, perceived journalistic roles appear to exert limited influence on reporting of conflict. Taken together, results shed light on how individual characteristics as well as attributes of the context in which journalists operate can shape their conflict reporting practices. Challenges of conflict reporting in Nigeria and implications for journalists’ enactment of peace journalism best practices are discussed.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"15 1","pages":"280 - 297"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220948548","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45509236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Truth and lies in the Caliphate: The use of deception in Islamic State propaganda","authors":"D. Milton","doi":"10.1177/1750635220945734","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220945734","url":null,"abstract":"Deception has a long history in information warfare. Recent technological advances have increased the ability of militants to utilize deception in propaganda, but this subject has not been the focus of much scholarly attention. This study remedies this shortcoming by conducting a case study of the Islamic State’s use of deception in propaganda, and identifies three types of deception: substantive, source, and spread. Additionally, this article discusses the rationales under which the group used these deceptive practices. In doing so, it provides a new framework for understanding deception that can be useful in future academic work. The study of deception can also help those fighting against these groups by providing them with a research-based understanding of how and when deception is likely to be used, which will allow them to better calibrate counter-messaging efforts.","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"15 1","pages":"221 - 237"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220945734","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41885062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Caleb S Cage, War Narratives: Shaping Beliefs, Blurring Truths in the Middle East","authors":"Isaac Blacksin","doi":"10.1177/1750635220940069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220940069","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"13 1","pages":"506 - 508"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220940069","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43764466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book review: Emily Edwards, Graphic Violence: Illustrated Theories about Violence, Popular Media, and Our Social Lives","authors":"Chloë Gordon-Chow","doi":"10.1177/1750635220940445","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635220940445","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45719,"journal":{"name":"Media War and Conflict","volume":"15 1","pages":"118 - 119"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2020-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1177/1750635220940445","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46860664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}