International News (COMM 3390) - Final Exam
Non-Governmental Organizations
-Dafur Conflict -One World.net -Independent Media Center -Kony 2012 -Oxfam, British organization that tries to help the third world
Two forms of Information control
-Direct government control -Capitalizing on the need for "official sources" and continuous flow of news
Why teach US slang to Chinese?
-Diversion from bad things the government does -Spread US culture -Makes us seem nice -To sell American movies, products (economic benefits)
How did the debate over information control look as different interests?
Information was Commodity vs. social good
Techniques used by governments, corprotations to control the narrative
International PR Propaganda Fake news
Important tool in 1920s
International radio
Tactics to control journalists
Intimidation- imprisonment, beatings, or organizations that censor
CNN authenticity
Is decline in recent years
Homogenized programming erodes
media diversity
Direct government control is seen as
more crude and counterproductive than other manipulation methods
What words were censored in China after the Tiananmen Square Massacre?
"64" "63+1" "big rubber ducks"
WikiLeaks view on the release of information
"Public's right to know"
Tradition News focuses on
"knowns"
What drives corporate news media? NGOs?
-Corporate news media is driven by economic goals -MGOs are not driven by economic goals
ARTICLE: " Julian Assange: CIA director is waging war on truth tellers like WikiLeaks"
- Mike Pomeao, Director of the CIA, calls Wikileaks a "non-state hostile intelligence service" -first publication of Wiki leaks: "Vault 7" series including CIA incompetence, "arsenal of cyber viruses and hacking programs the angry has covered up" -Pompeo was a fan of Wikileaks when it published information of the shortcomings of his political rivals"
Negative media about the third world is credited to
- Western world lens -Since western countries produce so much negative news about third world countries those countries remain that way
Case Study: 2nd Gulf War
-"Embedded" journalist -Jessica Lynch rescue
Capitalize on need for "official sources "and continuous flow of news meaning
-"Feeding the beast" -Keeping them busy -Capitalize on idea they won't be found out
ARTICLE: "This Revolution Will Be Tweeted"
-"Twitter Revolution" in the Middle East and North Africa -vanity tool shift to news platform -most developed Twitter scene in Egypt
What excludes citizen journalists from the shield law?
-"they just happen to be there" -No intent to cover news - The word "regularly" excludes them from being journalists
Example of government capitalizing on idea they won't be found out
-2002 air raid where US said they killed 13 Taliban soldiers -Government story was ultimately inaccurate -Government assumed journalists wouldn't figure out the truth because it was so far away -Three journalists traveled to place and found that it was not a Taliban strong hold, the US had killed 21 anti-Taliban soldiers
"Journey to the Hidden Kingdom"
-2002 film, introduction of western television -These are business people they will broadcast anything they want -People now realize there are so many things they desire that they were not aware of before
Who else Uses PR today?
-3rd world -UN, Oxfam, Save the Children etc. -Terrorist groups
Case study: Iceland
-American radio network was set up to serve the NATO troops in Iceland -It played mostly American music. Everyone near that base received that American radio station -Then TV was given to the base -People in Iceland around the base had access to American TV stations -Iceland TV station said that Americans were downing out their business because Icelandic people had already developed a preference for American programming that their own could not compete with -Iceland felt their culture was being crushed by Americans
Traditional sense of Citizen Journalism
-Any person with a cellphone
Skeptics say:
-Audience makes own meaning of media -People prefer their own media in their own language and culture, they just don't have their own yet, once they get more of their own they wont prefer American as much -Digital, satellite, computer technologies help revive cultural identities
The US before and after news management
-Before: Military force, economic, diplomacy -US: Huge Military Public Relations Machine
History of the debate over the control on information - 1940s
-Began in the UN -Tried to draft a treaty
Case Study - 1970s Cuban Soldiers
-CIA story saying US. Cuban soldiers had been raping Angolan women and then were executed by those same women. -Story was untrue and the media was quick to believe that Cuban soldiers would do this because it came from a reputable source (CIA) -This reported served US foreign policy objectives
ARTICLE: "In China Press, Best Coverage Cash Can Buy"
-China is willing to let news about Western business appear in print and broadcasting for money -Role of Chinese journalist as a broker in buying flattering coverage
Examples of Citizen Journalism
-Citizens taking snap chats during mass shootings, riots, natural disasters -Blogs, cellphones
"Death in Tehran" What would have happen in traditional media recorded Neda's death?
