The Influence of the Media on Public Diplomacy

Elizaveta Egorova

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

My bachelor's work focuses on a specific angle - the critical role of media in public diplomacy while looking at the trends and patterns of world affairs. It discusses one of the ways that media is aptly used as a power instrument, assigning parties to pursue their objectives abroad and altering international understanding. The study aims to assess the transformative influence of media by examining different kinds of media: print, audiovisual, and digital. The theoretical part of the thesis is a view on the role of the media in diplomacy from the historical and functional point of view, the dissection of the dual nature of the media as, simultaneously, the tool of transparency of communication and the herald of propaganda. The qualitative research approach is about analyzing an interview with an expert from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which offers a chance to learn from the practical point of view of the role of media in diplomatic surroundings. Media is revealed in this case to have strong positive effects on the extent and force of public diplomacy while, at the same time, producing some significant drawbacks such as misinformation and perceptible prejudice in media and information filtering. In the end, this study shows us something about the mutual and complicated line between media and public diplomacy, and it brings forward the awareness of adaptive tactics needed to value media as a strategic partner in the subject of international relations in the modern world.

Abstract:

My bachelor's work focuses on a specific angle - the critical role of media in public diplomacy while looking at the trends and patterns of world affairs. It discusses one of the ways that media is aptly used as a power instrument, assigning parties to pursue their objectives abroad and altering international understanding. The study aims to assess the transformative influence of media by examining different kinds of media: print, audiovisual, and digital. The theoretical part of the thesis is a view on the role of the media in diplomacy from the historical and functional point of view, the dissection of the dual nature of the media as, simultaneously, the tool of transparency of communication and the herald of propaganda. The qualitative research approach is about analyzing an interview with an expert from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, which offers a chance to learn from the practical point of view of the role of media in diplomatic surroundings. Media is revealed in this case to have strong positive effects on the extent and force of public diplomacy while, at the same time, producing some significant drawbacks such as misinformation and perceptible prejudice in media and information filtering. In the end, this study shows us something about the mutual and complicated line between media and public diplomacy, and it brings forward the awareness of adaptive tactics needed to value media as a strategic partner in the subject of international relations in the modern world.

Keywords

Digital Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy, Strategic Communication, Social Media

Keywords

Strategic Communication, Social Media, Digital Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 26. 4. 2024

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 2024
• Supervisor: Jana Peterková
• Reader: Zuzana Trávníčková

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Bachelor programme:
International and Diplomatic Studies