Transnational Broadcasting in the Indo Pacific

This book lays out the argument for a full re-boot of a well-funded and independent Australian public broadcaster that operates transnationally to provide trustworthy journalism in the Indo-Pacific region. As the provider of trusted news and information it is argued that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is ideally positioned to amplify local voices and promote peace and security. By emphasising the need in the Indo-Pacific for Australian-produced journalism that can be disseminated across radio, television, online, social media and digital channels, thiss chapter sets up the book as a coherent work that explores the changing media landscape, the strategic importance of the Indo-Pacific, and the rise of transnational broadcasting services from countries, such as The People’s Republic of China, which do not share the same public service broadcasting heritage. It also examines the interplay between public diplomacy, propaganda, and journalism in the digital era, as well as the impact of social and mobile media on journalism during times of disaster. The book highlights the importance of fact-checking, verification, and media literacy, and provides a case study to illustrate the concerns which have arisen in Solomon Islands. It concludes that increased funding and support is necessary for Australia to operate a trusted transnational broadcaster in the region to counter disinformation and strengthen public service media.

This chapter establishes the context for understanding the importance of transnational broadcasting for nation states, defines what we mean by the Indo-Pacific region, and briefly discusses the defence and other geopolitical conditions that influence the funding of broadcasters within an increasingly global media ecosystem. It notes that broadcast technology and digital platforms are changing the way the media operates in the region acknowledging that more than two billion people now using a Meta product (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp). By drawing on literature across media, international relations and defence, this chapter considers the value of transnational broadcasters and their influence in the media sector before establishing the overall argument that, despite changes in technology, international broadcasting has value well beyond geo-strategic factors.

Access to independent trusted journalism in the Indo-Pacific requires a range of reception methods that rely on radio waves, shortwave frequencies, satellites signals, or undersea Internet cables. Drawing from interviews with leading journalists and broadcast managers across the region, this chapter outlines the significance of some of the changes to transnational news distribution. Acknowledging that governments and private entities can use the technology to block or support news and information getting to populations, this chapter pay particular attention to the security concerns that have arisen as a result of increasing reliance on the Internet, social media, and smart phone capabilities to publish and distribute information and particular concerns around the ownership of newer low-earth satellite technology.

Almost every developed country has a transnational broadcaster, associated on-demand services, and social media channels that are government or state supported which broadcast their country’s values to the world. This chapter is focused on public service broadcasters that produce news and current affairs in and for the Indo-Pacific with a particular emphasis on those that have editorial independence (China is discussed in depth in Chap. 5). This chapter features interviews with English and Australian journalists who have worked for state broadcasters from Russia and China to better understand news making decisions in those organisations. This chapter accepts that responsive, informative, analytic, and intelligent news and current affairs is critical to the survival and nurturing of a democratic culture and argue further, when a country cannot provide its own independent news service, that public service focused transnational broadcasters have an important role to play.

In consideration of the advancement of Internet and digital technologies, this chapter delves into strategic approaches and historical developments in establishing and expanding international broadcasting service networks in the global arena, specific to the case of China. This chapter examines the apparent motivation of these moves and the implications for the rest of the world. With the focus on the English-language international offering provided by the four state-run Chinese media outlets, known as the “Big Four”, including Xinhua News Agency, Central China Television (renamed as China Global Television Network), China Radio International, and China Daily, the discussion explores the broader implications of the rise of international broadcasting services for the expansion of international relations, beliefs, and ideologies.

This chapter embarks on a critical discussion about the interplay among news networks and owners, and the deployment of public diplomacy tactics in contemporary transnational broadcasting. Looking at the current thinking around public diplomacy and journalism, as well as the three models of international broadcasting in public diplomacy, it puts forth the emerging model for guiding the engagement of broadcasting with mediated public diplomacy within the digital media landscape. The discussion is based upon the seminal work of Philip Seib and others supported by the empirical observation of the journalistic practice of international broadcasters in the virtual space. It specifically discusses the dilemma between public diplomacy and propaganda within international broadcasting in journalistic practice.

This chapter looks at the rapid uptake of social and mobile media and its impact on broadcast journalism practices in the Indo-Pacific. Using interviews with working journalists from mainstream news outlets focusing on disaster and crisis reporting, this chapter examines how social media platforms have changed the way broadcast journalists work with communities. This chapter discusses how journalists from advanced liberal democracies have been the dominant disseminators of information about communities in the Indo-Pacific to the rest of the world. It then discusses the shift in the production of journalistic content from professional journalists to ordinary citizens through the increase in the availability of mobile devices which allow people to post and livestream their raw, unique eyewitness material. Outlining the way in which new technologies have changed how journalists engage with communities, this chapter notes the vulnerabilities ordinary people have when they take on the role of communicator. It shows that technologies have empowered communities and, as a result of COVID-19, forever changed the way journalists work. Significantly it underscores the continued importance of journalists partnering with people to tell stories to the rest of the world.

This chapter sets out to discuss the impact of fake news on Indo-Pacific communities. In the first section it notes that media literacy is a problem across much of the region. In the second section it discusses the scale of the problem using interviews with working journalists in the Indo-Pacific to capture how they are increasingly using verification techniques, before looking at moderation and training of citizens, to illustrate how reporting techniques are adapting during the twenty-first century. We argue that greater fact-checking and verification training of journalists in the Indo-Pacific is needed, and while we acknowledge that public education in media is vital, we demonstrate how professional journalists can play a part in the solution.

The need for trusted transnational broadcasters to provide journalism to other countries is demonstrated with a case study of Solomon Islands. This small island state has attracted considerable international media attention since it switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China. This chapter acknowledges the value of support from transnational broadcasters, including aid which supports local media workers with training and partnerships. We focus on Solomon Islands as a case study as it is one of a number of Indo-Pacific nations with a weak democracy and struggling media sector that has been specifically targeted for help from countries such as China, Australia and Japan.

There is no more time to waste in ensuring ongoing funding for Australia’s transnational broadcast voice in the Indo-Pacific, focused on the new digital age. This book has acknowledged that many of the countries in the Indo-Pacific are under intense pressure from a range of actors, and has argued that Australia’s public broadcaster the ABC is best-placed to assist its neighbours, particulaly those which have under-developed local news and information eco-systems. While a recent boost to Australian public broadcast funding in the region, and further Australian government funding for development aid, has been welcomed, these funds are not guaranteed for the long term, and are tied to the generosity of the elected government of the day; this is certainly not enough to regain trust in the region, nor support the many and varied information needs of countries of the Indo-Pacific. It is time for Australia to broaden its view from supporting just its closest neighbours in the Pacific, to the wider Indo-Pacific. With climate change, the increasingly fraught relations between nations, and the complex political, security and media environment, Australia has an opportunity to increase transnational broadcast funding and ensure that this service is safe from future government or internal management cuts. If Australia is to meet the strategic ambitions for the region by China, or indeed the ambitions of other nations, it must take a long-term multi-generational vision to the region including securing widespread regional support through long-term funding for its trasnational broadcast and digital news services.