Media and Political Conflict: News from the Middle East - Softcover

Wolfsfeld, Gadi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521589673 ISBN 13: 9780521589673

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

The news media have become the central arena for political conflicts today. Previous work on this subject has been limited to looking at the role of the news media in either a particular conflict (such as the Gulf War) or a particular type of conflict (such as terrorism). Media and Political Conflict is the first book that offers a dynamic and comprehensive approach to studying confrontations as small as protests and as large as wars, and applies this approach to analyze three conflicts: the Gulf War, the Palestinian Intifada, and the attempt by the Israeli right wing to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

About this title

Review:

"This book contributes a level of increased complexity to media analysis in political conflict that is both worthwhile and needed." Allen W. Palmer, Journal of International Communication

"Wolfsfeld does an outstanding job of illuminating the complicated and subtle dynamics of the relationship between the mass media and the various actors who attempt to use the media to further their interpretation of events. The cases used focus on the Middle East but the theoretical argument is relevant for increasing our understanding of the role of the media in any large-scale conflict situation." William Gamson, Boston College

"It is clearly written and developed and provides a welter of original empirical data derived from interviews and content and discourse analysis to support its argument that competition over the news media is part of a more general contest for political control...This would be an excellent book in any course on research methods in media studies, and I recommend it particularly to PhD students as a conceptually rich and methodologically sound study, that kind of marriage becoming increasingly hard to find." Political Communication

"Gadi Wolfsfeld proposes an original 'political contest' model for understanding news media roles in political conflict. This is welcome for giving full weight to the political factors that may affect the strategies of parties to conflict and their prospects for success. It is also refreshing for its emphasis on the variability of roles that news media can play in such conflicts. Supported by relevant case studies, the book held my interest throughout." Jay G. Blumler, Emeritus Professor, University of Leeds, University of Maryland

"This study presents a useful model in the ongoing debate over the role of the media in Middle East conflicts." Bulletin of Regional Cooperation in the Middle East

"This is a solid overview of the dynamics involved in the news media's coverage of political conflict. The agenda is ambitious, but its diverse scope allows the author to illustrate how common media processes operate in differing political contexts." David Croteau, Contemporary Sociology

"The importance of Media and Political Conflict lies in contextualizing the role of the news media in unequal political conflicts; it draws attention to the complex dynamics of the political process and the struggle for power among the various policy elite." Fawaz A. Gerges, Journal of Palestine Studies

"Our understanding of the role of the media in political communications, of the variations which can emerge, and of the politics of conflicts in the Middle East is much enhanced by Wolfsfeld's detailed analysis." Int. J. Middle East Stud.

"The book merits wide and careful attention among scholars of poltical communication and political participation." Robert M. Entman, American Poltical Science Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0521589673
• ISBN 13: 9780521589673
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272