International Affairs Publications
Real-Time Television Coverage of Armed Conflicts and Diplomatic Crises: Does It Pressure or Distort Foreign Policy Decisions?
January 1, 1994, 12:00 pmBy Nik Gowing
A paper by Nik Gowing, spring 1994 fellow, challenges the idea that real-time television coverage of armed conflicts impact foreign policy decisions. Conventional wisdom is that real-time television coverage creates a demand that “something must be done” and drives the…
The Role of the News Media in Unequal Political Conflicts: From the Intifada to the Gulf War and Back Again
June 1, 1993, 12:00 pmBy Gadi Wolfsfeld
A paper by Gadi Wolfsfeld, fall 1992 fellow, develops and applies a theoretical model to analyze the role of the news media in political conflicts, particularly unequal conflicts in the Middle East. Under what conditions are the news media most…
When Policy Fails: How the Buck Was Passed When Kuwait Was Invaded
December 1, 1992, 12:00 pmBy Bernard Roshco
A paper by Bernard Roshco, spring 1992 fellow, analyzes the failures of the Bush administration’s policies toward Iraq prior to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the failings of the press in reporting on them. Roshco explores numerous questions….
Two Commanders-in-Chief: Free Expression’s Most Severe Test
August 1, 1992, 12:00 pmBy Betty Houchin Winfield
A paper by Betty Houchin Winfield, spring 1991 fellow, examines free speech and press freedom in the U.S. during wartime. If wartime governments are more autocratic, writes Winfield, then it is assumed that presidents will take a more authoritative stance…
The Nixon Memo
July 1, 1992, 12:00 pmBy Marvin Kalb
This paper by Marvin Kalb, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice Emeritus, was first presented as the keynote address at the Shorenstein Center’s fifth anniversary celebration. He discussed President Nixon’s complicated relationship with the press, focusing on a memo Nixon…
Turmoil at Tiananmen: A Study of U.S. Press Coverage of the Beijing Spring of 1989
June 1, 1992, 12:00 pmThis report by the Shorenstein Center explores the U.S. media coverage of the 1989 Beijing Spring. Although the U.S. was not directly involved in the events that took place, media coverage made Americans deeply involved in them. Among the “firsts”…
The Media in Europe After 1992: A Case Study of La Repubblica
September 1, 1991, 12:00 pmBy Sylvia Poggioli
A paper by Sylvia Poggioli, fall 1990 fellow, focuses on media consolidation in Italy in the early 1990s. For most of its history the Italian press was a “politically-subsidized” institution, writes Poggioli, with Italian newspapers often representing political parties or…
The Russian and Soviet Press: A Long Journey from Suppression to Freedom via Suppression and Glasnost
August 1, 1991, 12:00 pmBy Alexander Merkushev
A paper by Alexander Merkushev, fall 1990 fellow, traces the history of press freedom in Russia from the rule of the Czars in the 17th century to the end of the Cold War under Gorbachev. Merkushev details how the Russian…
Lies in Ink, Truth in Blood: The Role and Impact of the Chinese Media During the Beijing Spring of ‘89
August 1, 1990, 12:00 pmBy Linda Jakobson
A paper by Linda Jakobson, spring 1990 fellow, focuses on Chinese press coverage of the student-led Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. For this paper, Jakobson interviewed dozens of Chinese journalists, scholars and other observers, read and watched Chinese press coverage,…
Window to the West: How Television from the Federal Republic Influenced Events in East Germany
July 1, 1990, 12:00 pmBy Dieter Buhl
A paper by Dieter Buhl, spring 1990 fellow, examines how television from West Germany influenced political developments in East Germany in the 1980s. Buhl’s study suggests that television functioned on at least two levels leading up to the fall of…
