Violence in media, balanced view - global study

Media Tenor and the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) undertook the study, Peace & the Media, to assess the accuracy of international TV news programmes about violence, conflict and peace issues.

The study analysed 37 TV news and current affairs programmes from 23 networks in 15 countries and cross-referenced this with measured levels of violence from the 149 countries ranked in the Global Peace Index (GPI).

Broadcasters such as CNN International, the BBC and Al Jazeera were examined in the study and 197 649 reports were analysed by Media Tenor. The coverage from BBC 2 Newsnight in the UK, ZDF Heute Journal in Germany and CBS Evening News in the US was most aligned with the rankings of the GPI

Give peace a chance

Encouragingly, there are 20% more stories on topics related to the structures of peace - well-functioning government, sound business environment, equitable distribution of resources, free flow of information, low levels of corruption, acceptance of the rights of others, high levels of education, good relations with neighbouring states - than stories that focused on conflict. Of the outlets included in the study, the majority of programmes reported on violence less than 40% of the time.

"The media's ability to influence attitudes is well known, and it's reasonable to assume that focusing on peace will have an influence on future outcomes. If coverage focuses on the structures that are necessary to create peaceful societies, there is a better chance of building a safer global economy, and would go far to help conflict-ravaged countries like Afghanistan," said Steve Killelea, founder of the IEP. "This is regardless of whether the tone of the coverage was positive or negative. This is simply because attention would be brought to important areas of nation building that have not been covered in the past; thereby increasing the focus on what is important for nation building."

Positive-peace stories - those documenting active steps to rectify violent situations - make up just 1.6% of the total number of media stories covered in the study. This may be partly related to what is considered newsworthy with dramatic, high-impact, violent or controversial events being considered the most relevant. International broadcaster Al Jazeera and Germany's ARD Tagesschau ranked highest on this factor, with both dedicating 8% of their conflict coverage to peace.

Key comparisons

• Four programmes included in the study devote more than 50% of their time to topics of violence: CBS Evening News, Fox Special Report and ABC World News from the US and ITV News at 10 from the UK
• The 10 TV programmes reporting the most violence dedicate an average 48% of total reports to violence
• The 10 TV programmes reporting the least violence dedicate an average 24% of total reports to violence
• 8 of the top 10 programmes with the most violence coverage are from the US or UK
• The group of programmes with the lowest percentage of violence reports comprises mostly South African and Middle Eastern programmes

Lack of diversity

With the exception of Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, all the countries with the most coverage are the leading economies of the world. While this points to wider reporting for countries with geopolitical influence, diversity in coverage on peace and conflict issues is critical to ensuring that countries are not stereotyped. Covering various aspects of a war provides viewers - domestic and international - with greater insight on tackling the most critical issues.

"It is human nature for us to feel more empathy for people and societies we know more about," said Killelea. "If we don't know the issues, all of the issues, that are factors in a conflict, it is impossible to achieve a lasting resolution."

Regional coverage

Of special interest is how the three regions cover each other. European TV is balanced between coverage of the Middle East (27%) and North America (29%), while US programmes are more concerned with the Middle East (40%) than Europe (24%). Middle Eastern coverage suggests a much stronger interest in European affairs (36%) than events occurring in North America (21%). The BBC World Service was the broadcaster with the most international scope of coverage.

Of the three regions, US programmes are the least likely to be of a positive nature, while Middle Eastern programmes are more likely to be positive and the least likely to be negative. Although there was a high level of negative reporting on Africa, it did also receive a higher level of positive coverage from the Middle East compared to Europe or the US. Both the US and European TV programmes devote more than 60% of their coverage of the Middle East to violence, while the level of coverage of violence for the US is well below what would be expected given its GPI score.

Both European and Middle Eastern TV programmes were more likely to report positively on North America than other regions, which mirror their low levels of coverage of violence issues in the US. By contrast, coverage of the Middle East, by both European and American TV programmes, had both a high level of violence reporting and a high level of negative coverage.

For more information go to www.visionofhumanity.org or www.mediatenor.com.