Politics and Maps: A Critical Review of German News Maps on the War Against Terrorism in Afghanistan
Dr. Juergen Clemens
University of Heidelberg
South Asia Institute, Department of Geography
jclemens@sai.uni-heidelberg.de
Abstract:
Advocates of the "clash of civilizations" argue that wars as part of the new struggle among nations will occure especially along the fracture lines between cultures. Some even expect new white spots or new "terrae incognitae" on the global map, since distinct regions might be inaccessible for journalists and scientists for longer periods. Jean-Claude Rufin compares this threat with white spots on pre-colonial maps of Africa. Contrary to generalizations like these, the paper argues, that war actually leads to an increased media coverage, including news maps, as long as "Western interests" are directly affected. Print media and the television generally provide the first - and for most citizens also the sole - source of political information. Thus, regions apart from frequently visited tourist resorts and transit routes might remain white spots on the average man's mental map, until these regions will appear as news headlines. Maps, which are generally regarded as objective sources, thus have a special role in the communication process of news. Therefore, news maps on the war in Afghanistan published from Sept. 11
th until November 30
th, 2001 are analysed with regard to formal and topical aspects. One research question is, whether news maps really contribute to an objective information, or whether inaccuracies or mistakes lead to the readers' disinformation.
The analysis of news maps in a broad sample of German print media shows that their occurrence and frequency is directly related to the political importance and relevance of particular topics and especially regions. It also indicates that the attacks in Afghanistan actually led to more and intensified geographical information on this long-neglected region.
However several types of technical inaccuracies, e.g. the transcription of toponymes or the location of places and regions, as well as outright mistakes point to professional deficits in the drafting and editing process. These will confuse readers at the very least; intentional manipulation, however, was not found in this sample. Maps provide special potentials for geographic data presentation and the editorial offices of newspapers are advised to consider the implementation of additional editing structures since maps need different techniques and expertise than texts and photographs.