The controversial Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement caught the attention of world media and the video released by “Global Pulse” gives its viewers a diverse picture presented by different major news players. With the signing of Indo-US nuclear deal, after getting the approval of IAEA and the US Congress’s consent to the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act, on October 11, 2008 India has become the only country with nuclear weapons, but not a signatory to Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to be able to access civilian nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. India, which is not a party to the NPT, has the unique privilege to carry out nuclear commerce with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), whereas the U.S is opposed to any nuclear deal with Iran, even though Iran is a signatory to the NPT, which alarms neutral observers from rest of the world. The exceptional nuclear deal between the U.S and India is viewed by the neutral nations as a dangerous move that will fuel the Asian and South Asian arms race.
The nuclear deal agreement between India and the U.S, aims to support India’s nuclear power program, even though India was not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and is expected to boost trade and business relations between the two countries. This agreement will also lift the ban on supplying nuclear fuel and technology imposed on India after the 1974 nuclear test. It is argued that in order to meet the soaring energy needs of India, and reducing its dependence on conventional energy sources, radical transformation by building nuclear power generators are considered crucial.
The video clippings included in the episode titled “The Indian Nuclear Deal: Bending the Rules” by “Global Pulse” prompts the readers to critically view the political maneuverings of the United States while signing the deal to trade nuclear energy to India. The video raises the question “why not is it okay to trade energy with India and not with a signatory country like Iran?” because India has never signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty of 1968 and has tested nuclear weapons in the past. India, North Korea, Pakistan, and Israel were the four nations which refused to sign the NPT in 1968. The clippings are taken from Al Jazeera English, Qatar; South Asia Newsline, India; CCTV. China; Press TV, Iran; and ABC News, FOX News, and CNN of the US.
Al Jazeera reports that nuclear capability is crucial for India to meet its growing need for energy for basic needs and the video clipping of village children reading with the help of little light (0:58) substantiate the news, because millions of people in rural India still live without electiricity. Hence, with limited natural resources like coal and natural gas nuclear energy is potentially the major source to boost India’s power generation capacity. South Asia Newsline projects that the 150 billion dollar nuclear deal will benefit the United States and create 250,000 high-tech American jobs (1:45) and the powerful US Chamber of Commerce is more keen to get the agreement approved by the US Congress. CCTV expressed concern over the nuclear agreement as India is not a signatory to the NPT and number of countries views the exemption to India as a clear violation of Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty by the United States. According to FOX News Iran is moving forward with their nuclear programs quicker than expected and in the words of Iran’s President Iran is now “rich enough in science and technology” (2:08). From the reports it seems that all the opponents to big brother attitude of United States view India’s nuclear capabilities as a major threat to the region and CCTV specifically quote sections from Hyde Act to express their view. While considering the reports of each channel included in the video of “Global Pulse” an attempt has also been made to assess the background of these channels.
Link TV with the motto “Television Without Borders” declares that its video coverage titled “Global Pulse” is a fast-moving and informative television and web series which compares and contrasts news worldwide, presented by diverse national broadcasters. It affirms that by doing so viewers are able to track important stories that might have been missed and helps create an entirely different opinion by looking from a diverse perspective. Global Pulse is funded by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (Global Pulse). Al Jazeera English is the world’s first global English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East, which is located in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The channel aims to give “voice to untold stories, promote debate, and challenge established perceptions” through impartial and objective reporting and broadcasting. It strives to bridge cultures and provides a “unique grassroots perspective from under-reported regions around the world to a potential global audience of over one billion English speakers”. (About Us: Corporate Profile).
CCTV International of China, launched on September 25, 2000, is the English language channel of China’s largest national TV network, which is dedicated to reporting news and information with a special focus on China, and strives to give a more balanced picture of the world. South Asia Newsline is Asian News International’s (ANI’s) 15 minute anchored news bulletin available 5 days a week via satellite in the US. ANI, founded 50 years ago, is South Asia’s leading Multimedia News Agency and one of the best professionally managed corporate media entities of the world. Cable News Network (CNN) was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner and operates as part of Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting division. It operates one of the top 24-hour news channels, reaching more than 92 million US homes, and its international division covers more than 200 other countries. FOX News is one of the top CNN competitors. It derives that all the sources are credible and the reports are factual. Since the process of communication is a very complex procedure and it is found that in any communication some of the meaning may be lost during transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver, there may be differences in the message that is heard than the message intended. In a non-verbal communication, like video clipping of “Global Pulse”, where the clippings are interspersed and comments are broken, the viewer will get confused leading to communication gap, as what we see is understood in terms of what we already know, which may result in failure of the intended purpose of the producers. The clippings used by “Global Pulse” are sufficient to support the ambitions of India, the world’s second populous nation, and support the nuclear mission of Iran for constructive purposes.
Works Cited
About Us: Corporate Profile. Al Jazeera.net. 2008. Web.
Global Pulse Broadcasters. Link Tv: Television Without Borders.
John D., and Catherine T. Global Pulse. Link Tv: Television Without Borders.