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International Crises, Crisis Management and the Media

Course requirements. 1 X 3,000 word essay by 14 March 2008 (draft 2 weeks earlier)1 X 2 hour exam (choice of 8-10 questions)Course booklet is on PMT website.Course has dedicated sections on the websitehttp://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/index.cfm?outfit=pmt. Course structure. Course is essentially del

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International Crises, Crisis Management and the Media

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    1. International Crises, Crisis Management and the Media Philip M. Taylor Institute of Communications Studies University of Leeds

    2. Course requirements 1 X 3,000 word essay by 14 March 2008 (draft 2 weeks earlier) 1 X 2 hour exam (choice of 8-10 questions) Course booklet is on PMT website. Course has dedicated sections on the website http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/papers/index.cfm?outfit=pmt

    3. Course structure Course is essentially delivered in the first 3 x 2 hour lectures Thereafter, case studies Emphasis is on media coverage of chosen international crises and how that coverage was ‘managed’ by both media organisations and governments For essays, you can choose your ‘own’ crisis if it is not covered in formal delivery

    5. The 21st century Info-sphere

    8. ‘Strategic Communications’: the new ‘magic bullet’? SC doctrine still emerging (US driven) Embraces notion of a global information ‘space’ in which governments take ‘command and control’ of the information environment, wherever possible Is this possible in the 21st century info-spehere or media-sphere? In cyberspace, who (and where) is the enemy? Ramifications for democracy?

    9. Strategic Communication – the new US definition ‘The coordination of Statecraft, Public Affairs, Public Diplomacy, [Military] Information Operations and other activities, reinforced by political, economic and military actions, in a synchronized and coordinated manner.’ (National Security Council definition of Strategic Communication, February 2005, approved by Condoleezza Rice before her transition to the State Department.)

    11. PUBLIC AFFAIRS

    19. How did we get here?: Main Trends for Military-Media Crisis Management in the Post Cold War Era From inter-state to intra-state conflict From military war-fighting to peacekeeping, peace building and peace support From military-military communications to military-civilian communications Decline of specialised foreign and defence correspondents Increased emphasis on ‘real-time’ reporting From Information Warfare to Information Operations (‘electronic Pearl Harbour’)

    20. From inter to intra state conflict Gulf War (1991) and Kosovo (1999) are the exceptions since the end of a bi-polar world Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Chechnya etc = the norm At least from the media (therefore government?) point of view Sudan? ‘CNN ‘effect’?

    21. The changing role of the military More UN peacekeeping missions now than ever before Variety of ‘peacekeeping’ operations Changing world accompanied by RMA RMA places information and communications at centre of C2W and C4I Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence and…..? CNN!

    22. Heavily armed social workers? Operations other than war involve civilians in distraught and complex situations (hence attention to public diplomacy) Attention to ‘information support’ in the ‘military’ operation is essential Increased role of Psychological Operations in ‘theatre’ Increased role of Public Affairs/Public Information in global media environment

    23. Role of the International Media Increasingly competitive, deregulated ‘infotainment’ market Human Interest stories and the decline of the specialist/rise of the freelancer Easier to ‘manipulate’ within certain ground rules (Gulf War and Kosovo) More difficult to control access to communications technologies

    24. Back to Strategic Communications Knowledge explosion Computer power up six orders of magnitude by 2025 Global interconnectivity The developed world is moving to an information based economy---BUT

    25. What about the Less Developed World? 5.7 billion current population will double in our lifetime 4.5 billion live in poor countries (average per capita GNP about $1K) 35% of population under age 15 Population in LDCs up 143% by 2025 Population under age 15 may exceed 50% in some countries

    30. Certainties Complexity of crises Complexity of (unstoppable) information flows Competing information credibility between traditional and ‘new’ media Misinformation and disinformation The struggle to be first vs. the struggle to be right

    31. How do you manage those crises? An integrated information policy (hence SC) Long-term communication of (‘soft’) power Short-term but planned PSYOP and PA/PI activity close to the centre of decision-making Professionalised information activity AND crisis management scenarios Keep within the democratic tradition: a strength and a weakness

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