The Role of Media as a Non-State Actor

I attended an event at American University titled The Role of Media as a Non-state Actor. This event was a panel discussion featuring Angie Chuang, an associate professor at AU in the School of Communication; Cathy Schneider, an AU associate professor in the School of International Service; and Nahal Toosi, a deputy politics editor at Politico.  The organization of the event was really interesting and lead to a thought provoking event. Students were first asked to participate in an analysis of media coverage, then the panel discussed their experiences in their fields, followed by well rounded questions from the audience.  

This event was held in the Abramson Family Founders Room and as attendees ascended down the steps, media stories were covering the large glass wall. As participants entered they were offered board markers which were use to make comments on featured media stories. Many of these stories seemed outrageous; obviously politically biased, these stories featured information that were incredibly offensive and lacking cultural sensitivity. Reading all of the comments provided great insight on what others saw in these media stories, in some cases people made comments about advertisements. I found this to be particularly interesting as I had not thought to critique this type of content. This lead to some personal reflection as the advertisement had not caught my attention immediately although half of the page featured a woman with an unattainable bikini body, showing lots of skin.

Next we heard from the panelists which were each incredibly knowledgeable about the fields they have experience in, providing a well rounded conversation on the topic. The initial question at hand was whether the media is a non-state actor. I found it interesting to see how each panelist perceived the media according to their experiences. Those who worked in the media, such as Nahal Toosi, tended to defend it to a greater extent than those were had studied the media. Chuang’s opening statement featured her opinion that the media does not intent to be an actor, although it often plays a role. Chuang also discussed the media as a business, which she found adds a complicated dimension. Schneider’s work with minorities exposed theories that media often has some sort of affect on its audience, often stereotyping or characterizing groups of people.

Throughout the course of the event we looked specifically at three events, the Ebola crisis, the Chapel Hill shooting, and the Charlie Hebdo shootings. Although these events were not mentioned within each question to the panel, the conversation tended to stay within their realm to create a flowing discussion. The different perspectives and information coverage from multiple different fields lead to a really interesting event.

This event focused primarily on the affects of the media, but also the role the media should have in our society. The overall topic aligned well with the material we are covering in class, although it lacked the specific grassroots aspect. This conversation captured the concept of the Information Age we are living in as we discussed social media and citizen journalism as it pertains to news in the media. The conversation also helped established how new media has gone through the stages of the diffusion of innovation theory and what that looks like as an active professional in that field.

I left this event with two important pieces of advice from the panelists for more efficient exposure to the media. Schneider suggested that the audience get their news from foreign presses about the country you live in as they are less involved and therefore often have a more well-rounded perspective. Toosi exposed the importance of understanding who is behind the media you are exposed to, understanding the author, the company, and the context is often very important for taking in content objectively. Overall, I left the event with a stronger understanding of the current role of the media as a non-state actor, as well as strengths and weaknesses of our current system. I received much insight on the best ways to consumer media while trying to avoid confirmation bias. I would recommend this event if it was to occur again in the future.