Media Diplomacy Research Articles

The Role of Media Diplomacy in Shaping the State’s International Image

The article attempts to determine the role of media diplomacy in shaping the state's image in the international arena. Media diplomacy under the conditions of globalization transformed geopolitical relations and changed the hierarchical system of foreign policy decision-making, highlighting the competition among states for the opportunity to influence public opinion. The information policy of the state involves not only the dissemination of positive information about it in the international information space, but also the integration of politicians, state government structures, non-state actors, famous personalities, and opinion leaders into the brand management system of the state's national policy. At the same time, the use of social media platforms in the implementation of diplomatic activities has led to the fact that any user of a social network today is not only a consumer of information, but also a direct supplier and distributor of it, meaning they have the opportunity to influence the adoption of certain decisions at the state level and shape in this way the image of the state. The article analyzes the use of media diplomacy mechanisms in the formation of Ukraine's image, identifies positive and negative aspects, and discusses prospects for its development.

An Examination of the Role of U.S. Media Diplomacy in the Second Gulf War (The 2003 Invasion of Iraq)

An Examination of the Role of U.S. Media Diplomacy in the Second Gulf War (The 2003 Invasion of Iraq)

China's soft power projection through the Chinese media: assessing the implications of Chinese media on Africans' perception of China's national image

PurposeThis article examines the effect of China's soft power projection through the Chinese media in Africa on the African audiences' perception of China's national image through a case study of the residents of Nairobi. It adopted Joseph Nye's soft power model and sought to address three fundamental questions : What is the extent and objective of China's media diplomacy in Africa? How has China's media “offensive” in Africa impacted African audiences' imagery of China? What are the implications, if any, of China's media diplomacy on the Kenyan public view of China?Design/methodology/approachThis article used a mixed-methods research design, which deployed elements of positivism and interpretivism. It used a deductive approach and deployed the survey strategy, which entailed the collection of data from Nairobi city residents. The secondary data were collected from relevant academic literature sources. The primary data were analyzed empirically using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), while the secondary data were analyzed using discourse analysis.FindingsChina's soft power projection through the Chinese media in Africa is aimed at addressing the “misinformation” about China. China seeks its share of representation among the African public to correct negative perceptions of China. Kenyans had a generally positive attitude toward China. South Africa and Angola have “Fairly” positive perceptions of the Chinese media. However, this study did not reveal whether the perception was due to the influence of Chinese media. These findings implied that the African public's positive imagery of China cannot be fully attributed to Chinese media's influence.Originality/valueThis study is groundbreaking in that it is one of the few studies that have focused on China's public diplomacy in Africa and assessed the impact of Chinese media on the African public’s perception of China.

The Return of Media Diplomacy: Examples from Kosovo

After the Cold War, states focused their campaigns on self‐promotion on the global stage, so media diplomacy has been pushed to the periphery, hence not being a central research theme. However, the geopolitical clashes over Kosovo and the war in Ukraine have repositioned the role of media diplomacy in international politics. This paper aims to analyze Kosovo's media diplomacy in the following key moments: at the time of the declaration of independence (2008), and during the Russian aggression in Ukraine (2022). Data were collected from global media such as CNN, Al Jazeera, Reuters, and The New York Times, which have given space to Kosovo’s political actors and influential global politicians. The US president Bush was the example of the enormous media coverage in 2008. Messages of these communications were analyzed using the framing method. The results show that media diplomacy revived in three cases: before and after Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, and again in 2022, with the fear that the Russian scenario for Ukraine would be followed by Serbia against Kosovo. Also, media diplomacy today establishes communications between countries with no diplomatic relations and even between countries with strained relationships.

Social networks, disinformation and diplomacy: a dynamic model for a current problem

The potential of social networks for the circulation of disinformation as a strategy of diplomacy has been of great interest to the academic community, but the way in which it is propagated and modelled is still in its beginnings. This article aimed to simulate the propagation of disinformation in social networks derived from the diplomacy strategy, based on the elements of the system. The main research question that was opened up was how do the elements of disinformation derived from the social media diplomacy strategy interact to affect a susceptible population? For the design of the simulation model, system dynamics was used as the main technique in the re-search methodology in conjunction with statistical analysis. Five computational simulations were run for the adoption methods of susceptible and uninformed population, misinformation techniques and echo chamber. The model developed found that the diplomacy disinformation agent is able to spread its message efficiently through the bot outreach mechanism and only a part of the susceptible population unsubscribes to the disinformation agent’s account. Significant differences were identified in the absence of paid outreach, bots and trolls in the propagation of information, and in the variation in the timing of disinformation propagation. Consequently, the developed model allows the understanding of the problem of disinformation as a strategy of diplomacy from international rather than local dynamics, as well as the effects of the use of each element in the system.

