infonet-economy

This chapter outlines the fundamental empirical challenges when studying media effects on conflict and discusses some recent methodological advances designed to overcome them. The evidence in this emerging literature indicates that mass media can be an effective tool for political elites to orchestrate mass violence. Both direct and indirect persuasion matter. The emerging evidence indicates that direct persuasion is stronger when propaganda targeting ethnic minorities is aligned with political predispositions of the ethnic majority, and indirect persuasion may occur from coordination of violence and from spillovers arising from social interactions.