The media are invaluable in projecting the current issues and conflicts that prevail on a daily basis in regions and countries around the globe. In determining the level of responsibility that can be attributed to the media in projecting future conflicts, it can be construed that they have a duty of care to report and inform, but should not be deemed their sole responsibility with regards to the outcome of any event.
The media usually operates on a factual basis, and therefore can only deliver the known evidence concerning an event that is currently active. For a media report to brief the outside world on a potential conflict, the media would need to base the story on an opinionated basis, from sources in the know.
Evidence, like past history, may indicate the likely outcome of an event, but that is no guarantee as to the actual outcome of an impending issue.
The media's priorities are to make the issues, like water shortage, war, crime and famine known, and then for those that possess the power to intervene and instigate the appropriate actions to stabilise the situation.
Due to the immense volume of issues circulating every day it is necessary to tackle each story with a differing angle in order to maintain attention from the outside world. Unfortunately, even though a previous attempt at covering a topic may have been highlighted, it will only gain the level of attention it warrants, when it is marked by ongoing violence.
The violence in Kenya, following the elections in December 2007, is one such example. Headline news followed the re-election of President Mwai Kibaki, as thousands protested against the police in the slums of Nairobi. A portrayal of violence that was said to have been all due to the elections, but it cannot be denied that the low level of living conditions the residents had to endure did not attribute to their feelings and the ensuing violence.
Kenya has been described as one of the most stable in East Africa, but the proportion of population that suffers poverty has been ignored within the mainstream media, that is until the violence erupted. Only then was the issue of water scarcity and living conditions highlighted alongside the main headline.
The media must continue, or even increase, the attention it applies to issues that will cause a likely feature in the future, alongside current events. But the responsibility ceases at this point, other than to continue updating the rest of civilisation with actual events as they occur.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/12/31/kenya.ele x/index.html