Do MENA countries practice digital diplomacy? An analysis of their embassies’ websites in Spain

This research carries out an analysis of the websites published by MENA countries’ embassies with a presence in Spain, in order to understand whether they practice digital diplomacy. Such activity is a low-cost, wide-ranging public diplomacy tool. The analysis covers a two-year period (2020-2022) that coincides with the Covid-19 pandemic, a context that prompted the digitization of many sectors. The article contributes to the literature on Arab and Israeli digital diplomacy, as well as on digital diplomacy as practiced by embassies. Specifically, this exploratory analysis examines the webpages and published press notes of four countries’ embassies, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, Morocco, and Qatar. These countries were chosen because they have the most robust websites in Spanish, together with the fact that they were the MENA countries whose governments pioneered the use of Twitter as an instrument of digital diplomacy. The article examines the topics and interpretations provided by the press notes published on these embassies’ websites. A discourse analysis methodology with references to the original sources is applied. Topics and interpretations are classified into four types of public diplomacy: media diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, niche diplomacy and nation branding. The conclusion is that the MENA countries studied neglect digital diplomacy on their websites in Spain, missing out on the opportunities it represents. The apparently four most digitized embassies in this group have errors on their webpages and often only publish messages from their respective foreign ministries, focusing on regional and internal issues rather than on their bilateral relationship with Spain. This is especially true of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Effects of a Politician’s Social Media Communication and the Trip’s Purpose on Global Travel

ABSTRACT Although many political leaders communicate with foreign leaders and publics through social media, limited knowledge exists concerning its impact on global travel. However, signaling theory suggests that a political leader’s social media communication signals their honest feelings regarding a country. In response, that country’s residents counter signal via travel behaviors toward the country whose leader made the remarks. When a political leader’s communication is positive toward a country, it is called social media diplomacy (SMD). Comparatively, negative communication is called damaging political rhetoric (ANTI-SMD). Furthermore, this study examined whether a trip’s purpose moderates SMD and ANTI-SMD effects on global travel. Resultantly, SARIMAX time-series modeling found SMD had positive effects on pleasure travel flow and no impact on business or student travelers, while ANTI-SMD caused pleasure travelers to avoid a destination.

Investigating the Impact of Perceived Media Diplomacy on Tourism Industry

Investigating the Impact of Perceived Media Diplomacy on Tourism Industry

RETHINKING MEDIA DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOWARDS A NEW CONCEPT: DIGITAL MEDIA DIPLOMACY

RETHINKING MEDIA DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOWARDS A NEW CONCEPT: DIGITAL MEDIA DIPLOMACY

CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPERIENCES OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA DIPLOMACY: A CASE STUDY OF AL JAZEERA IN QATAR

As a new diplomatic form produced by media organizations in the process of modern diplomatic interaction, media diplomacy is not only the main way to publicize foreign policies, but also an important tool to implement diplomatic strategies. The rise of Al Jazeera has produced positive effects on the regional and even international scale. Al Jazeera has laid a solid soft power foundation for the implementation of Qatar’s foreign policy by enhancing its agenda-setting capabilities, building a global communication network, and promoting digital media transformation. Al Jazeera’s successful experience in development model and media diplomacy is of great reference value for exploring new paths of international communication in the field of international politics.

Trump and Biden's Covid 19 Policy Narrative on Twitter

Social media can be one of the tools of state diplomacy to provide information to the public, change public perceptions and ultimately influence public behaviour. During the pandemic, social media has become one of the strategic diplomatic tools to reach the public and governments of other countries. In addition to conveying information about state policies in dealing with the pandemic, social media is also a means for the state to influence the public and other countries in taking a stand against the pandemic. This article looks at the policies and communication efforts of the two American Presidents on Twitter social media related to the Covid19 Pandemic through the descriptive analysis method. A structural approach to the concept of social media diplomacy is used to show that the narrative on Twitter influences the perception and behaviour of its users. This research found that the different narratives on Twitter and the differences in user perceptions and behaviours, indicating that social media diplomacy has a real impact on user perceptions and behaviour.

Kenya’s digital diplomacy amid COVID-19: New tools in an old toolbox?

ABSTRACT Digital diplomacy has become indispensable amid COVID-19-imposed travel restrictions, social distancing and stay at home guidelines, causing many African countries to increasingly utilise social media platforms for the conduct of diplomacy. This study examines how the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) practises digital diplomacy, and specifically ‘social media diplomacy’. It analyses the MFA’s posts on Twitter and Facebook in terms of content, in addition to a network analysis of connections. The study aimed to determine the government’s tactics and strategies, and to consider its challenges. Findings indicate that the number of social media connections have not changed significantly relative to the pre-COVID-19 period, suggesting that while the MFA is equipped to deploy social media diplomacy to conduct public diplomacy, its tactics and strategies are not optimal. This article proposes alternative tactics and strategies, such as networking and coalition-building with other actors, to achieve the country’s overall foreign policy objectives.

