abstract:The CNN effect is a theory in political science and media studies that postulates that the development of the popular 24-hour international television news channel known as Cable News Network, or CNN, had a major impact on the conduct of states' foreign policy in the late Cold War period and that CNN and its subsequent industry competitors have had a similar impact in the post-Cold War era. While the free press has, in its role as the "Fourth Estate," always had an influence on policy-making in representative democracies, proponents of the CNN effect argue that the extent, depth, and speed of the new global media have created a new species of effects qualitatively different from those that preceded them historically.
LONDON, England (CNN) -- British airlines have put into effect measures to stop people with swine flu boarding flights in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further.