Putin, Rouhani and others take to newspapers
In the age of Internet and instant communication, the humble newspaper, marginalised for delivering news 24 hours too late, seems to have found itself a new patron: The world leaders. If the number of opinion pieces published in foreign newspapers by heads of state in recent days is anything to go by, the newspaper is the 21st century leaders’ latest diplomatic tool of choice.
It started with Russian President Vladimir Putin taking to the Op-ed pages of The New York Times earlier this month to explain why America should not intervene and punish the Syrian President. He went on to also delineate his own strategy on the Syrian crisis. In response, Senator John McCain has written an article for Russia's Pravda, but he chose the wrong one. The Soviet-era newspaper that Mr McCain is familiar with, was shut down in 1996; the news-website Pravda.ru which carried his piece is an entertaining tabloid, widely popular with the Russian public that offers stories on alien skulls found on Mars — not exactly Russia's Times. Also, not only did Senator McCain choose an inappropriate media outlet, his article was weak. It condemned Mr Putin's policies at home and abroad in unnecessarily harsh terms and almost urged the people of Russia to rise in revolt. In contrast, Mr Putin's Op-ed piece, though cynical in argument, was carefully crafted. It did not attack the Obama Government but only made a narrow case against military intervention. Even the President of Iran did better than Mr McCain's rant in Pravda.ru. Mr Hassan Rouhani's piece in The Washington Post called on the US to engage with Tehran and resolve the stalemate over the Iranian nuclear programme. In fact, the Op-ed article was part of a larger reconciliation package that included an interview to an American news channel and has set in motion fresh diplomatic initiatives.
Critics of Op-ed diplomacy have argued that if the point is to reach out to the people of another country, newspapers are not the best tool, since in most places newspaper readership is declining. But the papers are still read by policymakers and the Op-ed page offers the writers an opportunity to present views on a platform that is not controlled by another — such as a television interview where the interviewer can change the tone of the conversation. Indian leaders too can leverage the tool more often, not just to reach out to a foreign audience but also to readers at home, especially in an election season.