ABSTRACT
The so-called CNN effect emerged during the 1990s and was linked to the potential for a global political consciousness predicted in Marshall McLuhan’s (1962) famous “global village” vision. The term quickly came to be associated with the emerging humanitarian-intervention debate of the 1990s and the idea that media representations of human suffering, communicated via the new 24-hour global media, were playing a pivotal role in mobilising (Western) responses. The role of CNN – the Cable News Network – epitomised the political role and impact of this new global media phenomena.