Contesting the “Bad Hombres” Narrative: U.S. and Mexican Media Diplomacy and Presidential Strategic Narratives about Immigrants

Abstract During the candidacy and following the election of U.S. president Donald Trump, there was an emphasis on framing the Mexican immigrant as a criminal and on building a wall between the United States and Mexico. This narrative revived the debate on the treatment of immigrants and immigration in cross-national media. Within this context, this study analyzes the construction of the image of the Mexican migrant to the United States by both (former) President Enrique Peña Nieto and President Donald Trump during the first 100 days of the latter’s presidency, through news stories published in two U.S newspapers and two Mexican newspapers. Findings show that news stories describe Mexican migrants in contrasting ways, ranging from criminals (in the U.S. framing) to good migrants (in the Mexican efforts), and both frames are picked up by the transnational media, hindering long-standing public diplomacy efforts in both countries.

Digital diplomacy: Internet-based public diplomacy activities or novel forms of public engagement?

Digital public diplomacy or digital diplomacy can be viewed as an Internet-based amplification of public diplomacy activities or as a novel set of practices enabled by participatory communication technologies. This tension is addressed through thematic content analysis of the Facebook posts and tweets of six actors. Results indicate that although the vast majority of the digital diplomacy could be classified according to Cull’s taxonomy of public diplomacy activities (The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 616: 31–54, 2008), several posts and tweets could not be well placed into the taxonomy. An exploratory technological affordances approach locates four novel activities: engagement–promotion, routine lifestyle diplomacy, personal reaction/reflection diplomacy and Internet meme diplomacy. These are proposed as a standalone public diplomacy activity classification, social digital media diplomacy. The study also supplies evidence for differentiating digital diplomacy actors prior to analysis of activities: two US, two Swedish and two Indian actors are distinguished according to perceived stance toward participatory digital culture and ostensible emphases placed on cultural diplomacy and establishing conversation with publics. Implications from the perspectives of communication and international relations are discussed.

"Polydiplomacy" as a confrontational model of modern relations of the Collective West with Russia

Multyaceted Diplomacy as the modern Confrontation Model of "Collective West" against Russian Federation. This article is dedicated to the exceptionally complex relationship between Russia and "Collective West" (Western European countries) instigated by the USA where US is provoking anti-Russian sanctions and acts as a catalyst of large–scale confrontations against Russian Federation. The author pays special attention to the systematic confrontation launched against the leadership of Russia since 2014. The forms and methods of anti — Russian policy and diplomacy are analyzed through the model of multifaceted "polidiplomacy" (the pressure diplomacy, sanction diplomacy, informational (media) diplomacy, as well as "diplomacy" of challenges, threats, and blackmail, and the newest type of diplomacy — the "pandemic diplomacy". Despite the difference of forms and specific realization methods for each particular sub-model, their main purpose of it is to inflict the maximum damage/destruction to the very existence of Russia using sanctions as its principal practice. The article analyzes the peculiarities of political pressure and enforcements of anti-Russian policy launched during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joseph Biden who were actively supported by the UK leadership and a number of European Union members.

Nature Of Media Diplomacy In Influencing Foreign Policy Decision Making Process In Kenya

The media's diplomatic function has been studied in relation to the advanced communication technologies that have led to the allocation of a more far- reaching role to the media in the conduct of diplomacy. The main research gap that this study aims at covering lies in the actual media diplomacy influence on the foreign policy decision making process at implementation phase. Despite the attention given to the media's potential to affect foreign policy decisions, their involvement is still confined to a largely instrumental role and more importantly, one that influences the process of decision making, rather than the decision outcomes. This study analysed media diplomacy influence on foreign policy decision making process in Kenya at implementation phase. The objective of this study was to examine the nature of media diplomacy in influencing foreign policy decision making process in Kenya. It is established that media plays a complementary role to diplomacy in foreign policy implementation and hence shapes the outcome of foreign policy in Kenya. The article concludes that media diplomacy can play a significant role in the foreign policy implementation. The study hence recommends that Kenya should establish a strong regional media network, an effective diplomatic strategy to bridge the gaps in foreign policy process and train diplomats on effective media relations.

