Thursday, April 2, 2009
Thumbs up for Obama, thumbs down for riots
World leaders at the G20 London Summit tackled tough questions concerning the global economy, regional wars and climate change. Despite the afternoon's gruesome agenda, President Obama took a moment before the meeting to strike a pose with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (above middle) and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (above right). It makes me wonder what they were saying to one another, teeth gritted while smiling. I wish politicians acted this goofy more often. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw some of the other leaders in the photo, particularly the man in the bottom left corner glaring at the camera. Does anyone know who the guy in the top right corner is? I couldn't seem to find a caption with his name.
Whoever took this photo struck gold. Not only is Dmitry Medvedev smiling, the photograph was an opportune moment that may have eased tensions between leaders, and possibly, their constituents. Today, countries such as the U.S., Italy and Russia are connected primarily through the Internet - which makes photography like this even more important.
International events, including the G20 summit, raise a larger question: are these meetings solely for the promotion of diplomatic relations, or is the meeting increasingly aimed at the media so journalists can provide transparent and cooperative impressions of global politicians to the public? In my opinion, most decisions involving international relations and diplomacy are made behind closed doors. I would argue that the topics and speeches at conferences like the G20 are well-rehearsed and are meant more for the media and public than for other establishing legitimate relations between countries. If this is the case, the public may be cheated out of authentic discourse, but at least the discussions aim to inform people about current policies that surround international issues. I'm interested to hear if anyone has any other ideas on the topic. Here are more images from the G20 conference.
On the other hand, the following CNN video shows the heavier side of the conference. As protestors gathered outside, tensions rose between the crowd and London police force. Though the majority of the protestors were peaceful, others provoked violence and quarreled with the police. As seen in the video, CNN reporter Nic Robertson and his crew were in the middle of all the action - even getting pushed around a few times. The video is an excellent example of how public events, especially involving protestors, can suddenly turn violent and dangerous. This is a consideration many journalists must make before deciding to travel to world events or entering investigative journalism.
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Very well-written post. I definitely think that these summits are spaces in which politicians can share "well-rehearsed" speeches with the public. However, I am sure that some "authentic discourse" does take place behind closed doors. You mention that reporters often encounter hidden dangers at these world events; what other challenges do you think that journalists face in covering these events?
ReplyDeletePerhaps the technicalities of reporting "on the go" would be an obstacle, especially in a foreign country. Many of the editing and multimedia skills that we have discussed in this course would be useful. I can imagine reporters writing stories and uploading them to the Internet directly from their phones. In addition, access would seem to be another large problem. With security measures and thousands of other media personnel from other countries, reporters and photographers must compete to produce the best product in the least amount of time.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I like how you assess the impact a picture can have on people's perceptions of government relations. Although I have to admit that Obama and company definitely look like they're striking a pose here. It just doesn't seem real to me. Almost like a photo shoot for some celebrity bash or something.
ReplyDeleteIt's a frustrating issue you bring up with the role of journalists in covering politics. As we've discussed in class, it's a journalist's duty to deliver the news in unbiased fashion to the general public. Because of this, journalists are encouraged never to submit to authority figures and not to pull any punches in their reporting, as it were. Naturally, politicians don't like this about journalists, and if they are in control of the information, they can bend it however they want -- in which case most journalists would probably be none the wiser. The question is, if journalists are cheated, so is the public -- so does anyone ever know what's actually going on, or are government leaders able to hold a veil over the world as to what's actually going on?
You raise a good point and a question which I myself have pondered. You seem to answer your own question pretty much the same way I would have: these summit meetings (as with almost every other publicized meeting) is entirely rehearsed. Little is ever done and like you said, most decicisions are made behind closed doors. The G20 summit is without a doubt a publicity stunt, and any real progress that is made is just improving public relations and finalizing any decisions that have already been made. Good post, well-written.
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