Leaders’ U.N. videos put backgrounds at forefront
UNITEDNATIONS— Chinese President Xi Jinping urged theworld to “reject attempts to build blocks to keep others out” as an image of his country’s storied GreatWall hungbehindhim. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte used photos and videos to illustratewhat he was talking about. Australian Prime Minister ScottMorrison shared his policy views— and a scenic view of Sydney Harbor.
If the annualU.N. General Assemblymeetingofnational leaders is always a window on the world, this year the window is opening directly onto their desks, presidential palaces and homelands.
Staying home because of the coronavirus pandemic, they are speaking by video, adding a newlayer of imagemaking to themessages and personas they project.
“They have to be authentic, they have to be believable, and this is even more of a challenge virtually. But it need not be, if you’re able to think about howto use your background creatively,” says Steven D. Cohen, a Johns HopkinsUniversity business communication professor who has coached politicians.
“They can use what happens in the frame to complement those messages, to break through the glass of the computer and connect through stories, through visions,” he says.
The General Assembly hall’s podium has provided decades of presidents, prime ministersandmonarchs with a coveted portrait of statesmanship— and a setting conducive to it. While it’s no secret that many speeches are aimed largely at domestic audiences, sideline encounters and the prospect of live reactions from the international community can be “a factor for nudging peo
ple into what multilateral diplomacy is all about: finding common cause,” said Richard Ponzio, a former U.S. State Department and U.N. official and now a fellow at the Stimson Center, a foreign policy think tank.
Many leaders lamented that they can’t convene in person this year.
“Thankfully, we can make optimal use of modern technology,” said Suriname’s new president, Chan Santokhi, one of several speakers whose videos featured introductory music.
Othersenhancedtheirpresentations with subtitles or even cable-news-style chyrons, like “HOW WE CAN BUILD A BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL” and “WE MUST LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND” to underscore keymessages from eSwatini’s prime minister, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini. Duterte overlaid parts of his speech with relevant photos and videos of coronavirus test centers, storms and more, goingwell beyond the maps and pictures that leaders occasionally hold up at the assembly podium.
Without the hall, some speakers opted for a more approachable posture. Pope Francis, for example, eschewed a podium to stand close tothe camera inabookcase-lined room, as though
speaking to a visitor.
Many leaders sat at desks, sometimes giving theworld a glimpse of personal photos, stacksof booksandother carefully curatedworkaday items, including a coffee cup forMexicanPresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador.
Speaking froma desk connotes being “friendly, conversational, trying to connect with people,” said Jim Bennett, executive director of the Virtual Meetings and Events Association, an event planners’ clearinghouse. But desks— especially large ones — also can signal authority.
Morrison chose an even more conversational setting: a sunny spot overlooking the city’s famous harbor and opera house, with boats passing in the background. Morrison, who has complained in the past about international institutions bossing countries around, called the virus a reminder of the importance of multinational cooperation.
Fiji’sprime minister, Frank Bainimarama, hada crowdin the backgroundof his speech on the U.N.’s 75th anniversary. After his remarks highlighting Fiji’s role in peacekeeping missions and ocean preservation, he and the spectators gave the U.N. a birthday cheer.