Chapter 1. Introduction
1.8. Chapter arrangement
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RT covers "international events, turned out to often be under-reported international stories or coverage which gives a "fresh perspective on an international story that they were not getting anywhere else" (McAthy, 2013). For example, it introduces the Russian position on the 9/11 events, new information about the war in Georgia in 2008 and the Syrian crisis39. This method is not the feature of the Russian project only, but also of its foreign counterparts.
Thus, BBC News content and the BBC World, as well as the American CNN and CNN International differ significantly from each other.
However, according to several foreign media materials, RT is a long-term funding priority; it plays a significant part in how Putin wishes to run his country. Despite this, foreign media states that RT does not lie, but it is selective about what facts it uses (Newstatesman, 2016).
Russia Today is a channel, which aims to build its own "image for others". If we compare RT materials to that in federal broadcast channels for a domestic audience, we can see a twofold situation. On the one hand, RT actively uses creative techniques, familiar to a Western audience, such as live broadcasts via Skype, or an invitation for foreign journalists to visit Russian hinterland. On the other hand, the international television broadcast paradoxically remains conservative, because conservatism is the official Russian ideology.40 It is noteworthy, that Russia Today has tighter schedule educational programs that focus on the scientific, cultural and ethnographic aspects of Russian life, rather than on the federal channels (Kalinina, 2012). Even though this is due to the tasks of creating a positive public image abroad, sometimes there is a situation when the western viewer learns more facts from the history and present days of one’s country, rather than the domestic ones.
1.8. Chapter arrangement
This thesis is comprised of five chapters. The first chapter is a prologue to this research paper, which outlines the background and purpose of the research; determines the significance of this topic and research objectives; describes the using methodology, empirical base and provides theoretical framework, based on four variables, such as public diplomacy
39 The Syrian civil war is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria in which international interventions have taken place. The war grew out of the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and escalated to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad's government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. The war is now being fought among several factions: the Syrian Government, a loose alliance of Syrian Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front) who often co-operate with the rebels, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
40 In a message to the Federal Assembly on December 12, 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a stand for defense of conservative values, due to which Russia should resist the erosion of moral standards coming from the Western countries.
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and new public diplomacy or PD 2.0, nation branding and nation-state’s control over media to support the details of this thesis. This part also includes the research scope and limitation, main research questions to defense and literature review.
The second chapter “Theoretical Foundations of Public Diplomacy” introduces an overview of the evolution of theoretical foundations of public diplomacy, consisted of two subsections:
2.1. “Public Diplomacy” and its Basic Concepts” is devoted to the history and theoretical approaches to the PD in world politics.
2.2. “Public Diplomacy in the US and Russia” is about the main characteristics and examples of American and Russian public diplomacy.
The third chapter “Media as a Non-state Actor in Public Diplomacy of Foreign
States” is about an in-depth analysis of mass media as a non-state actor in PD of foreign
states and also consists of two subsections:3.1. “Media as an Actor of the World Public Diplomacy” deals with the role of mass media in communication among foreign countries, and creating their national image, where media got the name of the fourth estate. Being an organizer of information flows, media participates in the development of international affairs and, thus, considered to be a non-state actor in the international arena. This section also emphasizes the media functions as a subject of world politics and its role in world politics.
3.2. “The Concept of “Telediplomacy” in Contemporary International Relations”
focuses on the concept of telediplomacy, its key objectives in global television policy. It also deals with the “CNN effect” and potential global television abilities.
The fourth chapter “The Position and Impacts of National News Networks (CNN
and Russia Today) in Contemporary International Relations” has two subsections,
describing the position of national news networks (CNN and Russia Today) in contemporary international relations.4.1. “CNN as a Building Mechanism of International Relations” describes the history and principles of CNN broadcasting system, based on the concept of news exclusivity. In this part, CNN is also seen as a mechanism, capable of influencing the outcome of world events, through broadcasting news about domestic and international armed conflicts and wars, giving the examples of CCN role during the Gulf War41, the crisis in the Balkans in 199942, the
41 The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation
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Genocide in Rwanda43, etc. Finally, it addresses the role of CNN in promoting US foreign policy.
4.2. “Russia Today and its Role in International Relations” introduces the history of Russia Today news network. It is supposed to form an alternative view of international relations, which, somehow, destroys the monopoly of the Western television networks about the interpretation of what is happening in the world. This part also claims that RT is the information tool of Russian foreign policy, influencing not only on people engaged in the areas of a decision-making process but also on a wide audience.
The fifth chapter, or conclusion, addresses the research questions, summarizing the
major attributes, evaluating strength and weaknesses of national news networks impact on international relations and comparison of merits and demerits of CNN and RT.Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase, was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
42 The Yugoslav Wars were ethnic conflicts fought from 1991 to 2001 inside the territory of the former Yugoslavia. These wars accompanied and/or facilitated the breakup of the country, when its constituent republics declared independence, but the issues of ethnic minorities in the new countries (chiefly Serbs in central parts and Albanians in the southeast) were still unresolved at the time the republics were recognized internationally. The wars are generally considered to be a series of separate but related military conflicts which occurred in, and affected, most of the former Yugoslav republics.
43 The Rwandan genocide, known officially as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a genocidal mass slaughter of Tutsi in Rwanda by members of the Hutu majority government. An estimated 500,000–1,000,000 Rwandans were killed during the 100-day period from April 7 to mid-July 1994, constituting as many as 70% of the Tutsi and 20% of Rwanda's total population.