Effects of Globalization on Media Coverage of Public Administration

Abstract

One aspect of the globalization of public administration that has received only scant attention has been media coverage and media relations. Yet, the CNN-ization of media coverage has led to an American style of reporting about public administration globally: superficial, negative, scandal-oriented and episodic. Public administrators everywhere can adapt to this emerging global phenomenon by honing their media relations skills and by finding ways to bypass the media and communicate directly with the citizenry. In particular, the parallel global trend of e-government presents the possibility of updating the 20th-century practice of public reporting. Government-to-citizen (G2C) e-gov technology permits public managers to report directly, effectively, frequently and inexpensively to the citizenry, irrespective of media interest. This form of 21st-century public accountability is called e-reporting.