F1IS 5500 - War! Perceptions and Politics of Conflict Reporting

Perceptions & Politics of Conflict Reporting aims to enhance students’ abilities to assess media representations of violent conflicts. The seminar surveys conflict reporting in words and images from Caesar's invasion of Britain to contemporary hostilities. We explore journalists’ sometimes romanticized and self-promoting efforts to convey news—and often opinion and advocacy—from past battlegrounds into our era of intensified mis/dis/information warfare and AI-enabled cyber-info-battlespaces. Dominant frames and narratives are a key concern. Why some costly conflicts garner scant media mention, and powers of media owners, editors, and other gatekeepers to determine media content, are discussed. The concept and practice of “conflict-aware journalism” and “peace media” are addressed.

Learning Outcomes:

• Improved general media literacy, and especially in assessing conflict coverage.
• Enhanced sensitivity to personal or group biases that might affect reception and/or production of media.
• Capacity to assess media coverage regarding the privileging and marginalization of sources and voices.
• Increased awareness of how mis- and disinformation in conflict reporting affect public perceptions.
• Expanded vision of how media/cultural output beyond news coverage represent and influence perceptions of conflict.
• Greater understanding of how media coverage might influence policy options and outcomes.

Professional Skills:

Capacity to critically and impartially analyze a wide range of media coverage of conflict across a myriad of platforms; ability to assess manipulations/distortions of media coverage; improved writing and presentation skills.

An active interest in and willingness to explore how media content in many forms across a myriad of platforms shapes our perceptions of current conflicts and affects policy options.

Instructor-guided discussions based on class readings and current media coverage. Written feedback on midterm and final papers is provided. Individual student meetings on request.

Assessment based on a mid-term media content analysis [30%] and a final paper [45%], group assignment [10%], as well as meaningful participation based on demonstrated preparation [15%], all of which are considered in the final grade.

• In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
• Online learning activities: 20 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 50 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 8 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 50 hours a semester