The Business of the Global Media Commons

The vast majority of empires, kingdoms, states and even businesses engaged in a simple practice to advance their interests, namely providing free public goods that assures their respective leadership positions. Usually, these are grouped under that actor’s ‘stack’. That could mean anything from a common currency to a standard global positioning system or a networking platform.

However, one of the most fundamental public goods provided is simply news. We connect with the world outside our group of friends and acquaintances through the prism of news, and it is thus little surprise that those who wished to manage the ‘imagined communities’ of large markets, nations, or various publics invested in news, newsmakers, and the delivery of said news to as large an audience of one may get.

Indeed, it often marks the tides and ebbs of power in a way that might not be immediately apparent to Western audiences. Quite simply, the Western world, and with that Western broadcasters, rose in the context of private business, implicitly advancing the narrative of their respective nation-states. During the past 100-something years of advancing liberal capitalism during Pax Britannica and, later, Pax Americana, that went somewhat unnoticed all the way to the 1990s’ unipolar moment. But it was always simply the stack of a particular actor and at least one component of that stack, news, is now being challenged globally. Who are these outliers?

The New Media Empires

Earlier this year, on January 27th, the BBC shut down its Arabic service – its oldest foreign language service. Many others are looking at the same fate, reportedly, as the Foreign Office reassesses its expenses alongside public darlings such as the NHS. But any free land gets occupied, in terms of news. Qatar’s Al-Jazeera might very well cost upwards of USD 2 billion per year, but many governments would happily pay the same if they could have their versions of, according to some, a successful media network with a global audience.

Also, there is a significant emergence in the past years of Türkiye’s state broadcaster TRT which continues its strategic efforts of establishment and footprint expansion across the globe, positioning it as a player in the global media landscape competition. As it continues to expand through new initiatives, the broadcaster aspires to distinguish itself and become an alternative source of perspectives on global affairs, able to compete with and challenge the already established mainstream global media outlets. Although a wide ecosystem of channels and digital platforms was established within the broadcaster in multiple languages such as TRT Afrika, TRT French, TRT Arabic, TRT Balkan, TRT Deutsch, in addition to several in minority languages, its flagship TRT World grew to become successful worldwide.

Chinese public broadcasters have invested significantly in providing a core outlet for global news which is syndicated across smaller platforms and have built CGTN into a peer competitor to European and even U.S. broadcasters. China as an actor has invested in international broadcasting infrastructure, with the Belt and Road Initiative serving as a catalyst for expanding media presence both globally as well as in regions critical to Chinese economic and geopolitical interests. Through joint ventures, acquisitions and partnerships, Chinese public broadcasters have gained a foothold in global media markets, allowing them to reach diverse audiences. Whether this will translate into more Chinese influence globally remains to be determined.

Likewise, RT, formerly Russia Today, may not necessarily have the same budget but heavy investment into television domestically has built a pool of talent that is well applied strategically in the Global South. RT, the flagship international television network, has been at the forefront of this global media push. With multiple language services, including English, Spanish, Arabic, and French, RT has expanded its reach to multiple markets globally as the network’s presence on cable and satellite television, as well as its robust online platform, contributes to its global accessibility. Furthermore, Sputnik International, another significant component in Russia’s global media strategy, operates as a multimedia platform encompassing radio broadcasting, online news and social media, focusing on providing an alternative perspective to mainstream Western media and has established a presence in various regions, including Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The credibility of such media platforms is questionable and they have been heavily involved in spreading disinformation and fake news, more recently in the context of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. This led to these media outlets to be banned in most European countries. However, the point about the interest of states such as Russia to tell their stories through global media platforms stands.

While global media originating from EU and NATO countries remain strong in the international public sphere, the main fight for hearts and minds moves to the Global South, where competition is stronger than ever. This is an incentive to rethink strategic narratives in the next decade to remain competitive – for the older players, as well as an expansion opportunity for new ones. Let the best ones win.

Written by Radu Magdin.

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