ABSTRACT
Since 2005 the United Nations has officially endorsed, though not always managed to enact, the “responsibility to protect” (R2P) doctrine designed to safeguard human lives when a state either fails to protect, or grievously threatens, its own citizens. To what extent, how and when have these principles informed press journalism around the world and its news coverage of potential and actual R2P crises? This chapter briefly contextualizes the recent historical emergence of the R2P principle, and then, based on a systematic and detailed analysis of the world’s press across a ten-year period, summarizes key findings relating to press performance – both progressive and problematic – in the establishment of the R2P norm.
