Escalation- and deescalation-oriented aspects in the media construction of the Bosnia conflict

Abstract

The paper analyses the coverage of the Bosnia conflict in the European and American quality press. The results of the study show that the international press was quite ambiguous about all three ethnic groups involved in the Bosnia conflict. Differences between the media images of the three groups were mainly due to the different roles in which they were portrayed, and although the press reported quite uneven about them, it identified itself with none of the Bosnian war parties but rather with the international community who had a problem with the war parties down at Bosnia. In doing so, however, the press gave little support to efforts at peaceful conflict resolution. Instead, it supported a policy of power and headed for military intervention.