The Role of Media and Communication in Reducing Uncertainty During the Syria War

Claudia Kozman,Rana Tabbara,Jad Melki

doi:10.17645/mac.v9i4.4352

Abstract

Ten years after the uprising in Syria, millions of its citizens remain displaced and uncertain about their fate. Throughout that period, media coverage about the ensuing civil war played a major role in informing Syrians and contributed to altering their levels of fear and anxiety about their country’s future and their survival prospects. This study examined the role of legacy media, online media, and interpersonal communication in increasing or reducing uncertainty among displaced and non-displaced Syrians. Through a revised construct of uncertainty reduction theory within the context of a civil war, we assessed the relationship between exposure to these media sources and feeling anxious, uncertain, angry, and in danger, and whether these feelings influenced information consumption trends. We also probed the connection between their anxiety levels and sharing information, both interpersonally and on social media. The study surveyed 2,192 Syrian adults (95% CI, ±2.5) living in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, both inside and outside refugee camps, using a random multistage cluster sampling technique. The findings revealed a strong relationship between positive emotions and time spent on legacy and online media. The more secure, proud, and hopeful people felt, the more likely they were to spend time on media sources. This relationship, however, was moderated by the perceived importance of these sources. Feelings of pride, security, and hopefulness generated by television and online media correlated with the time people spent on these media sources, and the perceived importance of such media further strengthened this relationship. A different picture appeared in the relationship between positive emotions and interpersonal communication, where the perceived importance of talking to people not only significantly moderated the relationship but also canceled out the main effect of positive emotions on the time people spend communicating with others. The findings also indicated that feelings of uncertainty about these sources may stand in the way of sharing information about the war on social media.

Highlights

The uprisings that took the Arab region by storm in 2011 quickly reached Syria and unraveled what was the begin‐ ning of years of strife between the government and its opposers
H2a, which hypothesized that positive emotions con‐ nected to the media people follow are positively corre‐ lated to the time they spend following news from these media, was supported for all four media
This study examined Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT) during wartime through a cross‐ sectional survey of displaced and non‐displaced Syrians living in Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon

Summary

Introduction

The uprisings that took the Arab region by storm in 2011 quickly reached Syria and unraveled what was the begin‐ ning of years of strife between the government and its opposers. Faced with life‐changing instances, the Syrian people strove to make sense of the traumatizing context, seeking to reduce the uncertainty that is bound to accom‐ pany distressful times. Considered as the fuel that drives information seeking, uncertainty arguably motivated peo‐ ple to obtain such information through interpersonal and mediated sources (Baxter & Wilmot, 1984). Not all Syrians have undergone life‐threatening circumstances, when a nationwide conflict occurs, most civilians experience the war through the media (Boyle et al, 2004). This indirect mediated experience of the crisis could gen‐ erate honest emotions (Smith et al, 2001)

Methods

Results

Conclusion