Page 56 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 2 2012

explore engagement in
international development. We also
consulted with policy‐makers,
opinion leaders and bloggers to
understand where they get their
information from and the sources
they trust. Informed by the results
of national urban surveys and
discussions with citizens in all five
countries, we learned a great deal
about the central role that TV
broadcasters play in how citizens
understand international
development. Across all five
countries, TV channels were cited
as one of the main sources of
information on international
development by the largest
proportion of interested citizens.
KEY FINDINGS
In the West interested citizens
pointed to channels such as CNN,
Fox News, NBC, ABC (US), BBC,
Sky News and ITV (UK), ARD,
ZDF, RTL (Germany), TF1, France 2
and BFM (France) as sources of
information on international
development.
In China, Chinese Central
Television (CCTV) and provincial
TV stations were mentioned most
often as key sources by
respondents.
Online news sources play a
prominent role in France and the
UK — about four in 10 respondents
in these two countries cited news
websites as one of the main sources
of information on international
development. Although the use of
news websites among interested
citizens in the US is somewhat
lower, still one in ten US
respondents also reports using the
Internet to obtain information
about development issues.
Social media are not prominent
sources of information on
international development in
Western countries, but were cited
often by Chinese respondents.
While fewer than 10% of interested
citizens in each of the four Western
countries said they use any type of
social media for this purpose, 8% of
all respondents in China said they
use blogs (such as Tianya social
net), and 15% cited other social
networks such as Baidu, Weibo,
Tencent and RenRen to obtain
information on development issues.
CONSIDERATIONS FOR TV
Key findings which emerged in the
course of this study lead us to offer
the following considerations for TV
broadcasters covering international
development.
● Primary lens
International development is
largely viewed through the primary
lens of TV news coverage of and
on‐air appeals for humanitarian
and disaster relief efforts – floods,
hurricanes, earthquakes and
famines. This angle contributes
significantly to the audience
assumption that the problem is
short term and fixable by
delivering food and health supplies
to affected populations. Consider
reminding viewers that people in
developing countries are more
vulnerable during disasters
because of broader structural and
political problems.
● Providing context
Knowing the economic and
political conditions or
circumstances of a developing
country is key to the audience’s
understanding of an international
development story. Citizens in our
research talked about how their
own country’s national priorities
dictated their government’s
commitment to helping other
countries. Consider providing a
contextual focus to enable
audiences to see how situations in
developing countries evolve and
how they vary for different
countries.
● Multiple angles
As a news story, it is important to
give audiences a variety of reasons
or options to be interested in
international development. Our
research suggests that the
motivations for citizens to become
interested in international
development are as varied as are
the activities they engage in ‐
volunteering, donating,
petitioning, protesting etc.
Consider offering audiences a
number of angles or entry points
into the issue, not just one.
● Interconnectedness
Demonstrating how political
decisions, cultures, countries and
economies are interconnected is a
key element in communicating the
complexity of international
development. Not surprisingly, a
personal focus on the experience of
an individual is key to connecting
with audiences emotionally.
Consider illustrating the
connection between the TV viewer
TV plays a
central
role in how
citizens
understand
inter-
national
develop-
ment
“
”
56 | ISSUE 2 2012 | THE CHANNEL
Top three sources of information on international development
Percentage of interested citizens who mentioned this as one of their main sources
China France Germany UK USA
Newspapers 58% 44% 51% 44% 25%
News websites 40% 38% 22%
TV 82% 71% 74% 70% 41%
Radio 22%
Friends and family 50%
Most frequently quoted sources of information on international development
China France Germany UK USA
TV channels CCTV; Provincial
TV stations;
Local/city TV
stations
TF1; France 2;
BFM
ARD; ZDF; RTL BBC; Sky; ITV CNN; Fox News;
NBC; ABC
Radio stations Local radio
stations; CNR
France Inter;
France Info;
RTL
BR; WDR; NDR;
SWR
BBC; Local
radio stations
NPR; Local radio
stations; PRN’s
Rush Limbaugh
Show
Print media Local/city
newspapers;
Southern Daily;
People’s Daily
Le Monde;
Le Figaro;
Le Point;
Liberation
Der Spiegel;
Focus; Die Zeit;
Stern
The Times;
The Guardian;
Daily Mail;
Daily Telegraph
New York Times;
Wall Street
Journal; Local
newspapers
News websites Sina; Baidu;
Tencent
Le Monde;
Google; Yahoo!
Der Spiegel;
Google; MSN
BBC;
The Guardian;
Sky
CNN; New York
Times; MSNBC;
Yahoo!
THE CHANNEL | ANALYSIS