Defining a Crisis

Why does the United States intervene in some humanitarian crises and not others? This text examines news media coverage of the Somali and Rwandan crises and tests the extent to which that coverage prompted policymakers to intervene. These findings suggest that the news media rarely set policy-makers agendas: the news media have not hijacked U.S. foreign policy. However, the news media do not simply serve the will of policy-makers either. News media coverage influences the political environments in which policy-makers act and thereby raise the political saliency of certain policy alternatives. How the news media frame a crisis helps define the alternatives for U.S. action.

Autorentext

John Riley is an Assistant Professor at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. He earned his doctorate in political science at The George Washington University and his areas of specialization include: the role of the news media in U.S. foreign policy- making and international law.