The Media and Global Citizenship: A Course Syllabus


This syllabus overview and reading list offers a grounding in historical and contemporary concepts of global citizenship, from a contemporary media perspective. As old notions of national identity, security, and sovereignty break down around the world, understanding the role of the media -- as a binder of community and as a major influence on public opinion and policy -- is more important than ever. In the first part of the list, concepts of global citizenship from ancient Greece to the present are surveyed, alongside readings by writers, philosophers, and journalists who embody the values of global citizenship in their work. In the second part, the major contexts of global citizenship are examined through readings in foreign policy, international law, economic development, the environment, health, and trade. The final part examines the role of the media as the institutional body that transmits and interprets information passing between the public and governments. The potential conflicts of interest in such a role are considered, as are new uses of the media being applied today in areas such as conflict prevention, disaster relief, distance learning, and media training in the developing world.
 
             The Ideal of Global Citizenship 

     I.  The Human Dilemmas
    II.  Citizenship and Storytelling
   III.  Styles of Media Response
 

          The Contexts of Global Citizenship

    I.  Foreign Policy
   II.  International Law and International Policy
  III.  Environment
  IV.  Health
   V.  Trade
 

          The Role of the Media

    I.  The Media's Role in War and Disaster Relief
   II.  The Media's Role in Global Economic Development
  III.  The Three Tasks: Translation, Interpretation, Witness
   V.  Issues for a Global Citizenship Media

  
 
                 
Part One: THE IDEAL OF GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

The notion of global citizenship has roots in ancient Greek philo-
sophy, in the world’s great religions, in Enlightenment principles,
and in the works of thinkers from Confucius to Karl Marx. Yet its
logical appeal has always been offset to some degree by its inability
to explain how individual human beings can ever reach such a high
ideal. In journalism and literature, the telling of powerful human
stories about people who live outside of our "sphere of affections"
is one possible way to bridge that gap. In the first part of this course,
the major historical traditions of human citizenship, and the moral
paradoxes at its core, are explored in key texts. Next, the possibilities
of literary narrative as a means to inform, explain, and bind the world’s
communities are considered from a theoretical perspective. Lastly,
students will read a selection of journalistic and literary narratives that
have bridged the knowledge and the emotional gaps between distant
peoples, and thus contributed to the idea of global citizenship.

                  I.  The Human Dilemmas

    • Humanity and Citizenship, Amartya Sen
    • Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism, Martha C. Nussbaum
    • Meditations, Marcus Aurelius
    • The Paradox of the Disengaged Conscience, James Ettema
    • The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith
    • A Moral History of the Twentieth Century, Jonathan Glover
    • The Pursuit of the Ideal, Isaiah Berlin

 II.  Citizenship and Storytelling

    • The Politics of Narrative Form, Michael Schudson
    • The Morality of Narrative Form, J. Ettema and T. Glasser
    • Citizens of the World, Martha Nussbaum
    • On Duties (De Officiis), Cicero
    • The Workings of the Cynical Public Mind: Explaining Media
      Framing,       Kathleen Hall Jamieson
    • The Difficulty of Imagining Other People, Elaine Scarry
    • Culture and Character, Robert Bellah

                III.  Styles of Journalistic Response

    • Hiroshima, John Hersey
    • "Heart of Darkness," ABC Nightline Documentary on the Congo
    • My Traitor’s Heart, Rian Malan
    • The Good Earth, Pearl Buck
    • We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed
      With Our Families      , Philip Gourevitch
    • "Beneath the Veil," UK Channel 4 Documentary on Afghanistan
    • How the Other Half Lives, Jacob Riis
    • The Man Who Tried to Save the World, Scott Anderson
    • Shakespeare With Chinese Characteristics, Peter Hessler

 

Part Two: THE CONTEXTS OF GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

The practice of global citizenship, found in no single country nor
enforced by any single code of law, is instead embodied in a patch-
work of international traditions, practices, and laws. Originally de-
signed to address infrequent cross-border interactions, these diverse
international laws and practices have taken on unprecedented impor-
tance in a world where national borders are increasingly challenged
by the forces of globalization. Humanitarian aid groups, international
courts, and "non-governmental organizations" are doing the work
that nation states once did. In the first part of this section, America's
foreign policy traditions, which frequently clash with a global citizen-
ship perspective (e.g., the isolationist and exceptionalist views) are
surveyed. Next, several attempts to reconcile the conflict between
national and global interests are studied, and the post-Cold War rise
of international courts and NGO’s is examined. Finally, students will
read journalistic reports, background works, and case studies in the
three areas where global citizenship is most challenged to find a com-
mon ground in law and practice—the environment, health, and trade.

