Dr. Kundan Aryal

In today's world of mediated communication, the international media has become influential in diplomatic behaviour. However, it is not easy to cultivate the media influence by engaging with media outlets to enhance the dignity of the countries. The flow of information and communication across the world is yet to be able to manifest and reflect a global plurality of views. Hence, the core idea of public diplomacy, which includes media diplomacy, has also mainly become a routine procedure of maintaining the existing power structure of international politics. Media diplomacy is seen as a means of direct communication with foreign people to affect their thinking and, ultimately, that of their governments.

Media diplomacy ranges from favourable coverage of speeches, press conferences, interviews, tours of significant sites, media events to even managed leaks, which serve the existing world information and communication order. All three aspects of global communication - technological, economic and cultural - fulfill the interest of the powerful nations. Media diplomacy, sometimes also known as medialism or teleplomacy, photoplomacy, soundbite diplomacy, instant diplomacy as well as real-time diplomacy, has been permitting policymakers or political leaders to use the media outlets to convey messages to leaders of rival states and non-state actors. The open diplomacy through media also allows nations to send signals that can be interpreted and understood differently by different audiences. But the nations capable to explore all these potentialities are of limited in number.

Media power
Over the years, transformation in media power has created a new phenomenon in foreign relations. The mass media, and international broadcasting in particular, are one of the major channels used in public diplomacy. Though it was developed on the basis of traditional government diplomacy, it appears different from government diplomacy significantly. However, at present amidst role of the multi-track diplomacy, public diplomacy is attracting more and more attention all the concerned sectors. The governments are now paying attention to it.
Edmund Gullion, a US scholar, who conceptualises public diplomacy, says that its goal is to deal with the public attitudes towards government’s foreign policy and generate influence. However, according to him, it goes beyond the traditional diplomacy, and includes multiple dimensions of international relations. A national government cultivates and guides public opinion to other countries. It also covers the communication between diplomatic envoys and foreign correspondents as well. Contents for different levels and forms of mass media can be disseminated through the social media as well to achieve greater effect. Subsequently, social media could be useful for the sake of public diplomacy.

There is a debate whether media can affect or simply represents the foreign policy of a nation. Much-talked about term ‘CNN effect’ refers to the media effects on the Western governments’ responses to different global issues. But there is another school of thought which sees a systematic and highly political motive in news coverage based on serviceability to important domestic power interests. In other words, foreign policy of a power nation exerts media power, too. In both of the context, media have been regarded instrumental to peruse national interests in the global context.
The quest of countries like Nepal to be heard and seen would not be achieved without the media engagement in the issues of foreign affairs. Since there are different media landscapes at different levels right form local or domestic to regional, international up to the global level. With the confidence of domestic media, a country can explore and secure global outreach. Based on the principle of non-alignment, every nation can try to cultivate the media diplomacy to convey the message of national interest in a free, fair and frank manner. Different levels of mass communications would be instrumental for different levels and form immediate to the extended neighbourhood to supply the contents focused on national interest and dignity among the wider level of general public.

The mass media channels are being effectively used to obtain desired effects by the nations, which own the global media outlets to create direct impacts among the general public in any country. The mass media outlets from those parts of the world are being focused on current affairs to cultivate the favourable perceptions across the globe in different countries and societies. Even today, all global media giants are concentrated in the West. Hence, the notion Many Voices One World put forth by McBride report in 1980, is yet to be materialised in real sense.

Just order
In order to effectively execute the global diplomacy, an independent nation not only needs a UN membership and national flag over there but also effective channels of communication. It was the dream of shaping a more just and equitable international order and forging a new form of international relations, specifically international communication. Against the backdrop, there could be a tendency to think that in case any nation communicates more, especially the nation in the periphery, worse the communication it conducts. Hence, better to keep silence and watch and see the happenings. But a nation cannot protect its interest without communication in appropriate time.

Moreover, even though fundamentally, the world has entered new information and communication order as envisaged by McBride report, one cannot undermine the trends of contraflow concerning the movement of culture that runs counter to the traditional dominant-to-dominated, the West to rest. Hence, the best policy would be to communicate the country's message across the world without any noise and interruption in an effort to get benefited by international communication. It would be the best way to engage in international communication scenario to present a true view of the nation and the perception favourable to the country.

(Dr. Aryal is associated with the Central Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of Tribhuvan University.)