Africa’s Deadliest Conflict

Walter C. Soderlund, E. Donald Briggs, Tom Pierre Najem, Blake C. Roberts

Description

Africa’s Deadliest Conflict deals with the complex intersection of the legacy of post-colonial history—a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions—and changing norms of international intervention associated with the idea of human security and the responsibility to protect (R2P). It attempts to explain why, despite a softening of norms related to the sanctity of state sovereignty, the international community dealt so ineffectively with a brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which between 1997 and 2011 claimed an estimated 5.5 million. In particular, the book focuses on the role of mass media in creating a will to intervene, a role considered by many to be the key to prodding a reluctant international community to action.

Included in the book are a primer on Congolese history, a review of United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Congo, and a detailed examination of both US television news and New York Times coverage of the Congo from 1997 through 2008. Separate conclusions are offered with respect to peacekeeping in the Age of R2P and on the role of mass media in both promoting and inhibiting robust international responses to large-scale humanitarian crises.

Sujets

• Development studies

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 03 septembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 5
• EAN13: 9781554588787
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

^frica’s Deadlies; Conflic;

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^frica’s Deadlies; Conflic;

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE HUMANITARIAN DISASTER IN THE CONGO AND THE UNITED NATIONS RESPONSE, 1997–2008

WALTER C. SODERLUND, E. DONALD BRIGGS,

TOM PIERRE NAJEM, BLAKE C. ROBERTS

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Wilfrid Laurier University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

 Africa’s deadliest conflict : media coverage of the humanitarian disaster in the Congo and the United Nations response, 1997–2008 / Walter C. Soderlund…[et al.].

Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic formats. ISBN 978-1-55458-835-0

 1. Congo (Brazzaville)—History—Civil War, 1997—Press coverage—United States. 2. Congo (Brazzaville)—History—1997–. 3. 4. PressWar in mass media. —Influence. 5. Humanitarian assistance—Congo (Brazzaville). 6. United Nations—Congo (Brazzaville). I. Soderlund, W.C. (Walter C.)

DT546.284.A37 2012 967.2405’4 C2012-904262-5

Electronic monograph. Issued also in print format. ISBN 978-1-55458-879-4 (EPUB).—ISBN 978-1-55458-878-7 (PDF)

 1. Congo (Brazzaville)—History—Civil War, 1997—Press coverage—United States. 2. Congo (Brazzaville)—History—1997–. 3. War in mass media. 4. Press—Influence. 5. Humanitarian assistance—Congo (Brazzaville). 6. United Nations—Congo (Brazzaville). I. Soderlund, W.C. (Walter C.)

DT546.284.A37 2012 967.2405’4 C2012-904263-3

Cover design by Sandra Friesen. Front-cover image by Mikkel Ostergaard/Panos. Text design by James Leahy.

© 2012 Wilfrid Laurier University Press Waterloo, Ontario, Canada www.wlupress.wlu.ca

This book is printed on FSC recycled paper and is certified Ecologo. It is made from 100% post-consumer fibre, processed chlorine free, and manufactured using biogas energy.

Printed in Canada

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publisher’s attention will be corrected in future printings.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit http://www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800-893-5777.

Contents

List of Tables and Maps vii Acknowledgements ix The Authors xi Introduction xv

1 The Congo: Understanding the Conflict 1 2 The UN Response: From ONUC to MONUSCO 19 3 Mass Media, Public Awareness, and Television News Coverage of the Congo 41 4New York TimesFraming of the Second Congo War 65 5New York Times91Framing of the Third Congo War 6 Media Coverage of the Congo Wars: An Overall Assessment 121 7 Peacekeeping in the Age of R2P 141 Conclusion: The Impact of Mass Media on “The Will to Intervene” 159 Postscript: An Update on Events 165

Appendix: Descriptive Language 171 Notes 179 References 195 Index 227

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List of Tables and Maps

Tables

Table 3.1a: Network TV Coverage of the Second Congo War, by Year 53 Table 3.1b: Network TV Coverage of the Third Congo War, by Year 54 Table 3.2: Number of Stories Containing Empathy- or Distance-Pro- ducing Visuals, 1997–2008 55 Table 3.3: Evaluation of European and UN Peacekeeping Operations in the Third Congo War, by Year 55 Table 3.4a: Major Sources and Number of Times Used during the Second Congo War, by Year 56 Table 3.4b: Major Sources and Number of Times Used during the Third Congo War, by Year 57 Table 3.5: Use of Positive and Negative Descriptors, 1997–2008 58 Table 6.1a:New York TimesCoverage of the Second Congo War, by Type of Content, by Year 125 Table 6.1b:New York TimesCoverage of the Third Congo War, by Type of Content, by Year 125 Table 6.2a:New York TimesCoverage of the Second Congo War, by Dateline, by Year 126 Table 6.2b:New York TimesCoverage of the Third Congo War, by Date- line, by Year 126 Table 6.3: Number and Percent of Intervention-Supporting and -Dis- couraging Items during the Third Congo War, by Year 128 Table 6.4: Percentage ofNew York TimesDarfur and Congo Coverage, by Type of Content 129 Table 6.5: Percentage ofNew York TimesDarfur and Congo Coverage, by Dateline 130 Table 6.6: Percentage ofNew York TimesDarfur and Congo Coverage, by Source of Content 131

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Maps

List of Tables and Maps

Africa xiii Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Acknowledgements

Africa’s Deadliest Conflictis the third in a series of books coming out of the Department of Political Science at the University of Windsor that deal with the complex intersection of humanitarian crisis and the role played by mass media in prodding the international community toward some form of meaningful action. The first of these,umanitarian Crises and Intervention(2008), dealt with ten crises in the post–Cold War period of the 1990s, beginning with Liberia and ending with East Timor, and in between examining such humanitarian disasters as Somalia, Angola, Haiti, and Rwanda. The second, The Responsibility to Protect in Dar- fur(2010), assessed the early impact of the developing “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) norm on the conflict-beset western region of Sudan. Two of the authors of this book, Professors Soderlund and Briggs, in ad- dition to having focused on international intervention in their PhD dis- sertations written in the 1960s, were co-authors of both these books. In 2008 they enlisted two former students (one now the head of the depart- ment) to join them in the current undertaking on the Congo. The result was an interesting combination not only of young and old, but of varying approaches to research, and the process of researching and writing the book has been a rewarding learning experience for all involved.  In bringing this book to fruition, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sci- ences, under the leadership of Dean Cecil Houston, and the University of Windsor’s research arm, under the leadership of Vice-President Ran- jana Bird, have all provided valuable assistance to us along the way, as did students in a graduate course taught by Professors Briggs and Soder- lund in the fall of 2009, and one taught by Professor Soderlund in 2011, upon whom were tested a number of our ideas regarding the Congo’s woes. Likewise, commentators and audiences at two 2010 paper panel presentations of material dealing with television coverage of the Congo (the Midwest Political Science Association and the Association for Third World Studies) prompted us to sharpen our arguments on a number of

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