                  I.  Foreign Policy

    • Promised Land, Crusader State: The American Encounter
      with the World Since 1776      , Walter A. McDougall
    • Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How it
      Changed the World      , Walter Russell Mead
    • Power Shift, Jessica Matthews
    • The Real New World Order, Anne Marie Slaughter
    • The Nation as Invented Tradition, Eric Hobsbawm
    • Global Transformations, David Held and Anthony McGrew

                 II.  International Law, International Relations, NGO Standards

                        A. International Law and International Relations
    • International Humanitarian Law: An Overview, Lawrence Wechsler
    • Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    • U.S. Bill of Rights
    • French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
    • The Geneva Conventions of 1949, Additional Protocols of 1977
    • The Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951, Additional
      Protocol of 1967
    • The Charter of the United Nations
    • The Kyoto Treaty on Climate Change
                        B. National Interest vs. Global Interest
    • On the Law of Nations, Daniel P. Moynihan
    • The Rocky Shoals of International Law, David Ribkin
    • International Law versus the American Constitution: Something’s
      Got to Give,       Jeremy Rabkin

                        C. International Courts, Tribunals, Truth Commissions

    • When Tyrants Tremble: The Pinochet Case, HRW Report
    • The U.S. and the International Criminal Court, Sarah Sewall
    • A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers,
       Lawrence Wechsler 
    • Facing the Truth, a PBS-Bill Moyers documentary on the South
      African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

                        D. NGO Standards and Codes

    • The NGO Code of Conduct
    • A Field Guide for NGO’s
    • The Humanitarian Charter
    • The Humanitarian Accountability Project
    • The International Code of Conduct in Disaster Relief

                  III. Environment

    • Nature in the Mind of Japan, Douglas McGill
    • Hugging the Trees: The Story of the Chipko Movement of India,
      Thomas Weber
    • Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
    • The World is Burning, Alex Shoumatoff
    • Environmental Warfare, Mark Perry and Ed Miies
    • Delta Force, a documentary film on Ken Saro Wiwa, the Nigerian environmental and human rights activist

                 IV. Health

    • The Declaration of Alma Ata of 1978
    • Health and Human Rights, Sofia Gruskin and Daniel Tarantola
    • The Influence of the U.S. Tobacco Industry on the Health,
      Economy, and Environment of Developing Countries,       The
      New England Journal of Medicine
    • The Landmine Ban: A Case Study in Humanitarian
      Advocacy,       Watson Institute for International Studies

                  V. Trade

    • Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen
    • Trade as Humanitarian Relief: The Case of Cuba
    • Blockade as Act of War, Christopher Greenwood
    • Does Free Trade Promote Human Rights? China and the WTO

         

Part Three: THE POSITION OF THE MEDIA

What role does the media – newspaper, television, radio -- play in
fostering the norms of a global civil society? In the absence of explicit
 and purposeful efforts, does the media help to create or does it in
some ways hinder the development of global civil society? Is there a
 flaw in thinking that Adam Smith’s "invisible hand" works equally
well in the media as in the economy – i.e., that as long as the press is
free it will automatically support civil society? In what ways might 
thinking about the media and global citizenship build on the founda-
tions of our belief in human rights? This section of the course begins
 with a survey of areas where the press has historically defined its
role and responsibilities in the international sphere – covering wars,
 disasters, foreign policy, and diplomacy. The press has been less
successful, however, in defining its role in covering the most pressing
international crises of today -- the environment, health, trade, the pov-
erty gap, and the war on terrorism.  The growing influence of television
 in shaping U.S. public opinion foreign policy, especially via the "CNN
Effect," is considered. In the second section, students explore the influ-
ence of the media on the economies of developing nations. Countries
with  media infrastructure can link their economies to the developed
world and thus attract funds from capital markets, commercial trade,
and foreign aid programs; those across the "digital divide" remain doom-
ed. The final section of the course examines the journalistic techniques
 foreign correspondents use to make foreign stories compelling to their
domestic U.S. audience. The moral, ethical, and practical conflicts that
often arise are surveyed. A variety of efforts by the media to directly
effect humanitarian aid and economic development are explored, and
their efficacy is debated and discussed.

