E&H Professor of Media & Communication Mark Finney Studies the Role News Coverage Plays in International Conflict
Dr. Mark Finney, Professor of Media & Communication at Emory & Henry College, analyzed more than 700 articles published by major news outlets to better understand how media interventions can both negatively and positively affect international conflicts–in this case, between the U.S. and Cuba.
“I found that when journalists don’t have concrete facts to rely on, bias seems to emerge,” Finney says of his case study of news coverage of Havana Syndrome—a term he says refers to a set of long-term, concussion-like neurological symptoms experienced by U.S. and other diplomats based in Havana and other places in the world.
Finney read hundreds of news articles—collected from The New York Times, the Miami Herald, Cuba’s Granma newspaper, and El Nuevo Herald—and “coded” for data, counting the number of times certain things were mentioned such as sources, locations, people or groups assigned fault, and other key concepts.
While coronavirus travel restrictions have limited Finney’s trips to Cuba the last couple of years, he has already visited the country five times—twice with student groups, and another student and alumni trip is on the books for Spring 2023. Starting his tenth year at E&H, Finney will bring his sabbatical research to the classroom this fall when he teaches his general education course on international conflict, using Cuba as a case study for instruction, then mentoring students on their own individually chosen case study projects.
“We have a journalism appreciation deficit in this world right now,” Finney says, noting that the importance of good journalism is undervalued. “The ability to identify good journalism is a struggle for most people. One of my goals for both my research and my teaching is for myself and my students to consume and appreciate high-quality journalism.”
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