-Easier to discredit -Government tried to discredit Neda's death by saying the death was staged, protestors killed her, and she was living in Greece -Offered her mother to lie about what happen, to call her a martyr -Music teacher lied, said it was all made up by the BBC
Debate was called "New World information order" and centered around:
-Equitable access -Cultural diversity -Fix digital divide -Effort to balance good and bad news -Journalists' standards in developing world -Wanted the media to include the opinions of those who did not like the media -Condemned censorship and the use of journalists for spying
Advantages of citizen journalism
-First hand coverage -Less packaging -Less censorship -Ability to be places where professional journalists cannot -Different points of view -Forces media to be honest -Represents underrated perspectives -Unaffiliated with advertisements, corporate interests and political interests -Expands international focus beyond violence, western interest and politics
Government insisting on anonymity allows them to
-Float ideas -Get public opinion and if the opinion is bad they burry it.
Wikileaks Pivotal document dump reported..
-Friendly fire in Iraq -Camera footage of air attack on Reuter journalists
Who wanted unregulated corporate media around the world?
-Global media corporations -World trade organizations -US
Monopoly Control
-Globalization of media under control of few western media industries -Concerns with the ramifications over media control
Most visited sites in the world
-Google, Facebook, Youtube (all American)
Remaining threats to information control
-Homogenized programming -Corporate influence -Global advertising -Cultural and social forms eroded
ARTICLE "Oxfam on G7 Coal Emissions"
-How burning so much coal has resulted in crop failure in Africa and people are dying as a result - Tried to change episodic nature of news with ongoing stories (used to change the current narrative)
Congressional human rights caucus
-If a witness lies to a congressional committee it a lie under oath, but lying to congressional human rights caucus is not -Not a congressional testimony, but a set up and manipulation, there was no evidence to support that the baby story happen
Agenda of Non Government Organizations
-Increase donations to causes -World relief
What the articles said about Russia?
-Intended to discredit American media -If you confuse people enough, it delegitimizes real news and people never know what to believe
` Example of direct government control
-Kicking out journalists during Spanish civil war - US bombing Serbian TV head quarters -US bombing offices of Al-Jazeera to control information that was critical of the US
Negative effects of television in Bhutan
-Kids are mesmerized by television -Transformed many of their rituals -People started to desire things they didn't know existed -Crime increased
Case Study: News Management during 1st Gulf War
-Kuwaiti babies -Hill and Knowlton creates a public relations company " citizens free from Kuwaiti" -Tells media about the atrocities in Kuwait -Creates video news releases, packages, that are not produced by journalists that were sent to American television stations -When people watched them they thought that they were journalism, they were public relations -More people watching TV further encouraged American involvement in war
Why do most organizations not go to these lengths or efforts to filter quality control?
-Lack of employees, money -It'll make them second with the story instead of first -Big respected legacy news organizations are the only one with money to be able to do so
What was the only western media used in China? Why?
-LinkedIn -the company agreed to censor some things in order to keep their business in China
Case study: Broadcasts out of Romania
-MUSIC (not propaganda) serves purpose of the government by masking the overall purpose of the broadcast -Message of "the good life" -Tried to foster interest in American culture -When people begin to relate to the American way of life they think to change the communist system because it rejects the American way of life there.
Shortwave Radio Effective during Cold war because
-Message of the good life that undermined Communism -A connection for European/North American listeners -Believed to raise the "iron curtain" -Many countries followed
ARTICLE: "I started Occupy Wall Street. Russia tried to Co-opt me"
-Micah White, started if occupy Wall street movement was contacted for an interview with Big Yan -interview was posted on "Black Matters", he was asked to help promote protests in America -Russia's RBC informed him that Black matters was a front group ran by internet research agency (Russian Private intelligence and propaganda firm) -CNN contacted White for an interview portraying him as a victim, angry at the US for not protecting him and Silicon Valley companies for allowing this to happen
Why did Tsunami stories come from Sir Lanka and Thailand rather than Indonesia?
-More tourism action and easier accessibility to get coverage
Bush Era
-No federal shield law in place -Sources within the White House were leaked
Article: "Real or fake? Amid the Digitized stream" In which country was the photo that AFP published staged? why?
-Pakistan -AFP's desire for international agencies makes them fall for these staged photos more than other international news agencies -use of local stringers because Western journalists cannot get to these countries -insurgent imagery: Terrorists and insurgents manipulate photos (e.g. US soldiers raping Iraqi women) -Solution to problem of stringers submitting fake photos: have photo agencies believe more photos that show entire scene in context, better captions, and fire unprofessional photographers. US military should be faster with press releases
What did Wikileaks leak?
-Procures manual for Guantanamo prison camp (extremely controversial) -Details about what prisoners are subject to: waterboarding, torture
Bradley Manning release Video
-Released by Wikileaks not the military -Footage of American military engaging in shooting and killing civilians on the ground (included controversial commentary) -Illustrates confusion in battles -Military justified investigation
Symbiotic relationship between human rights and non-governmental organizations allows
-Safe access to victims and their stories -Access to people with expertise, elites
Why is outside media so threatening to North Korean regime?
