IRL4075A: MECHANISM

OF INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
INTERNATIONAL
COMMUNICATION
 Overview of the Session
 Introduction
 What is international Communication?
 Purpose of International Communications
 Actors in International Communication
 Changes in International Communication
 International communication in the Internet age
 (Imbalance in) International Information flow
 The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO)
 Towards an integrative view of balanced information flow
 International Communication
The phenomenon of global communication as
we know it today is essentially the result of
technological advancements.
It probably started with the development of
advanced transport technology such as the
steam engine and the internal combustion
engine.
Currently it is primarily driven by the worldwide
proliferation of advanced information and
communication technologies (ICTs)
 Classic Understanding
Involves or is carried across or takes place between two
or more nation-states
Interactions between and among nation-states
International relations
Traditionally been associated with inter-state and inter-
governmental interactions
Diplomacy and government propaganda in which
powerful states dictate the communication agenda
Expansion of the Scope of IC
Communication across national borders has expanded to a
large diversity of business-to-business and people-to-people
interactions at a global level.
Not only the representatives of nation-states, but also a
variety of non-state actors such as international non-
governmental bodies, social movements as well as ordinary
individuals are increasingly shaping the nature of
transnational communication.
Communication between nation-states, institutions, groups
and individuals across national, geographical and cultural
borders
What is International Communication?
The term international communication means every aspect of communication involved in
the flow of cultural products across national boundaries- from direct satellite broadcasting
to individual “reading” of cultural commodities from other countries.
 Thussu defines international communication simply as communication that occurs
across international borders.
 Words, acts or attitudes can be depicted as international communication whenever they
impinge – intentionally or unintentionally – upon the minds of private individuals,
officials or groups from other countries (Massachusett’s Institute’s Center for
International Studies).
 International communication is an extremely broad field involving social conditions,
attitudes and institutions that have an effect on the production and/or reception of
various forms of communication among people.
 It recognises not only the media and technologies through which impulses pass, but also
the attitudes and social circumstances of the sources, the predisposition of receivers as
well as the effects and impact of the contents.
 Definition of IC cont.
International Communication means “beyond the
borders communication.”
International communication is defined as
communication that occurs across international borders.
International communication is also defined as the
transmission or transfer of media products (or the media
system itself) across national borders.
It is a branch of communication studies, concerned with
the scope of government-to- government, business-to-
business and people-to-people interaction at global level.
 Definition of IC cont.
International communication refers to a
more socio-political and economic analysis of
communication across national boundaries.
International communication refers to the
global dimension across the globe, between
nations for the expansion of national (imperial)
and corporate (business) power.
 Elements of Communication
1. Actors:
State or non-state actors are involve in this part. State means Government and non-
state actors like NGO, religious and business organization. Actors can be a:
 source/encoder / sender of communication, which/who sends the message.
The sender is therefore the initiator of the message that need to be transmitted.
 receiver/decoder, which responds via feedback with the person or the group of
people who sent the message.
2. A message: the information conveyed by words as in speech and write-ups, signs,
pictures or symbols.
3. Encoding: putting the targeted message into appropriate medium which may be verbal
or non-verbal.
4. Technology: channel to through which the message is conveyed. Possibilities of
communication breakdowns (Barrier) in each stage of communication.
5. Feedback : It refers to the response of the receiver as to the message sent to him/her
by the sender.
Actors in International Communication
What is meant by actors in international
relations? Actors in international relations
are the entities that make international
relations work.
These include State Actors, or countries,
and Non-state Actors, like intergovernmental
organizations, non-governmental
organizations, and multinational enterprises.
 Scope of
International Communication
In this age of globalization, communication is not merely
confined within the national boundary.
International communication has included Political, Social,
Economic cultural and Military concerns.
Countries are exchanging their cultural, economical, social,
political, educational and technological affairs with each
other continuously.
In order to facilitate cooperation and communication among
countries, various regional and international bodies namely
the United Nations, World Bank, NAFTA, SAFTA, ASEAN,
SAARC, EU etc. have been formed.
