which has successfully generated a prerequisite for strong CNN effect.
Before drawing final inclusion, it is vital to consider media framing.
Based on the literature, substantial media attention drove the US to
implement specific actions. As Robinson (2000, p.619) demonstrated,
‘The Washington Post and the New York Times ran 70 reports on
Bosnia between 11 and 18 July, averaging over four reports each per
day on Bosnia. Between 15 and 18 July, Bosnia was covered within the
first 10 minutes of the evening news’. Moreover, in the table provided
by Robinson (2000, p.620) concerning descriptions of people in
Srebrenica, ‘Human tragedy’, ‘Desperately’, ‘Murder’ and other similar
accounts fully portray the scared and bedraggled scene. Additionally,
one of representative empathy reports from Hedges (1995) powerfully
exemplifies how media texts quantify women, children and refugees to
emphasize their innocence and vulnerability as victims and maximize
sympathy and responsibility from the audience: ‘Bosnian Serb television
today showed tens of thousands of refugees milling around the camp and
women and children being escorted onto buses. The television footage
showed no scenes of panic, but many of the refugees looked tired, dazed
and frightened’. Meanwhile, failure descriptions and critical coverage
such as ‘doing too little too late’, ‘ineffectual’, and ‘inaction’ prevailing
in news reports to emphasize the failure and impotence of policies in
Bosnia (Robinson, 2002, p.79) was another highlight. In general, from
the perspective of interpretation and systematic framework analysis,
news media coverage tends to stress the dilemma of the Srebrenica
refugees, with a tone of sympathy for their suffering and an emphasis on
the failure of policy in Bosnia.
In this case, sympathetic framing of atrocities and policy uncertainty
have been distinctly linked to the US policy response. Given the core
of policy–media interaction model, media reporting is verified to affect
policy routes, trigger a strong CNN effect and generate a decision to
defend Gorazde (Robinson, 2002). Specifically, the absence of certain
policy on the use of force represents that policy makers will be forced
to respond to critical reporting or face further negative publicity. As for
official deliberation, Holbrooke (1999) confirmed that the motive the West
finally took actions was dominantly interrelated to news media coverage.
Woodward (1996, p.261) likewise referred to Anthony Lake’s ‘end-game
strategy’ to verify the importance of media coverage during this period
and its additional ability to make administration adopt a more forceful
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