-Shows the Korean people that other people live differently, better -Fosters rebellion -Shows the terrible things their government does that they are kept unaware of
Direct government control
-Surveillance -Expelling journalists -Destroy infrastructure of journalists -Also used by terrorists
"Death in Tehran" what was another form of citizen journalism seen besides the video of Neda's death?
-Text messaging filtered rumor of 2 million pens with disappearing ink for voting at the polls -People showed up to the polls with their own pens
Imbalanced global information represents
-The Internet as a western medium -Not everyone can access the internet (51% around the world) -Has created a digital divide. Those who have access to the Internet benefit greatly economically.
What happens when western media tries to cover negative stories in developing countries?
-The government in developing countries blames the rebels -Creates a distraction
The debate over control of information in media content
-The negative media about developing content -The want for something more positive rather than natural disasters and political upheavals.
Russia thought communism would still be popular if
-They weren't losing the information war to the west -If it wasn't for all this information they would still be winning and communism would still be popular
Who wanted reverse corporate control of the media, more regulation and democratized information?
-UN - 3rd world -Advocacy groups -Socialist countries -Western media critics
Article: "Real or fake? Amid the Digitized stream"
-US fired missiles at suspected Al-Queada leaders -Western photographers are unable to travel to these places so they hire stingers -Article explains quality control issues when reporting these two wars because western photographers did not take them -Red flag- the people standing around the photo were staged like a family picture.
Critics of citizen journalism say
-Unregulated -Subjective -Sensational -Haphazard in quality and coverage -Could be hiding an underlying motive
Case Study: Kony 2012
-Video produced by 3 guys, 20s, who found 17 year war the killed millions of people -Children walk miles from their villages to cities then back again each day to save them from being child soldiers or sex slaves -Joseph Kony, leader of lord resistance army -100 million people saw video in 6 days -Video created Invisible Child Society
What kept news organization from dumping leaks on their website unlike Wikileaks?
-Wanting to verify information from US military for credibility -It would release the identity of US informants, no longer able to be used as a source -Puts informants in danger -Gave knowledge of how military makes their decisions and how diplomacy works -Government had to give explanations to other countries that were discussed in the leaks
"Alternation Journalism"
-WikiLeaks -Non-Government Organizations
Other forms of Citizen Journalism
-Wikileaks -Non-governmental organizations
Groups that tried to continue the debate
-World association of national radio broadcasting, labor, environmental groups (ultimately not powerful)
"Death in Tehran" What was Neda Soltani a symbol of and how did her death impact the world?
-first notable example of citizen Journalism -Innocence and resistance to a shame election -Her death transformed world opinion about Iran by viewing the citizens as innocent rather than the leaders.
How did television effect women in third world countries?
-influences their appearances -TV showed glamour, they started to care about looks (hair and make up) -birth rate was reduced, the women on the soap opera watched had none or one child
Government use to control broadcasting, what too this power away from them?
-more choices -satellites
ARTICLE: " Our Pain for their Gain: the American Activists Manipulated by Russian Trolls"
-protests to condem police brutaility were organized by Russian trolls with separate agenda -an attempt to interfere wit US politics, spreading false information to stoke political division on a large scale -used Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, instagram, Pinterest -RBC uncovered the 'troll factory'
3 issues in the International Debate for Control of Information
1 Media content 2 Monopoly control if communication technologies 3 Imbalanced global information
Biggest international news agencies
AFP, Reuters, Bloomberg (largest employers of foreign correspondents in the world)
Rules to determine journalists
Authenticity- credible, well researched, keep bias out of it Accountability- correcting false information, disclose mission, transparency (can information be found about the individual journalist) Autonomy- free from government oversight and outside pressures
Most power broadcast stations in 1920s
BBC with 33 different languages broadcasted
ARTICLE: "Revolution in a Box" According to your reading, "Revolution in a Box," what types of programs do audiences favor worldwide?
Baywatch House CSI Desperate Housewives
What was the last country to get television?
Bhutan (Himalayan kingdom in china) -No traffic lights or fast food chains June 1999 Bhutan legalized TV
2016- most watched comedy program
Big Bang Theory
Case study representing information management
Bush administration's decision to refuse the media from photographing the flags draped over the coffins of dead American soldiers and putting them on the front page of the newspapers
How did LinkedIn justify its censorship in China?
By saying linked in was not used for political purposes
Growth is no longer in access but
Choice
Citizen Journalism
Citizens playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news, pictures and information
UNESCO debate over control of information
Developing countries were coming back saying they did not like not being able to tell their own story because of western media
TEDtalk: Markham Nolan
Editor of Storyful.com explains how to separate fact and fiction online
Cultural and social forms eroded by
English domination, corporate shaping of media
Why have there been attempts to define journalists more structurally?
