A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC NEWS REPORTS ON THE US AND NIGERIA’S FOREIGN POLICY DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

It is unarguable that modern media has profoundly changed the political impact of information around the world, particularly, through the emergence of global satellite delivery systems which has enabled real time or on the spur of the moment reporting. As its objective, the paper attempts to highlight both the positive and negative impacts of the media on the development and implementation of the domestic and international foreign policy making process of the US and Nigeria. The method utilized for the paper was a historical research design for a systematic evaluation of the role of the media in policy implementation with specific reference to the emergence and influence of the ‘’CNN Effect’’. This was done in line with two theoretical frameworks: manufacturing consent and the constraint models. While in the former, the government uses the media to propagate its objectives, the later, views the constraints imposed by human factor on governmental decision making. The paper highlights the domestic and international functions of the media with specific reference to the ‘’CNN Effect’’ which acts as a catalyst and watchdog to policy making in both countries. In its findings, the study observed that the media can play many roles, and through the evolution of technology it had become the catalyst that alters the environment in which international actors interact. In effect therefore, the evolution of the media has affected humanity not only in the structure of the international system, but has equally played significant role in the domestic and political environment of nation states, which directly or indirectly impact foreign policy. This paper furthermore establishes the fact that the media is an integral part of foreign policy of a state.