Deaths Out Of Scope: Why do some massacres make it into the news and others not?
Intra-conflict determinants of Western news coverage on one-sided political violence in African armed conflicts

Research question:
The ongoing large-scale killing in Darfur marks the latest example that, even in today’s information age, massive atrocities can occur while attracting little to no attention from the world’s public. Why do these most obvious and brutal breaks with any kind of civilized convention remain out of the scope of the Western world? The answer to this question is of imminent importance as information gaps lead a lack of public attention, which then contributes to the failure on the part of the international community to respond to these forms of violence. This study will argue that three concepts can be identified that play a significant role if and how much the Western news report about an event of political one-sided violence:
The distance from the media, the appeal to the media, and the dynamics of the global mass media.

PRIO Supervisor: Håvard Strand