Media Coverage and American Foreign Policy Regarding the 2004 Southeast Asian Tsunami: The CNN effect Revised

Abstract

The CNN effect theory is widely used in multiple social sciences. However, many academic debates about this theory exist. Furthermore, the CNN effect lacks a clear-cut definition. Therefore, this study further explores how the extent to which this theory influences foreign policy can be indicated. To do so, a new definition will be proposed based on the most common definitions that were used in previous research. This new definition will be used as a model while looking into a case study: the media’s (more specifically; newspapers’) impact on US foreign policy regarding the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami. In two separate steps that follow the new definition, this case study aims to clarify how the extent to which media impacts foreign policy can be indicated. First, newspapers’ influence on American public opinion will be explored. Then, the extent to which public opinion influenced the Bush-administration’s foreign policy regarding the affected regions will be analysed. The results show that multiple other factors apart from media influence come into play when making foreign policy. Furthermore, it turns out that without access to reports on foreign policy makers’ backroom conversations, it is not possible to find out which factors have been decisive in forming foreign policy. However, the study has also shown that media might have played a decisive role in forming American public opinion on the Southeast Asian natural disaster. Further research could therefore focus on the media’s influence on public opinion on faraway natural disasters, which could even be considered a CNN effect on its own.