Recognition of Genocide in Bosnia: Frameworks of Interpretation in U.S. Newspapers

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-7982(2011)0000006007
• Pages: 77-92
• Published date: 14 October 2011
• Date: 14 October 2011
• Author: Helen Fein,Walter Ezell,Herbert F. Spirer

RECOGNITION OF GENOCIDE

IN BOSNIA: FRAMEWORKS

OF INTERPRETATION IN

U.S. NEWSPAPERS

Helen Fein, Walter Ezell and Herbert F. Spirer

ABSTRACT

The breakup of Yugoslavia and the development of conflict and massacres

from 1991 to 1993 was widely reported in the West, in contrast with prior

patterns of denial, concealment of evidence, lack of recognition,

misperception, and avoidance of massacres and genocides since World

War II. The chapter addresses reasons why bystanders did not intervene

to stop the genocide and check war crimes by asking how the situation was

framed by an influential segment of the press. An intensive content

analysis in nine leading U.S. newspapers revealed that a majority of

articles conformed to moral obligation and rational choice models. The

study concludes with a critique of political will for action and the position

that it was not the direct influence of the media, which reflected rather

than refined perceptions and the recognition of genocide.

One of the problems during and since the World War II has been the denial,

concealment of evidence, lack of recognition, misperception, and avoidance

Human Rights and Media

Studies in Communications, Volume 6, 77–92

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ISSN: 0275-7982/doi:10.1108/S0275-7982(2011)0000006007

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of notice of ongoing genocides and massacres by officials of other states and

by officials of other states and by the media (Ezell, 1992;Shawcross, 1984).

The same questions about these events persist: can reports of an event of

mass killing be credited; should we infer a pattern behind a series of events;

why is this set of persons killed; are they truly innocent victims or are they

also aggressors; are they victims of war, war crimes, or genocidal massacre;

were these attacks planned and what authority sanctioned them; how can we

credit reports of unconventional means of destruction-gas chambers, gas

bombing, bacteriological warfare-and of induced murder through prolonged

starvation and disease?

Between 1945 and 1988, virtually all the 14 states assessed by researchers

to be perpetrators of genocide and attempts at genocide (Fein, 1993a, p. 87)

were in regions labeled as the ‘‘Third World’’ or ‘‘the South’’ – outside

Europe and North America. Many occurred in states in which few reporters

from countries with a free press enter because of government restrictions

and little interest on the part of the managers of their papers. And if

journalists enter, they are unlikely to roam, for conditions of reportage are

dangerous (Fein, 1992, p. 9).

By contrast, the breakup of Yugoslavia and development of conflict and

massacres from 1991 to 1993 was widely reported in the West. In 1991–1992,

military attacks by Serbia in three of the six successor states of what-was-

Yugoslavia (Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia) were widely observed and

usually interpreted as aggression. In the case of Croatia and Bosnia, the

conflict was also viewed as a civil war because of the demands for

independence made by local Serbs in these states. Hayden reports that the

leaders of Serbia and Croatia met secretly in 1991 to agree to partition

Bosnia between them. Meanwhile, all ethnic parties met and with the aid of

a commission of the European Community drew up various maps that

would have divided Bosnia in cantons giving the three religio-ethnic groups

predominance in different cantons. However, in October 1991, the Croatian

and the Muslim parties in Bosnia joined together to pass a resolution

declaring the sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was confirmed

‘‘virtually unanimously’’ by the Bosnian electorate in a referendum,

boycotted by the Serbs on February 29 and March 1, 1992. The Serbian

party then proclaimed its own republic in Bosnia. The independence of

Bosnia-Herzegovina was recognized by the European Community and the

United States on April 7, 1992, prompting the Serbian republic to declare its

independence (Hayden, 1993).

War broke out in April 1992 in Bosnia. Although all sides fought to gain

or retain territory and committed violations of the rules of war, the Serb

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