This thesis seeks to address the academic debate surrounding the intervention of state actors in foreign information spaces, as this discourse lacks a coherent framework, allowing researchers to...Show moreThis thesis seeks to address the academic debate surrounding the intervention of state actors in foreign information spaces, as this discourse lacks a coherent framework, allowing researchers to identify, compare, categorize and hence explain acts of Information Intervention (II). To initiate a solution for this problem, this thesis aimed to create a typology of common contemporary types of covert and semi-covert state IIs beyond the means subsumed by the soft power and public diplomacy concepts. This process was facilitated by Kluge’s (2000) framework for the empirically grounded construction of types and an empirical research process, which was based on the identification of sources by employing keyword configurations and the search engines Google/Google Scholar. Given the scope of this project and the public unavailability of certain II practices, it was not possible to cover all acts of II for the given typology. Rather, the goal of this thesis was to guide future research in the field of Information Interventions, by providing a notion of the dynamics in the given field, on which future research can be built on. Therefore, while the typology presented in this thesis cannot be determined as universal, it made the first step towards the establishment of such framework, allowing researchers to systematically analyze IIs.Show less
This thesis analyses the influence that news media can have in conflicts, especially through the production and circulation of conspiracy theories. It demonstrates how conspiracy theories...Show moreThis thesis analyses the influence that news media can have in conflicts, especially through the production and circulation of conspiracy theories. It demonstrates how conspiracy theories surrounding chemical attacks in Syria affected the media discourse of RT, the BBC and the New York Times and researches to what extent this was aimed at influencing public opinion and international policy making in favour of their respective government’s policies in the Syrian conflict. Firstly, previous case studies are reflected upon, most importantly Chomsky & Herman’s ‘Propaganda Model’. Secondly, the proxy war in Syria and its most important participants ’foreign policies are outlined. Next, this knowledge is applied in the paper’s analysis of the reporting of RT, the BBC and the New York Times in the Syrian conflict. It looks specifically at their reporting on conspiracy theories surrounding the 2013 & 2018 Ghouta and Douma chemical weapons attacks, and how it relates to their respective government’s policy in the conflict. These observations lead to the conclusions that conspiracy theories have significantly influenced the discourses of all the analysed news media in their reporting on these events, and that their reporting generally reflects their government’s foreign policy towards the conflict. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a pattern of strategies used by each of the news media outlets, which are potentially deployed in an attempt to direct their audiences towards embracing their respective government’s stances and policies towards the Syrian conflict. These conclusions reveal that there is likely an information war running parallel to the proxy conflict.Show less
