Digital Media and Conflict

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Digital Media and Conflict

Journal Title: International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology (IJRASET) - Year 2014, Vol 2, Issue 9

Abstract

Traditional mass media have long been used to amplify and extend viewpoints and ideologies, to persuade audiences at home, and to influence opposing sides in conflict. International broadcasting on shortwave radio and, later, satellite TV has been considered a key foreign policy tool. Non-traditional media have also played a major role in conflictprone settings since long before the Internet, from the spread of democratic ideas through samizdat in the Soviet Union, to the dissemination of revolutionary Islamist thought in Iran on cassette tape, to the fax revolution of Tiananmen Square. There is an extensive literature of analysis and history that examines the relationship of media to conflict—from propaganda to incitement, and from conflict prevention to post-conflict stabilization and peace-building. Conflict in the 20th century was often characterized by a persistent lack of access to information, for both participants directly involved in the conflict as well as observers such as reporters, rights groups, and humanitarian agencies. While many conflicts in the 21st century still occur largely out of the public eye, it is becoming more common for war to be conducted in the midst of information abundance. Conflicts in Lebanon in 2006, Pakistan in 2007, Kenya and Georgia in 2008, and Moldova and Iran in 2009 played out in the context of diverse and resilient information sources and networks. In those conflicts, digital media tools were integral to the operations of both activists and combatants, used for organizing and mobilizing forces and demonstrations, and for creating media content in attempts to influence the outcome of conflict.In addition, many 21st century wars are not only about holding territory, but about gaining public support and achieving legal status in the international arena. Governments seek to hold onto power through persuasion as much as through force. Media are increasingly essential elements of conflict, rather than just a functional tool for those fighting. Acts of violence performed in the theatre of the public eye can be used in the fight for influence. Violent groups increasingly use media to achieve their goals, and violence itself is also used as a message. New media technologies have increased communication and information dissemination in the context of conflict. The struggles for authority, support, funding, and international status that accompany conflicts are played out on the field of media. Modern terror organizations design attacks for maximum media exposure in the theatre of the real. The rise of cable and satellite TV and their 24-hour news channels, beginning in the late 1980s, ensures real-time access to international events on a global scale, now available throughout much of the world in many languages. The Internet, cell phone networks, and an abundance of media production tools such as digital cameras have expanded the ability of both professional media and citizens to produce and disseminate information in all contexts, including violent conflict.

Authors and Affiliations

Abhinav Sharma

Keywords

EP ID EP18756
DOI -
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