A review of German Print Media Coverage in the Bosnia and Kosovo Wars of the 1990s, by Margit Viola Wunsch.
Margit Viola Wunsch’s dissertation
is an important scholarly addition to the study of the media in conflict zones.
Wunsch has thoroughly and rigorously analyzed how the German press reported and
interpreted the two epochal wars of modern times, namely the war in Bosnia
(1992-95) and Kosovo (1998-99). In the course of her research she has closely
examined visual and textual coverage of nine national publications over a
condensed period of time. The research sheds light on “how the events were
covered, what sources were used and what insights the publications conveyed”
(p. 2). It must be noted here that the Bosnia and Kosovo wars have played
a significant role in shaping and influencing Germany’s foreign policy in later
years and thus this work becomes equally important for our understanding of the
current socio-political dynamics of the European Union.
This research work is divided
broadly into two parts. The first section concentrates on the Bosnia War, while
the second section dwells upon the Kosovo War. Both sections follow a similar
pattern of tracing the initial phase of each conflict, one atrocity – the
Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and the Račak incident in Kosovo – and, lastly,
the international involvement in the war.
Chapter 1, “Background: Key
Historical Milestones,” deals briefly with the historical moorings of the
troubled region since the medieval ages to World War II. Here the
researcher takes note of the battle of Kosovo in 1389 and the role of religion
therein. She sums up: “Tito ruled this Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
under the mantra ‘Unity and Brotherhood’. By superimposing Communism on the
diverse republics, which in some 63 cases were at enmity with one another,
academics generally agree that tensions stemming from various historical eras
ranging from the Middle Ages to the Second World War, subsided. However, after
Tito’s death in 1980, a decade of political instability and conflict ensued,
which escalated in the 1990s” (pp. 62-63). During this period, however, the
USSR, Germany and Eastern Europe were in great upheaval. Wunsch subtly situates
her study in the larger context of these events which had great implications
worldwide.
Chapter 2, “1991-1992: The Descent
into War – Early German Press Coverage,” takes us to the main part of the
dissertation. Wunsch underlines Slobodan Milosevic’s ascendancy in Yugoslavia
in 1989, the consequent declaration of Slovenia and Croatia as independent
republics in 1991 and Germany’s support of their self-determination. Bosnia
also declared its independence on 1 March 1992 and, subsequently, Yugoslavia
waged war that lasted for nearly four years in Bosnia and Croatia. This chapter
delves deep into German print media coverage of the initial weeks of the
Bosnian War by exploring the German press’ explanations for the violence, the
role of the Yugoslav Peoples’ Army (JNA), while also examining issues such as
language and authorship.
Chapter 3, “July 1995: Srebrenica –
Reporting Genocide,” first takes into account the secondary literature
available on the war and goes on to analyze the Srebrenica massacre through
textual and visual coverage in the print media. The author places particular
emphasis on the Holocaust memory and its ramification in the political and
public sphere. Apart from qualitative analysis, Wunsch also focuses on the
quantitative aspects of press articles, slant and semantics of the
“genocide/ethnic cleansing.”
Chapter 4, “November-December 1995:
Peace in Bosnia – The Dayton Agreement,” analyzes the aftermath of the
Srebrenica massacre and the peace treaty under the supervision of the
international community which was held in Dayton. In this chapter the author
looks at Germany’s role in the peace process, how the media downplayed it and
how Slobodan Milosevic’s perceptions by the press ranged from “war monger” to
“seasoned politician.” She also examines Germany’s recurring past memory,
military intervention, foreign policy and “Genocide Clause.”
Chapter 5, “March-June 1998: Renewed
Violence – The Kosovo Conflict,” is the first chapter of the second section. It
deals with the Kosovo conflict which started merely two months after the Dayton
agreement. The Kosovo Liberation Army used violent means to attain
Kosovo’s independence from Serbia. Some of the questions addressed in this
chapter are: What was the cause of this conflict? Was Milosevic the main
culprit? How did the press compare this conflict with the Bosnian War and
World War II? This chapter tries to decipher the German press’ responses to
these questions while analyzing the historical background and the language of
the press articles. As in the first section, here too, the author takes
into account in her analysis both the visual and textual coverage.
Chapter 6, “January 1999: The ‘Račak
Massacre,’” examines events from the vantage point of a Kosovo-Albanian
village, Račak, where 45 people were killed. It deals with the violence and the
response of German publications. As the researcher notes, “In spite of this
increased international interest and the importance of Račak attributed by the
secondary literature, this controversial incident has not received much
attention in the field of media analyses” (p. 245). This chapter examines in
further detail the coverage of the Račak incident, the autopsy examination and
the domestic debate surrounding the German involvement in a potential NATO
intervention.
Chapter 7, “March-May 1999:
Reporting ‘War’ – The NATO-Intervention in Kosovo and Serbia,” is the last
chapter of the dissertation. Like the Dayton agreement in the Bosnian war, this
chapter deals with the intervention of the international forces and, in
particular, with the German military’s response to the conflict. It takes
into account the public opinion and political debate regarding the
intervention, which was without UN mandate, and the German print media’s
coverage. The author also discusses the depiction of Milosevic and the language
used by the press.
Based on a sound methodology and
using primary and secondary sources, this dissertation is a major study on the
interplay of media, politics and the history of wars. It paves the way for the
further media analysis in conflict zones, where the cobweb of conflicting
interest often overshadows the truth. Wunsch has skillfully presented and
analyzed the German press’ varied interpretations of the conflict. This
valuable work will be of interest to scholars, media practitioners and the
general public alike.
Arvind Das
ITV, Senior Researcher, New Delhi
arvindkdas@gmail.com
ITV, Senior Researcher, New Delhi
arvindkdas@gmail.com
Primary Sources
Die Welt
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
die tageszeitung (taz)
BILD-Zeitung
Der Spiegel, etc.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
die tageszeitung (taz)
BILD-Zeitung
Der Spiegel, etc.
Dissertation Information
The London School of Economics and
Political Science. 2012. 377 pp. Primary Advisor: Maria-José Rodriguez-Salgado.
(Published in Dissertation review: http://dissertationreviews.org/archives/7149 )
