This article assesses the evidence used in arguments on the role of media in conflict and post-conflict situations. It focuses on two broad areas within the literature. First, it examines literature on the contribution of media in war to peace transitions, including an assessment of the evidence used to show how the media may contribute to violent conflict and how they may provoke, or hinder, post-conflict reconstruction. Second, it assesses evidence used in arguments for the role new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet and mobile phones may have in liberation or oppression in developing country contexts. Through reviewing some of the most significant papers that were systematically selected in a literature review on media and conflict, our findings suggest that there are serious gaps in the evidence and the majority of evidence is located in the ‘grey literature’ or policy documents.

The following countries are inluded: Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Bosnia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Georgia, Philippines and Guatemala.