Online Digital News Platform of Regional Bloc BIMSTEC

One of the critical regional blocs in South Asia, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), has hardly had any presence or pronouncement in the conventional mainstream media which exists in each of the member countries. Recent geopolitical developments in the BIMSTEC region coupled with the ramifications of the Covid-19 global pandemic have not only highlighted the need for improved and noticeable political cohesion among the governments of the member countries but also signalled the need for ground-breaking development of BIMSTEC on the media scene. This paper proposes that regional blocs such as BIMSTEC can challenge the monopoly of the mainstream media in each member country by forging into the media landscape with its own new digital entity. While this is difficult to imagine, primarily because there is no precedence to this idea or execution of similar thoughts, it is nonetheless not impossible for regional blocs to build consensus among their member states and jointly create an identity of their own on the global media landscape. Riding on innovation and technology and meaningful and appropriate representation of the human workforce from all member states, BIMSTEC can create an online digital news platform which not only establishes its newsworthiness in the international media landscape but also builds bridges among all key stakeholders of the member countries and its aspiring population. This paper argues that such an initiative taken by a regional bloc in South Asia can lead the way for several other regional blocs to stay closely knit, build internal bridges among member countries and address the needs and aspirations of a larger community of people, which is well beyond the national boundaries. Such a digital news platform of a regional bloc in South Asia will have the potential to promote political cohesion and economic diplomacy to further regional cooperation and build unity among the member nations to achieve common goals and aspirations of their people. This paper aims to highlight the positives of such an intervention in the global media landscape where the zeal to generate digital content 24X7 online can promote pro-activism involved in pushing ministries, governments and diverse stakeholders to engage and indulge, which can have a cascading effect whereby synergies created and pursued advertisement generation can combine together with the editorial content to keep the momentum going. The paper argues that such an online digital platform of a regional bloc in South Asia can not only revive the forum for partnership and cooperation among governments and policymakers, but it can also be a meaningful platform for the public in general of all member countries to learn and understand the opportunities that remain embedded in such a collaboration. The paper argues that online digital platforms of regional blocs can be the way forward to help us reimagine the study and the making of media and technology policies across the global-local spectrum, thereby gaining a better and more nuanced understanding of intersections across levels, resulting in better cohesion and cooperation among governments and people.