BBC spreads democracy via radio shows
The BBC recently announced plans to begin broadcasting news in North Korea, Eritrea and Ethiopia. They also have plans to increase the amount of broadcasts they have in Russia, India and the Middle East.
This new plan put forward by the BBC plans to spread democratic ideas to areas where they otherwise may not be heard.
The efforts taken by the BBC are not going to be embraced by the countries they are impacting. In North Korea, Eritrea and Ethiopia the only way to receive the broadcast will be through short wave and medium wave radios specifically designed to pick up non-government broadcasts.
In North Korea, possession of one of these radios is illegal.
The efforts taken by the BBC are courageous. They are enlightening people to ideas that otherwise would go unheard. If the BBC was not taking this action, the people in these troubled countries would have little to no access to accurate portrayals of world events. Knowledge is power, and the BBC is empowering the people of these countries.
Hopefully, the BBC will set the standard for what Western media strives to do. The BBC is doing away with the idea that there are “no-go” areas in the world.
These “no-go” areas are areas in the world that the western media has traditionally avoided because the areas have strict governmental control of information. “No-go” areas should not be pushed aside as a lost cause for western media, they are the countries that need western media the most, because without it they have no true perception of the world.
Without a true understanding of how the world works the people of these countries can not make rational decisions.
The BBC is serving as a diplomat for democracy worldwide. They have created an avenue through which the people of these countries can seek change. Diplomacy should always take precedent over violent conflict.
However, throughout history democracy has often been spread using violence instead of diplomacy. By nonviolently inserting democratic ideology into these countries the BBC is showing that there are nonviolent means of spreading democratic ideas. The BBC’s actions can revolutionize the way democracy is spread.
The BBC’s new role as a herald of democracy is an extremely important one. Their recent actions have the potential to set important precedents concerning “no-go” areas and the spread of democracy.
Although these actions may not be headline news now, the eventual impact they will make has the potential to permanently alter the landscape of international politics.
