Diamonds are forever? Press coverage of African conflicts and the Westphalian filter of resource wars

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Diamonds are forever? Press coverage of African conflicts and the Westphalian filter of resource wars
Author:	Cook, Christopher R.
Year:	2016
Periodical:	Journal of African Media Studies (ISSN 1751-7974)
Volume:	8
Issue:	2
Pages:	109-126
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Angola Congo (Democratic Republic of) Sierra Leone Great Britain United States
Subjects:	newspapers journalism diamonds political violence images
External link:	http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jams/2016/00000008/00000002/art00001
Abstract:	This article argues that when it comes to reporting conflicts in the developing world the western press ignores the private sphere of economic activity because it privileges a narrative of people fighting over the nation state, as well as political ideologies and territory gained and lost. This choice of media framing matters in how western audiences understand the complexity of resource wars. To explore this concept further the author examines American and British press coverage of conflict diamonds in the civil wars fought in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sierra Leone in the pages of four western newspapers of record: The Guardian (UK), The Times (UK), the New York Times (US) and the Washington Post (US). Overall, while conflict diamonds were present in the reporting, the press ignored the full extent of involvement of private companies and international capital in the financing and trading of diamonds to fuel war. Bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract]