Reversing Global Progess

All kinds of relations, including foreign and personal, depend on equal understanding between people. Sometimes good communication skills can be enough to establish common ground, but other times mindsets and beliefs are far too different to reach any kind of understanding. Whether they develop through nature or nature, a person's ideas and beliefs shape the way the world is seen and even the strongest communication skills cannot break through fortified belief systems.

Unfortunately, the world itself developed in different systems and stages, causing divisions between economic structure, political systems and living standards. Information also suffered a major division, especially during the technology boom. While we may not notice it, information is received very differently in first, second and third world countries. It can be filtered, altered, tweaked or even completely censored to control ideas and beliefs in different countries.

Frank Roby, CEO and founder of Concero Global, Inc., talked about the power and fear model in global communications and how it applies to both developed and developing countries. "There are third world situations in first world countries and first world situations in third world countries," said Roby.

The model places the following attributes to the different developing levels as follows:
First world: Truth or guilt
Second world: Honor or shame
Third world: Focus on survival, sense of limitation, live in fear

The model describes important ideas that can be labeled to each specific level, but sometimes these ideas can be seen over all three levels. Communication therefore takes on the task of relating information to all the different ideological systems while remaining focused and unbiased. The key is to connect the levels so that information does not get treated differently, causing information to fall subject to misinterpretation. "Things aren't isolated from each other, they're connected," said Roby.

While the world may be connected, information doesn't always stay connected the same way. Some governments censor the internet while others censor the newspapers. Radio managed to stay under the radar and programs like the BBC global radio has provided hundreds of countries with reliable information until recent budget cuts.

Due to lack of funding, BBC decided to cut out 69 languages from its global radio to stay within a smaller budget. Not only does this take away the ability to receive unbiased information, but it creates an opportunity for a government to control information through other media outlets. Those countries may start to shape their ideas and beliefs differently without accurate news and it would dramatically impact relations with the rest of the world.

As Roby discussed, unfortunately messages will be lost to those countries until a new solution can be found. As long as we continue to strive for truthful news and messages then we can continue to make an impact in all three levels of the world. Power and fear exists in all three levels, but information works to manage that balance by using communication as a channel. "Relationships strive for balance and communications works to achieve that balance," said Roby.