Influence of the Media on Foreign Policy of a State: A Comparative Analysis of Kenya and Britain

The media has in recent history especially towards the end of the cold war been a key factor in the formation and exercise of foreign policy by states. The media has the ability to influence decision making as well as set the conditions that states as actors consider in foreign policy processes. However, this ability have been thought of to change from developed to developing countries. It is this perplexing issue that this study sought to examine as it set out to find out the influence of the media on a state’s foreign policy through a comparative analysis of Kenya and Britain. Theoretically the study capitalized on several theories that include the structuralist perspective, Liberal-pluralism and the Hypodermic needle perspective which were triangulated in order to bring a broader and conclusive view of the subject matter. Methodologically, this study was a comparative study which employed the few-country comparisons of the comparative approach in order to bring out the cases of the two countries. It depended on qualitative secondary data in the process of understanding the subject matter. Secondary data was analyzed through content analysis where relevant information was sifted through noting patterns of issues that relate to the subject matter. These recurring issues were used for making inferences. The study found out that the media alone has little power to shape foreign policy but this is highly dependent on the level of development of a country. It may have the ability to influence minor issues and small aspects of foreign policy. The study concluded that the success of the media to influence foreign policy is dependent on the policies it attempts to pressure; its role and influence though differs from time to time and it remains in close relation to other factors that influence foreign policy; in developed countries where the media is generally private owned influence is wider and deeper that in developing countries where most of the media suffers manipulation in the hands of government; the governments in these states also have stakes in private media which it uses to manipulate outcomes; and lastly, the degree of mass media impact is dependent on the stage the policy is in and mainly varies from insignificance to substantial. This study recommends that a body governing the accuracy of the information the media is projecting should be put in place. The media should be keen to influence foreign policy through availing the right quality and quantity of information to inform policy especially in developing states where the media is backward and media personnel remain inadequately trained and equipped to handle high level issues. It thereby recommends for the empowering of public and media institutions on information sharing especially on issues of conflict management as this will improve public confidence in information channeled by the media. Further to this the study recommends that the media which is a multidisciplinary field should borrow a leaf from a range of fields in the academic disciplines. Developed states have a strong background on the applied and practice based research which is key in the media for purposes of credible and exact data. This should also be applied by the developing states.