                  I. The Media's Role in War & Disaster Relief

                        A. The Press and the Geneva Conventions

    • Associated Press Code of Ethics (1995)                              
    • European Codes of Journalism Ethics
                     B.   Journalistic Codes of Conduct
    • Associated Press Code of Ethics (1995)
    • European Codes of Journalism Ethics
    • Declaration of Principles on the Conduct of Journalists,
      The International Federation of Journalists (1954/1986)
    • Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists
                 C.  The Media Impact on Public Opinion and Foreign Policy
    • The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam, The War
      Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker      ,
      Phillip Knightley
    • The Media, Public Policy, and Humanitarian Crises, Robert
      Rotberg and Thomas Weiss
    • Late-Breaking Foreign Policy: The News Media's Influence on
      Peace Operations,       Warren P. Strobel
    • Illusions of Influence: The CNN Effect in Complex Emergencies,
      Andrew Natsios
    • The Myth of a Media-Driven Foreign Policy,
      Political Science Quarterly
                 D.  The Media Impact on NGO’s
    • The Impact of ABC Nightline’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ on Relief
      Aid to the Congo,       Douglas McGill
       
          II. The Media’s Role in Global Economic Development
    • Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen
    • Information Rich, Information Poor: Bridging the Digital
      Divide      , BBC Special Report
    • The Networking Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges
      for Developing Countries,       World Bank Report
       
         III.  The Three Tasks: Translation, Interpretation, Witness

                        A. Foreign Reporting

                                1. Strange Tales of Faraway Places: Early Foreign Reporting

                                2. Translating Culture: The Straight Style of Foreign Reporting

                                3. Literary Styles of Foreign Reporting

                        B. War Reporting

                                1. Disinformation: The Media as a Tool of War

                                2. The Need to Censor vs The Need to Know

  • Press Freedom vs. Military Censorship, Constitutional
    Rights Foundation
  • Second Front : Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf
    War    , John MacArthur and Ben Bagdikian
  • Secrets of Victory : The Office of Censorship and
    the American Press and Radio in World War II    ,
    Michael Sweeney
    •

                                3. Patriotism vs Objectivity 

  • Neutrality Itself Can Be a Crime, David Rieff
  • For Patriot Dreams, Christopher Hitchens
  • Can a Journalist be Professional and Patriotic?, J. Dvorkin
  • War Correspondents, David Plotz
    •

                        C. The Media Component of Humanitarian Aid

  • Radios for Refugees: Replacing hate broadcasts and
    rumors with information about food, safety, and shelter
  • Refugee Newsletters
  • Needs-based media: Reuter’s "Great Lakes Service"
    and BBC's "Alert Net"
  • Training for Local Media
    •
  • Distance Education for Children at War
  • The Internet: Are the New Electronic Media Making a
    Difference?, Edward Girardet
    •

                        D.  The Role of Photography

    • The Camera as a Witness, Alex Levac
    • Dying to Tell the Story, Documentary Film on Photojournalists
    • Shooting War: Photography and the American Experience of
      Combat,       Susan Moeller
    • Inferno, James Nachtwey
            IV. Issues for a Globally Engaged Media

                        A. How to Make International News a Good Local Story

                        B. Balancing Objectivity Against Human Needs

                        C. Compassion Fatigue

    • Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine,
      War and Death      , Susan D. Moeller

       

    Copyright @ 2002 The McGill Report