Through these bodies, counties communicate various
bilateral and multilateral issues among them.
Tools of International Communication
Tools of International Communication cont -
Mass media .
The most common platforms of Mass media are newspapers,
magazines, radio, television and internet.
Due to mass media a information reach large numbers of
general people in a very short time.
Cultural communication is a form of communication that
aims to share information across different cultural.
It provide information about cultural norms, values and
traditions.
Student or teacher exchange program is the example of
cultural communication.
 The major news
agencies are as follow:
The Associated Press
of America (APA).
News agencies Agency France Press
 News agencies (AFP).
operate globally and
supply more than half of The United Press
the international news
to the media. International (UPI).
 When any development Reuters.
brings any part of the
world into global Specialized Agencies.
spotlight, it is these
news agencies that Financial News
report first.
Agencies.
 The major news channels are
as follow:
Cable News Network
(CNN) is the biggest world
International news channel. It influences
television news news agenda across the
 International television world and shaping
news or news channels international flow of
are also a big tool of communication. It was
international
communication. launched in 1980.
 Associated Press and After CNN, BBC is the
Reuters are providing second most important
the biggest
international television global television news
news services. broadcaster. It was
launched in 1955.
 Communication Technologies
 Global connectedness was enhanced by the development of ICTs such
as the telegraph and telephone; the laying of submarine cables between
Europe and the USA; the expansion of railroads and the development of
modern navigation with the help of newly developed radio technology.
 This period also saw the growth of the major international news
agencies in Europe and the United States
 The period was furthermore characterised by the hegemony of the great
European powers that used the developing communication
technologies, media and international news agencies not only to
enhance their powers globally and to acquire colonies and manage
empires, but also to foster Westernisation and Europeanisation around
the world.
 Democracy and Media
The rise of democracy and the attainment of
independence by many former colonies of the
great European powers also led to an increase
in the number of nation-states who participated
in the political, cultural and socio-economic
aspects of international communication
(Mowlana 1996).
During this period the USA emerged as the
dominant political power and increasingly
employed the media as well as ICTs not only for
 International
communication in the internet age
The convergence of telecommunication and
computing and the ability to move all type of data via
the internet and digitalized transmission have
revolutionized international information exchange; it is
occurring at a phenomenal rate
increased growth in computing capacity
reduction in costs Convergence of computing and
communication technologies have opened up potential
for global interconnectedness through the internet.
Effects of international Communication
The borders of nation-states have become porous as
the globalisation of technology has made it virtually
impossible for governments to regulate and control the
transborder flow of information and communication.
Global media systems have furthermore introduced
propaganda and public diplomacy as important factors
in international relations.
Global communication is radically redefining the nature
of both hard and soft power in international relations.
McLuhan’s (1964) notion of the global village
Socially, integrated global communication networks has to a
certain extent resulted in the realisation of McLuhan’s (1964)
notion of the global village with the emergence of, among
others, global interconnectedness, global consciousness and
global co-operation between NGOs in widely different areas
such as human rights, women’s rights and environmental
protection.
Social relations are no longer restricted to a particular space
or locality, but are dispersed globally and spatially as ICTs
create and maintain social relations irrespective of time and
space.
 New World Information/
Communication Order (NWICO)
The developing countries contended that the existing order had because of its
structural logic created a situation in which;
the information rich were in a position to dictate terms to the information poor,
thus creating a structure of dependency with widespread economic, political
and social ramifications for the poor societies;
this vertical flow (as opposed to a desirable horizontal flow of global
information) was dominated by the Western-based transnational corporations;
information was treated by the transnational media as a 'commodity' and
subjected to the rules of the market;
the entire information and communication order was a part of and in turn
propped up international inequality that created and sustained mechanisms of
neo-colonialism.
 Importance of
International Communication
In International level it became a big factor in
resolving global conflicts.
International Communication promotes mutual
understanding.
International Communication has included
Political, Social, Economic, Cultural and Military
Concerns.
It is influencing the policies of other nations by
appeals to its citizens through the mean of
THANK YOU