The CNN Effect

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The Role of the Media and the interconnectedness of markets This week’s readings focus on the role of the media and its influence in policy-making. “The CNN Effect: The Search for a Communication Theory of International Relations” by Eytan Gilboa is a discussion of whether the “CNN Effect” truly plays a significant role in determining the outcomes of events across the globe. In Gilboa, Feist defines the CNN Effect as “a theory that compelling television images, such as images of a humanitarian crisis, cause U.S. policymakers to intervene in a situation when such an intervention might otherwise not be in the U.S. national interest.” The premise of this phenomenon is that journalism plays a significant role by producing an emotional outcry within…show more content…
Livingston indicates that there are three variations of the CNN Effect: the acceleration of decision making, the impediment to the achieving desired policy goals, and the policy setting agenda. The author also indicates that CNN effect has both a strong and weak approach towards policy-making; the first, its ability to force the hand of policymakers and the later, its capacity to inform the audience of relevant events occurring across the globe. Through much debate, the author indicates that the CNN effect is little more than a circumstantial correlation, in which the media plays some role but not significant enough to solely determine the outcome of events. The author argues for a necessity to further research whether the CNN effect is sufficiently capable of producing the cited cause-effect correlation argued by many…show more content…
Dicken’s main argument about the concept of globalization is that its “not a single unified phenomenon but a syndrome of processes and activities”, which are spatial in nature. In his view, there’s no single geographical unit but a complex union of multiple layouts interposed upon each other, where each interaction represents a facet of the global economic status quo, and the relationships of power lie within the flow of goods and services. Sassen’s main contribution is the concept of the “Global city”, where major metropolises have come to function as “highly concentrated command points in the organization of the world economy, and as key locations for finance and specialized firms that have ultimately replaced manufacturing”; acting as “hubs for information and innovation in production”. In her argument, the nature and exercise of power within the global economy are concentrated in places like New York, London and Tokyo, and the agglomeration and geographical unevenness is directly related to the interconnection of other locations with these particular nodes of economic

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