NGOs as Newsmakers: The Changing Landscape of International News

by Matthew Powers

As traditional news outlets' international coverage has waned, several prominent nongovernmental organizations have taken on a growing number of seemingly journalistic functions. Groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and M�decins Sans Fronti�res send reporters to gather information and provide analysis and assign photographers and videographers to boost the visibility of their work. Digital technologies and social media have increased the potential for NGOs to communicate directly with the public, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. But have these efforts changed and expanded traditional news practices and coverage--and are there consequences to blurring the lines between reporting and advocacy?



In NGOs as Newsmakers, Matthew Powers analyzes the growing role NGOs play in shaping--and sometimes directly producing--international news. Drawing on interviews, observations, and content analysis, he charts the dramatic growth in NGO news-making efforts, examines whether these efforts increase the organizations' chances of garnering news coverage, and analyzes the effects of digital technologies on publicity strategies. Although the contemporary media environment offers NGOs greater opportunities to shape the news, Powers finds, it also subjects them to news-media norms. While advocacy groups can and do provide coverage of otherwise ignored places and topics, they are still dependent on traditional media and political elites and influenced by the expectations of donors, officials, journalists, and NGOs themselves. Through an unprecedented glimpse into NGOs' newsmaking efforts, Powers portrays the possibilities and limits of NGOs as newsmakers amid the transformations of international news, with important implications for the intersections of journalism and advocacy.

Genres: Nonfiction

231 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2018

Reviews

[kdylce!! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vraiment intéressant, ca permet de mieux comprendre les enjeux des NGO par rapport à la communication externe avec leurs liens dans le milieu journalistique, l'utilisation des réseaux sociaux et comment le marketing est conçu et normé.

[Zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Powers has written a detailed and thoughtful work which analyzes the intersection and mutual reliance of NGOs (non-government organizations) and traditional new sources (newspapers and televised news). As global news bureaus have shut down, traditional news media has had to rely more heavily on alternatives to get their international new stories. NGOs have stepped into this role, to both area's mutual benefit - and also to the both area's detriment. Powers looks at both the benefits (increased coverage, lower cost, increased visibility and donations, etc.) and the drawbacks (increase popular scrutiny, reinforcing old fashioned media pathways, over-prioritization of government officials, etc.) and determines that one side of the pro/con divide clearly carries more weight. The analysis in the book is critical and thoughtful, but some of the arguments and observations can occasionally be too repetitive and overly self-supporting, but on the whole it appears his applications of various system and institutional theories have had much thought and rigor in their application. Excellent book for those who are interested in the work of charitable organizations, humanitarian organizations, media, journalism, and information studies.