Introduction Media influence on policy, foreign or domestic, has been the subject of some research, but is not generally

taken seriously in the relevant disciplines. According to Arnold (2006) The lack of systematic research and acknowledgement of media influence on foreign policymaking may be due to the indirect nature of this effect. Media do not necessarily influence policymakers directly, but may work through public opinion by shaping what people know and believe about foreign politics. Public opinion, embodied, for instance, in predominant political views or in election
results, can have considerable influence on policymakers that need approval from the electorate.

This paper investigates the extent to which the media influence public opinion and in turn on foreign policy. Before going further it is important to concisely define the key term s of foreign policy and public opinion. Foreign policy consists of decisions and actions which involve to some appreciable extent relations between one state and others. Put simply foreign policy covers the actions of the state taken beyond its borders to pursue its goals. Public opinion on the other hand is defined as a belief or sentiment shared by most people; that is, the voice of the people. Within any democratic state foreign policy, decisions are expected to be made by the people and for the people.

Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Theoretical Concepts According to Risse-Kappen (2004), most of the available literature on the interaction between mass public opinion and elites in foreign policy-making process of liberal democracies can be categorized according to two broad concepts. In accordance with the pluralist theory of

democracy, a bottom-up approach assumes that the general public has a measurable and distinct impact on the foreign policy-making process. In sum, leaders follow the masses; while the second is the top-down approach whereby population consensus is a function of the elite cleavages trickling down to the mass. This viewpoint according to Risse-Kappen concurs with either a power elite or a state-centered and realist approach to foreign policy. It assumes that the public is easily manipulated by political leaders, because of (1) the low salience, or significance of foreign and security policy issues as compared with economic policies, (2) the low degree of knowledge about the issues involved, and (3) the volatility of public opinion. The extent to which the media influence foreign policy The role of the media in shaping public perceptions and opinions about significant political and social issues has long been the subject of both speculation and research. Democracy requires that citizens opinions play some role in shaping policy outcomes, including in foreign policy. Yet, although the literature on public opinion and foreign policy has made great progress in recent years, scholars have reached no consensus concerning what the public thinks, or thinks about, with respect to foreign policy; how it comes to hold those opinions; or whether those opinions influence (or even should influence) foreign policy. Nevertheless, it seems on the surface that there is some possibility of media influence on either the population or the government. This influence or pressure could be achieved in three ways: first by either affecting the public who will pressure governments to make decisions. Second, by directly affecting the decision makers themselves by prompting them to act preemptively to shape public perceptions of what they have just seen in the media, and third, by causing a political reaction because of an anticipated or perceived public response to televised issues.

The CNN Effect The idea that media coverage of international crises can spark a response from politicians is termed the cnn effect. According to early proponents of this perspective (Sharkey 1993, Maren 1994), citizens, shocked by dramatic, real-time television images of suffering and hardship, may demand that their leaders do something to alleviate the problem, thereby pressuring politicians to act in circumstances where they otherwise would not. . The classic case is the coverage of starving children in Somalia in the early 1990s, which was followed by U.S. military involvement in humanitarian relief efforts.

Interestingly, Mody argues that media does not actually need to influence public opinion to reach policymakers: The communication instinct of media savvy politicians kicks in as soon as they see a headline that frames a conflict as humanitarian disaster, actual public opinion notwithstanding.

Democratic governments need to be accountable to their citizens since they regularly face the ultimate accountability tool: elections.
The media play the crucial role of collecting, framing, and distributing informationThe media

is constantly framing news.

References
1. 2. Maren M. 1994. Feeding a famine. Forbes Media Critic 2.1(Fall):3038 Sharkey J. 1993. When pictures drive foreign policy. Am. J. Rev. 15(10):1419

Philip Seibs The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics Bella Mody The Geopolitics of Representation in Foreign News