Media diplomacy in public administration: analysis of the effectiveness of Ukrainian national branding

Since 1991, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly changed the vector of the country's development depending on the views and intentions of the ruling politicians, which has led to negative consequences for the development of all spheres of activity of Ukrainians. One of these consequences is a decrease in the country's authority in the world community. Among the threats facing our state on the way to protection of national interests and national security, the most vulnerable link was the information sphere. It should be noted that the issue of coordinated and proper use of communication opportunities at all levels of public policy – public diplomacy, public relations, military relations, information and psychological operations, measures aimed at promoting the goals of the state has always been acute. Public diplomacy is the realization of the soft power of the country in the international arena, the promotion of the interests of the state in the world by mobilizing the support of the foreign community. This support is achieved by stimulating the desire of the foreign community to consume the ideals of democracy, good governance, integrity, prosperity, security, success and unlimited opportunities for human development. Public diplomacy is one of the components of strategic communications, which has a key task – the formation of the image of the state and its institutions at the international level, the consolidation of important brands in the global information space. The development of state branding should be based primarily on the formation of the state/institutional narrative and broadcast to different target audiences. Thus, public diplomacy involves the formation of the image of all institutional components of the state. The success of economic growth and the dynamic development of relations with other countries largely depends on how the country's brand is formed and promoted in the domestic and global markets. Creating a positive image of the country should be the subject of special attention of the Government and any composition of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine. The most effective tool of public diplomacy is the media and social networks, which, as mass media, should work to promote national ideas among the population of the country and outside Ukraine.

Knowing our air from them: Exploring perception of foreign media affinity, dependency and accessibility as activators for Chinese publics

This study explores the effect of foreign media on publics’ psychological activeness during a foreign media–spurred national problem: air pollution in China. Building on theories of media diplomacy and public relations, it finds that affinity with foreign media significantly activates Chinese publics to engage communication actions against air pollution, as it relieves publics’ constraint recognition. Dependency on foreign media also mediates such an effect. Moreover, the results show that perceived accessibility of foreign media heightens such mediation, such that when access to foreign media is low, the direct activation effect of foreign media vaporizes.

Latin American Nations at a Crossroads: Status‐quo or Policy Change?

This first issue of Latin American Policy for 2020 takes the pulse of major events in the region. Readers will find six well-written research articles dealing with policy challenges in key Latin American countries. Élodie Brun and Kevin Parthenay offer a sociological study on how states and institutional actors within the United Nations deal with the Venezuelan crisis and Nicaraguan issues under their respective agendas, highlighting the “multiple voices” that coexist in the multilateral organization. Felipe Brasil, Ana Claudia Niedhardt Capella, and EJ Fagan elaborate an innovative approach to explain public policy in Brazil by applying the punctuated equilibrium theory to agenda setting in the country. Victoria Finn and Sebastián Umpierrez de Reguero’s contribution highlights the language, timing, and implementation of Chile’s current migratory policies, considering whether they seek simply to satisfy international standards, with no true inclusivity. Our first section also includes two studies on Colombia. Catalina Montoya Londoño explores the divergent media diplomacy messages that the United States and the European Union use when reporting on the fragile peace process in the country, while Milan Skolnik studies the repercussions of corruption on political participation. Finally, this section includes research by John P. Tuman and Hafthor Erlingsson explaining the rationale behind Chinese foreign direct investment in Mexico in recent years. Since Latin America is currently a hot spot for many diverse phenomena and challenges, we have invited respected specialists to cover significant issues on the front burner today. Our Policy and Perspectives sections include different essays assessing current key aspects of human rights in Bolivia, the triumph of the Peronists in the last Argentine presidential election, social upheaval in Chile, the political impasse in Venezuela, and Mexico’s relationship with the United States after the first year of the López Obrador administration. The aim of all these documents and essays is to inform our readers and give them the necessary tools to decodify the specific situations taking place in these countries, which find themselves trapped between tried and true policy options that stick to the status quo, or new ones that could prompt changes. Isidro Morales is a researcher and professor in the School of Government and Public Transformation at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an external fellow of the Mexico–United States Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

United States and European Union Online Media Diplomacy in Colombia: Mixed Messages in the Promotion of a Fragile Peace

The signing of the revised Peace Agreement by the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and its ratification by the Colombian Congress in November 2016, marked not only a promising stage in the resolution of the armed conflict but also a challenging stage in the sustainability of multilateral peacebuilding efforts. Drawing on qualitative framing analysis, this article explores whether differing frames projected by the United States and the European Union shaped cooperative or competitive efforts for peace between the signing of the revised Peace Agreement and the forming of President Ivan Duque's new Colombian government by December 2018. The results highlight competitive U.S. and European Union priorities regarding the agreement; while the United States made it a function of the war on drugs, the European Union maintained fundamentally a commitment to its implementation.