Government Use of Media to Advance Foreign Policy Agenda

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Content Analysis
Surveys (Polls)
Uses & Gratification Model
Conclusion
References

Abstract

The following essay analyzes the relationship between the media and the government. The paper provides evidence that many governments, particularly those that exist in established democracies, openly employ media propaganda to advance their agendas in foreign policy. The different methods of research employed in this essay include content analysis, polls and surveys and the uses and gratifications model.

Introduction

While the original intention of the media was to provide an independent, bipartisan check to the power of any individual government, the power base of any established democracy relies on the media to communicate to its followers. This is especially true in the case of foreign policy.

Various media outlets interpret international events and their effects on foreign policy according to the political interests they serve. According to McCormick (2009), the media play an important role in foreign policy by virtue of what foreign policy issues they chose to report. Thus media coverage has a direct “influence on public’s attention to foreign policy,” as well as an enormous impact on what foreign policy issues become newsworthy (p. 546).

The essential first step in foreign policy is to decide what information the public has access to, thus the role of the media as information gatekeepers becomes paramount (McCormick 2009; Spanier & Hook 2009). Governments in established democracies therefore employ media propaganda to advance their agendas in foreign policy.

Content Analysis

Content analysis refers to the methodology used to examine the specific content of a given communication tool. For the purposes of this essay, content analysis focuses on the texts used by the government as they relate to the cycle of voting in established democracies such as the United States.

As Krippendorff (2004) observes, “in governments in which succession is…regulated politically…predicting the succession of leadership…is a favorite game of political analysts and important to foreign policy decision makers” (p. 175). Content analysis remains a pivotal instrument that researchers use to “expose propaganda techniques” employed by the

media (Krippendorff, 2004, p. 45). Perceived successes in foreign policy may be advertised via the media to engender support during an election drive. An example is the May 2011 coverage of the death of Osama bin Laden, utilized by the Democrats in a partisan manner, as well as by the Republicans, who argued that it was the policies of the George W. Bush administration that allowed Obama to capture the fugitive Al Qaeda leader (Adams 2011).

Surveys (Polls)

The proliferation of online media outlets leads to a more informal method of polling for governments to use in addition to the standard polls such as Gallup – monitoring online chat of a political through Twitter and Facebook, as well as reading the prevailing moods conveyed in the media blogosphere.

Bucy (2005) argues that the media will facilitate change on both sides however, not simply as a tool for swaying votes; “since people will communicate their views on government more directly, rulers and representatives will become more sensitive…and, perhaps, more responsive…to lobbying and public-opinion polls, especially in established democracies” (Bucy, 2005, p. 9).

Uses & Gratification Model

The uses and gratification model refers to a central tenet of media analysis – the effect of any given media depend entirely on who uses them, for what purpose and how often (Bucy 2009). As Bucy (2009) explains, “how a person is affected by a given communications medium depends on that person’s reasons and goals for using that medium…People use the Internet for a variety of reasons and motivations…and will thus use it differently and it will have different effects on them accordingly.

There is, in short, no simple sound bite for how using the Internet will affect an individual (Bucy, 2009, p. 196). Thus, any government’s use of the media to advance foreign policy propaganda will only have impact insofar as it reaches its intended targets and gratifies them in some way, be it through affirming their current belief system or adhering to existing prejudices and knowledge.

The media must be consumed in order to have its desired impact; therefore people who do not engage with any given media outlet’s coverage of a particular foreign policy issue will feel little or no affinity to the message. Similarly, certain media appeal to certain mindsets; media consumers typically choose media outlets which conform to their view of the world.

Conclusion

One thing that can be ascertained from the research, the media remains a central player in any political outcome, particularly in a democracy where voters are free to identify with the media outlets of their choice. The vast network of media also acquires more power in the political climate political system, according to Sparks (2006), because the system itself is “more unstable.

There are fewer people who identify strongly with a single party, more people who call themselves independents, and more people splitting their ticket at the polls. In such a volatile climate, scholars expect that the media might have more impact on the political process” (Sparks, 2006, p. 55).

Governments can certainly be expected to continue to deploy propaganda via various channels to sway voters however; voters, like consumers, develop media savvy in the same way that governments do. Media consumers actively engage with the media that affirms their existing worldview, thus the propaganda will likely be more readily sniffed out and either accepted or cast aside.

References

Adams, R. (2011). Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck: ‘Thank God for President Obama’. The Guardian. Web.

Bucy, E. (2005). Living in the information age: A new media reader(2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

McCormick, J. (2009). American Foreign Policy and Process. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing.

Spanier, J. and Hook, S. (2009). American Foreign Policy since World War II. Washington: CQ Press.

Sparks, G. (2006). Media effects research.Belmont: CA: Thomson/Wadsworth Publishing.

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