Federal shield law
Cultural imperialism
Imposition of a dominant culture onto a less dominant culture in a developing country. This happens because the US media produces more than any other country. US has the largest sales of music, TV, movie, video games sales around the would
Teaching the Chinese US slag is associated with
Globalization -slang create favorable climate for products, services culture -Hosting Olympics, World Cup -Cultural exchanges
Example of Monopoly control
Hollywood has dominated movie production around the world
Traditional diplomacy
Is when our state department tries to convince other governments of something; sometimes they reach other to foreign media and individual people in other countries
Founder of Wikileaks
Julian Assange - Currently hiding out in Ecuador embassy in London since 2012 - Swedish authorities tried to arrest him on rape charges but dropped - He remains at embassy because British could arrest him for violating conditions of his bail.
What is going to bring down the North Korean regime in the end?
Media
The "unknowns"
People who hold no power, ordinary people
Monopolies are blamed with
Promoting a western lifestyle and geopolitical views all over the world
What is a shield law and whom does it protect?
Protects a journalist from having to reveal his sources to prosecutors or juries
NGOs get what in exchange from their relationship with human rights?
Publicity, more donations
How did US start the information war?
Putting money into Voice of America, West benefited from traditional media
why is real journalism substituted? and with what?
Real journalists is not cheap, entertainment is cheap to produce
Russia needed a Russian "CNN" so they created
Russia Today TV to combat the worldview of Russia
Disadvantages of citizen journalism
Sensational, Subjective, unregulated
How is information controlled through public diplomacy news management?
Shapes all information sent and received
News Management where and when?
Started in Britain, WWI (the core of western military strategy, just as effective as military action)
Public Diplomacy's Important Role in Cultivation of National Images today
Talking U.S. slang to Chinese
Third world countries are excluded from
The "knowledge economy"
Critics on Monopolies say
The message is not about American lifestyle, but it's more about corporate consumption "buy buy buy"
Authenticity comes from
The news organization rather than the journalist individually
You cannot separate the world information order from
The political or economical order
Why was Kony massacre not on traditional new organizations radars?
They did not pay for people to go there, GNO take it upon themselves to
The Kuwaiti baby story made Americans think
They needed to join the war
The US pulled out of UNESCO entirely because
They wanted to persevere corporate control of media
Why and Whom did the US donate money?
To third world countries to develop own media
How does citizen journalism differ from tradition journalism?
Traditional journalism is conventional, acts more as gatekeepers than wikileaks would
Who is credited in the text for starting techniques of government public relation?
UK
MacBride Report 1980
West - opposed anything anti commercial Soviets- opposed abolition of government controls 3rd world - more balanced news flow
Should news packages from NGOs reveal who packaged their stories?
Yes -Needs to be known if journalists or non-journalists are covering the stories -Ethical consideration
What determines who or what is reported?
Your status, class
Libertarian views media as
a commodity (can be bought and sold)
Russia epitomizes
fake news
How is globalization of media a problem?
because of the concentration of ownership, all media around the world falls into the hands of 5 countries
ARTICLE: "The new world information order" According to the article, "The Third World Wants a New World, Information Order," why did developing countries favor state-controlled news organizations?
because they were forced to see the world, including their own regions, through the foreign lens of those from Western countries -ethnocentric bias -their perceptions are not represented
ARTICLE: "Rich and Poor Clash, Delaying World Talks on Radio Frequencies" why was the 140-nation conference delayed? What were countries fighting over and why?
delayed by a dispute that threatened to turn the meeting into a confrontation between rich and poor nations Western countries insuring the free flow of global broadcast information with demands that new the order would give special guarantees and protection to developing countries
ARTICLE: "Journey to the Hidden Kingdom" From your reading, "Journey to the Hidden Kingdom," what were some of the difficulties the BBS's inaugural run faced?
difficulty of daily programming and the new technology question of how to edit and output, how to separate ambient from dominant sound
Voice of America Government
funded international radio broadcast source that serves as the United States federal government's official institution for non-military, external broadcasting
TV spreads rapidly once there is
infrastructure
Social Responsibility theory
is when the government intervenes in media because they think of media as a social good (applies more to eurpoe than the us)
Global advertising erodes
local economic development
Case Study: 2008 RT interview
people saying "9/11 was an inside job" or "Osama bin laden was still alive" wanted to -Spread the word that CNN was a failing global informant system -Emphasis poverty, and police brutality in the US -Amplify conspiracy theories
Most journalists that get killed are covering
political corruption in countries not warzones
Corporate influence erodes
public understanding of the democratic process
media stereotyping around the world
representation of third world is negative in the media
Who controls the media in Authoritarian system?
rulers control media
Foregin correspondents
sources: Elites, government officials -report through Western coutnries geopolitical lens and reflects those interests -cpaital city biased, report more on government than everday people
What brought a vast amount of choices
statile broadcasting
Debate Movement became based on
the growing concerns of media and government censorship was being taken over by corporate ideology