Please remember that your first text is due to be submitted on October 31. You can either email it to me or submit in the Homework Vault on the website. This assessment is: Summary of a recommended reading (max. 20 points): This is a short summary of one article listed in the recommended reading list. The length is 800 words and you need to submit the summary before the in person teaching in Brno begins.  

In this session we turn our attention to the use of international media by governments as a means of influencing global public opinion. Historical examples of state-funded news used to influence public opinion and attitudes in another state date back centuries, however, the use of international broadcasting as part of international diplomacy was introduced in the 1920s and 30s. International news broadcasting has long been a key element of British public diplomacy, with BBC World Service being credited with many achievements in this respect. We consider how the relationship between media and foreign policy has been theorized and to what extent these theories apply in the current media environment in which a range of international players - including the Russian RT, the Qatari Al Jazeera and the Chinese CGTN - aim to use international news for public diplomacy purposes.

Key readings:

Johnson, R. A. (2018) “Managing Media Influence Operations: Lessons from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty”, International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence, 31(4), pp. 681-701.

Ersoy, M. and İşeri, E. (2023) “Mediated public diplomacy and peace journalism: International public news agencies on the Syrian crisis”, International Communication Gazette, online first.

Recommended readings:

Zöllner, O. (2006) “A quest for dialogue in international broadcasting: Germany’s public diplomacy targeting Arab audiences.” Global Media and Communication, 2(2).

Samuel-Azran, T. (2013) “Al-Jazeera, Qatar, and New Tactics in State-Sponsored Media Diplomacy.” American Behavioral Scientist, 57(9).

Workneh, T. W. (2020) “Journalistic Autonomy in Voice of America’s Amharic Service: Actors, Deterrents, and Safeguards”, Journalism Studies, 21(2). 

Crilley, R., Gillespie, M., Kazakov, V. and Willis, A. (2021) “‘Russia isn’t a country of Putins!’: How RT bridged the credibility gap in Russian public diplomacy during the 2018 FIFA World Cup”, The British Journal of Politics and International Relations 24(1), pp. 136-152.

Zhang, C., Zhang, D. & Blanchard, P. (2022) “International Broadcasting During Times of Conflict: A Comparison of China’s and Russia's Communication Strategies,” Journalism Practice.