If it bleeds, it leads – Foreign policy and international crisis reporting

hosted by Deutsche Welle
Monday, June 22 / Plenary Chamber

Crises and conflicts are an integral part of international media coverage, with live reports from war and disaster zones broadcast around the clock. The media – and the frequently emotional messages they send – exert significant pressure on policy-makers. Only very rarely can political leaders respond to the steady flow of news with quick fixes, and even more rarely explain the political processes with the brevity demanded of them. In an ever-faster media world, journalists run the risk of neglecting in-depth analysis of current events and favoring a friend-versus-foe mindset.

Does the growing demand for information harbor a danger that news content becomes trivialized? What are the media’s responsibilities in this context? Can a commitment to objectivity fend off interest-based intervention? To what extent can foreign policy action be publicly negotiated and influenced by public opinion?

Media and policy experts will discuss these and related questions at the media summit.