The news media can play a central role in the promotion of peace. The role of the media does vary, however, and both researchers and practitioners must better understand the reasons for these variations. This report points to four major factors that impact this equation: (1) the amount of consensus among political elites in support of the peace process; (2) the number and intensity of crises associated with the process; (3) the extent to which shared media, used by both sides of the conflict, exist; and (4) the level of sensationalism as a dominant news value. The first two variables tells us something about the state of the political environment, while the final two relate to the media environment.

The news media have become the central arena for political conflicts today. It is, therefore, not surprising that the role of the news media in political conflicts has received a good deal of public attention in recent years. Media and Political Conflict provides readers with an understanding of the ways in which news media do and do not become active participants in these conflicts. The author's 'political contest' model provides an alternative approach to this important issue. The best way to understand the role of the news media in politics, he argues, is to view the competition over the news media as part of a larger and more significant contest for political control. The book is divided into two parts. While the first is devoted to developing the theoretical model, the second employs this approach to analyse the role of the news media in three conflicts: the Gulf war, the Palestinian intifada, and the attempt by the Israeli right wing to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

In exploring the dynamics and narratives of peace in journalism, this book explains the media's impact on the transformation of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. It discusses the perspectives of peace activists who have been involved in grassroots action since the first Intifada, and examines how their relation with the mainstream media has evolved over time. It compares these views with those of professional journalists who have been covering the conflict, and their sense of the difficulties inherent in practicing a different kind of journalism. The interviews included in this study contribute towards the model of Peace Journalism, with a view to facilitating its successful application to this conflict. Highlighting both the obstacles and opportunities associated with this endeavour, Tiripelli offers suggestions for the strategic application of this model.

Much is known about the media's role in conflict, but far less is known about the media's role in peace. Graham Spencer's study addresses this deficiency by providing a comparative analysis of reporting conflicts from around the world and examining media receptiveness to the development of peace. This book establishes an argument for the need to rethink journalistic responsibility in relation to peace and interrogates the consequences of news coverage that emphasizes conflict over peace.

Media, War and Terrorism analyses, for the first time, responses to the events of 9/11 and it's repercussions from the point of view of Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Perhaps controversially, the contributors argue that while the US, and to an extent European, media seems largely unified in their coverage and silence in public debate of the events surrounding the attacks on the World Trade Centre, there exists open, critical debate in other parts of the world. By examining the use of media as an instrument of warfare and analyzing the construction of public opinion in mediated electronic warfare, this book clearly shows the difference in perspectives between public opinion in the US and the rest of the world. Moving away from popular assumptions that societies in the West are democratic and progressive and those in the Middle East and Asia are either authoritarian or under-developed, this examination of the media in those countries suggests the exact opposite. In combining an examination of the general, theoretical issues concerning the use of the media as an instrument of warfare with rich, geographically diverse case studies, the editors are able to provide a diverse and intriguing analysis of the impact and inter-connectedness of national and global medias. Bringing together contributions from academics, journalists and media practioners from all over the world, Media, War and Terrorism is an essential read for all of those seeking an informed, non-Western perspective on the events following 9/11.