The Media's Role in Conflict Escalation

The above loop shows how the media through biased coverage incites public fear which in turn causes conflict to continue to rise between the two opposing sides. Extreme and biased media coverage focuses on conflict rather than conflict resolution. Extremely biased coverage causes the public to misinterpret the true story which then ultimately creates public outcry and fear. The increase in public outcry and fear then increases the perceived threat that one side has for another. This fear is created through the public ignorance to the true story due to the media's one sided portrayal of the story. When unbiased and moderate media coverage is used the systems tend to de-fuse because the public is now well informed of the issue which will decrease public outcry and fear and thus decrease the perceived threat that one side has for another. By increasing public awareness the media must continue to not used biased media coverage and thus public fear due to the media will not continue to escalate the problem.