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Soft Power Hard News

Soft Power Hard News: Episode 1

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Episode 1

BBC Radio 4 - Soft Power Hard News, Episode 1

How the power of the news media is used as a global government tool for influence.

Rajan Datar explores how emerging global superpowers in the Middle East and China are fighting a battle for our hearts and minds by wielding a new weapon of influence - news media.

The media is a global superpower in its own right, and in the struggle to make the world see a nation's point of view the news media is king. Thanks to its power to influence, the battle for control of the global news media has never been so intense. It's the battle for 'soft power.'

In this two part series, Rajan Datar examines how organizations in China and the Middle East are flexing their media muscle and spending billions of dollars to win the hearts and minds of people around the world. He'll investigate who the key players are, who the winners will be and why it matters to us. 

In part one, Rajan explores the roots of the term Soft Power, and examines how the Middle East has wholeheartedly embraced the notion that news brings influence. Crucially though, as the Arab Spring has proven, its influence isn't just one of high-level diplomacy. 

On the other side of the globe, China's CCTV is fast expanding, and now has a vast newsroom in London, and operations around the world. Like France 24, Russia 24, Press TV (Iran), Al Jazeera, and many more, CCTV is the latest attempt for a nation to make the world see things through their eyes, and it's backed by serious government fund. But, as Rajan discovers in part two, those funds make no difference without credibility and some semblance of independence. 

As the planet's diplomatic borders are re-drawn through the media, Soft Power Hard News examines how the new world order is taking shape. Former media superpowers like the BBC World Service are shrinking, and increasingly wealthy and powerful new ones are vying for their place. But who will win, and what will the planet's media landscape look like in five years time?


Producer: Paul Hardy
A Moonbeam Films production for BBC Radio 4.

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How the power of the news media is used as a global government tool for influence

Rajan Datar explores how emerging global superpowers in the Middle East and China are fighting a battle for our hearts and minds by wielding a new weapon of influence - news media

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