Do the news media have any role in the transformation of war and warfare? Focusing on television, this book argues that the news media alters the cognitive and strategic environment of the actors of war and politics and therefore changes the way these interact with one another.Acknowledgements Introduction PART I: MEDIA POWER: A RADICAL VIEW Media Effects Media Power For a new analytical framework The sources of power: The image and the Arena A Four-dimensional definition Two Case Studies Looking for Media Effects PART II: POWER OVER THE AGENDA 'Agending' Kosovo 'Agending' Afghanistan Comparison and Conclusions PART III: POWER OVER THE PROCESS Real Time Kosovo Real Time Afghanistan Comparison and Conclusions PART IV: POWER OVER THE CHANNEL Media Diplomacy In Kosovo Media Diplomacy in Afghanistan Comparison and Conclusions PART V: POWER OVER THE INSTRUMENTS Kosovo's Semiotic War The Airstrikes Afghanistan's Semiotic War Operation Enduring Freedom Comparison and Conclusions PART VI: CONCLUSIONS Media Power Clarified The Medium and the System Implications for Warfare What's Next Notes
Social media has become a trending arena for citizen journalists and civil society groups. This book is quite fascinating in how De Franco builds on the works of founding scholars, such as Marshall McLuhan, Erving Goffman, and Joshua Meyrowitz. An intriguing part of the book is the author's interest in the works of McLuhan, drawing attention to the World Wide Web and the global village concept. Media Power shows the potential in applying the four-dimensional definition of power to the Internet and social media platforms together with the semiotic method used in analyzing television media. It may be productive to see how the framework fits into new media platforms. The book will be useful to journalists, students, academics, and individuals interested in history, foreign policy, political science, international relations, mass communication, and war and conflict studies.