Effects of Crisis News on Intercultural Tolerance: An International Comparative Study

Abstract

Human beings are “cultural animals who know and see and hear the world through socially constructed filters.” [1]. Fundamental to these filters are identities. Through the frames of identity, people often negotiate the dialectics of the ‘self’ with/against ‘the other’. The media in their reportage of conflicts and crisis produce and reinforce these dialectics. However, to what extent and directions do these reports influence social tolerance in the audience? This study therefore examined the effects of crisis/conflict news on otherness. The study defined otherness as the appraisal attitudes of tolerance, apathy, or intolerance towards other bodies based on identity categories. Consistent with media effects literature, the assumption was that the frames of crisis news were capable of stimulating measurable dissonances that influence tolerance/intolerance. The effects of two news reporting approaches were tested, ‘violence frames’ and ‘peace frames’. ‘Violence frame’ described news reporting styles that emphasize overt features of conflict such as the conflict arena – who threw the first stone; the fatalities; and the physical and human losses of the conflict. ‘Peace frame’, on the other hand, described news reportage that emphasize the roots and contexts of the conflict; and the constructive outcomes of the conflict by giving voice to all parties in the conflict. A 2 X 2 X 2 between-subjects factorial design surveyed the effects of religious crisis news story frames, victims’ religious identities, and the effects newspaper types on intercultural tolerance. The study found that in religious crisis news, the religious identity of victims significantly influenced the tolerance measures of the participants (F(4,722) = 14.505, p < .05). The religious identity (F(4,722) = 14.505, p < .05) and religiosity (F(8,657) = 3.340, p < .05) of the readers of the crisis news significantly moderated their measures of intercultural othering (tolerance). It was also found that the credibility perceptions towards the newspaper had significant effects on the tolerance levels of the readers (F(11,528) = 2.085, p < .05). The nationality (F(2,726) = 16.051, p < .05) and gender (F(3,719) = 3.037, p < .05) of readers of religious crisis news all had significant effects on intercultural othering. Crisis news frames had no significant effects on the intercultural othering of the participants. The findings of this study underscore the need for understanding the dynamic of crisis news in peace building and social tolerance.