ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that ground-breaking technological changes along with a rise in a new array of political actors have influenced the ways human rights and the media intersect but not as profoundly as some observers might wish to believe. It reviews trends in terms of war-making, media and human rights abuses, an area of research that has historically found military-government manipulations of reporting on these issues. An example of framing a military invasion as a defence of human rights is seen in justifications given for the war in Afghanistan. Some media scholars have argued that the proliferation of NGOS has contributed to heightened public awareness of human rights. The chapter looks at the evolving considerations of the audience's reception and responsibilities when exposed to human rights abuse information in an age of connective media. Some scholars have aimed for a broader probe of the ways war and human rights form a particular media-oriented strategy used by Western countries.
