1. Foreign Policy Transparency: is it driven by media coverage? A study on Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, and the United States Jackie Morgan Brune

2.  Study Question: What are some determinants of foreign policy and foreign aid in particular?  Dep. Variable: Media Coverage  Ind. Variable: ODA allocations  There is an endogenous relationship between both variables.

3.  Background & Analysis Case Study: FRANCE Significant aid determinants: - GNP Per Capita - Media Coverage (Le Monde) - Francophonie - ‘bureaucracy factor’ In Van Belle and Rioux’s study they found that each article in Le Monde is worth $77, 000 USD in aid.

4. Data Case Study: The UK

5. Method

6. Method- 1 st regression  Control Variables: (1985-1998)  Aid commitments Population  Net Coverage Democracy  GNP Per Capita Trade  Language Variable Unrest  Colonial Variable Negative  Need

7. Results- 1 st Regression  For each country its aid commitments and net media coverage (radio, tv, press) are positively and significantly correlated.  Net Coverage in other countries needs to be controlled for as if it is correlated there could be a spurious relationship.

8. Method- 2 nd Regression Added control Variables: (controls for media coverage in other cities)  SWINET  GERNET  FRANNET  USNET  CANNET  JAPNET

9. Results 2 nd Regression

10.  Swiss coverage is the only one positively correlated with British aid commitments.  This could be due to a lack of data.  The hypothesis cannot be verified as Swiss coverage is correlated, for all the other countries studied the hypothesis is verified.  Each country’s aid commitments studied in this project was correlated with another country’s coverage.

11. Take-Aways  - Media is an important foreign policy influence and does contribute to its transparency.  - Other factors that influence aid commitments: Trade, GNP Per Capita, Current Events, and Political Interest.  While no general conclusion was reached it is clear that aid allocations and media coverage are significantly correlated.