Trial by media: Why victims and activists seek a parallel justice forum for war crimes

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-374
Author(s):  
Maria Rae
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Legal Responses ◽  
The Media ◽  
Global War

When the brutal Sri Lankan conflict ended, victims and activists launched global war crimes cases against the state alongside successful media campaigns. Although these justice claims never progressed to a court of law, they were heard, through the media, by the court of public opinion. This article considers to what extent a ‘trial by media’ might have the potential to provide a parallel justice forum. It questions how activists and victims view the role of the media in seeking justice. It finds they perceive the media’s key functions are to expose crimes, bear witness to crimes, name perpetrators, influence public opinion and apply pressure on legal and political institutions to respond to human rights abuses. However, victims and activists also recognise the media is limited in delivering justice. Therefore, this article argues a trial by media should be conceived of more as an accountability mechanism that has the capacity to draw attention to the shortcomings of official legal responses and processes.

scholarly journals Media Massa dalam Situasi Konflik: dari Bandwagon Effect Sampai Peace Narrative

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (6) ◽  
pp. 503
Author(s):  
Aloysius Ranggabumi Nuswantoro
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
Bandwagon Effect ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Relationship

Conflict occurs between two or more parties with different interests. Media related to conflict. The ability of the media to influence public opinion is the biggest element in the relationship between media with conflict. The media in this context can be a party that sparked the conflict but could also act as resolutor conflict. Media as a provocateur when play became an arm of one of the conflicting parties, while a conciliator conflict when showing neutrality and information that tends to peace (peace narrative). And theoretical studies should be conducted searches empirical facts on this subject, to clarify the position, the position and role of media in conflict situations. The results can also be used to see the extent to which the media contribute to creating conditions of public space and democratic deliberative. Against this, the choice to stick with journalism be the most appropriate choice for the media in an effort to maintain its position as an agent of democracy in society.

10. The role of media and public opinion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piers Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The Media

This chapter examines the relevance of media and public opinion to our understanding of foreign policy and international politics. It first considers whether public opinion influences foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the public are politically impotent, as argued by the elite model. It then explores whether the media can influence foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the media are fundamentally subservient to the foreign policy process, as argued by the elite model. It also integrates these competing arguments with theoretical frames used in the study of international relations: namely, realism, liberalism, and critical approaches (including constructivism and post-structuralism). The chapter concludes by discussing contemporary debates concerning organized persuasive communication and the ‘war on terror’.

scholarly journals On the Problem of Mediatization of Intra-Territorial Conflicts in China: A Historiographic Aspect

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-249
Author(s):  
Limei Yang ◽  
Olga Degtyareva
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Political Behaviour ◽  
Territorial Identity ◽  
Regional Conflict ◽  
Territorial Conflicts ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

This article explores the role of the media in covering the conflict potential of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The aim of the study is to analyze the media’s influence on the transformation of public opinion on issues of ethnic or territorial identity. Based on Chinese and Western media coverage, the reasons for unbalanced coverage of intra-territorial conflicts as well as the impact of stereotypes on political behaviour are identified. On the basis of the analysis the role of specific media in neutralizing the intra-regional conflict potential is determined, as well as the peculiarities of the technology of public opinion molding on the part of mainland China.

scholarly journals Re-emergence of paper marriage discourse as immigration fraud

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sugandha Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Opinion Leaders ◽  
Marriage Migration ◽  
Residency Status ◽  
The Media ◽  
Moral Entrepreneurs

This paper examines marriage fraud to bypass immigration restrictions. It assesses media representations of marriage fraud for the purpose of immigration in Canada and Germany between 2000-2019. Paper marriages refer to a marriage which is not bonafide but is done to get residency status in a country by at least one of the partners. In this study, I will examine the media’s role as an agency that both shapes and reflect public opinion on this issue. I am interested in understanding what led to the rise of the discourse of paper marriages? Is this an attempt to bypass tightening of immigration rules, or is it because of the rising tide of xenophobia and distrust to foreigners? I will also examine two competing perspectives on paper marriages. The first approach looks negatively and sees paper marriages as a form of deceit or fraud. The other, takes a more compassionate perspective and sees it as an attempt to help others gain residency status. I will examine the role of the media as a moral entrepreneur in creating “moral panic” about immigration fraud. Keywords: Paper marriages, marriage migration, marriages of convenience, marriage fraud, moral panic, moral entrepreneurs, opinion leaders.

scholarly journals Transformations in the Social Impact: Politics, Media, Social Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75
Author(s):  
Svetlana Alexandrova
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Communication Environment ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media

The article analyzes the role of political elites and the media in shaping public opinion and the direction of public attention. Focusing on the transformations in the social impact under the influence of network culture in the online communication environment, it examines how the role of traditional structures of power is transformed, and how this affects political culture, the formation of public opinion, and its participation in socio-political life. Social networks are a means of dialogue and organization, and this requires political elites and the media to consult and comply with active public opinion in the online communication environment.

scholarly journals Journalism and public opinion according to a number of studies and the theory of reliance on the media: الصحافة والرأي العام وفق عدد من الدراسات ونظرية الاعتماد على وسائل الإعلام

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 123-112
Author(s):  
Huda Alshamsi Huda Alshamsi
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
And Behavior

This research aimed at reveal the role that the press plays in shaping the knowledge and attitudes of individuals in any issue, and to explain this in light of the theory of dependence on media that are concerned with the motives and causes of the public's dependence on the media and the effects that this dependence has on Knowledge, opinions, trends and behavior, as I collected 19 scientific studies on the same topic through which we emphasize the role of the media in drawing public opinion, which is determined based on the articles that are published and they represent the facts that the reader gets, and the countries on which the studies were taken varied. According to different topics.

scholarly journals Funkcje mediów w demokracjach

2020 ◽  
Vol 12(48) (4) ◽  
pp. 5-25
Author(s):  
Robert Szwed
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Journalism ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Participatory Journalism ◽  
Types Of Democracy ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Media Concentration

The belief in the effectiveness and power of media influence causes politicians, media communication specialists, and democracy theorists to use the media for promotional activities aimed at shaping and persuading public opinion and improving it through education and empowerment. It turns out, however, that reading numerous conceptualizations of media functions depends on the way democracy is understood, how politics is perceived, and what is the role of public opinion in the system. The article places various concepts of media missions (from the Hutchins Commission social responsibility trend, through the conceptualizations of Gurevitch, Blumler, Zaller, to participatory journalism and public journalism) in the context of three basic types of democracy: liberal, elitist and participatory, deliberative. Such consideration of democracies and the functions of the media allows for a better understanding of the observed tendencies to appropriate media by politicians and transnational corporations, media concentration processes, and hopes for the revival of journalism and the public sphere in social media.

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