The Fear Factor is a Main Thing: How Radio Influences Anxiety and Political Attitudes

Anouk S Rigterink,Mareike Schomerus

doi:10.1080/00220388.2016.1219348

Abstract

We investigate how being exposed to media influences levels of anxiety and political attitudes in conflict-affected areas. Exploiting exogenous variation in signal strength of a radio station in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State, we compare original qualitative and quantitative data from areas with differing radio coverage. Civilians living in areas with more exposure to radio are more afraid of attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This anxiety means civilians rely more on a civilian militia, the arrow boys, and less on the state army. Hence media, through fear, can contribute to changing social and political structures.

Highlights

Can the power of media be harnessed to positive effect to improve situations of violent conflict? In conflict situations, media has been considered both as contributing to hatred, most prominently during the Rwandan genocide (Yanagizawa-Drott, 2012), as well as a force for peacebuilding (Paluck and Green, 2009a; Paluck and Green, 2009b; Orme, 2010; BBC Media Action, 2012)
We examine whether intensity of exposure to media is related to increased anxiety and whether increased anxiety has an impact on political attitudes in a post-conflict situation
We aimed to investigate the impact of access to media, Yambio FM, on individual perceptions of security, and on political attitudes

Summary

Introduction

Can the power of media be harnessed to positive effect to improve situations of violent conflict? In conflict situations, media has been considered both as contributing to hatred, most prominently during the Rwandan genocide (Yanagizawa-Drott, 2012), as well as a force for peacebuilding (Paluck and Green, 2009a; Paluck and Green, 2009b; Orme, 2010; BBC Media Action, 2012). The potential fear-inducing effect of media is of interest especially in light of a growing literature on the role of emotions in the formation of political attitudes, in which anxiety plays a prominent role (for an overview see Neuman, Marcus, Crigler and Mackuen, 2007). This suggests that the impact of emotions and anxiety in particular might not be limited to the personal domain. Few respondents appear to be Pazande-speaking refugees from CAR or DRC: 96.3 per cent of respondents say their nationality is South Sudanese

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