Journalism Student Austin Maddox Explores Soft Power in India

When CPD Director Jay Wang told me that he wanted to speak to me in his office, I was nervous. It was only my first semester as a journalism student fellow at CPD, and so far I had tried my best to make engaging videos to bring public diplomacy to a wider audience. As I walked down the hall to his office, I ran through all the possibilities of what this confrontation could be about but, nothing came to mind. I guessed I would find out soon enough.

I shuffled into his office nervously grabbing my notebook and sat down at the small, round table in front of his desk and waited for Jay to begin telling me what I did wrong. But then, he began to talk about a conference taking place India.

He explained that the India Foundation would hold the country's first Conference on Soft Power, and because CPD is a leader in public diplomacy, we were invited to serve as an academic partner and host a panel at the conference.

Then, Jay then invited me to join CPD on their trip to India to create content about the speakers and conference attendees. “Are you free around December 17-19?” he asked. “Yes, definitely,” I said, without even pretending to glance at my calendar. I left the office excited, but soon I realized, I didn’t really know what soft power was.

The good thing about soft power diplomacy and journalism is that they’re both about finding the best way to communicate a topic to a diverse audience.

The first order of business was to do a ton of research and find out what stories would be most compelling to our audience within the context of soft power. I learned that soft power is a nation’s “ability to persuade other countries and peoples through appeal and attraction (as opposed to coercion through hard/military power).” Countries can use their culture, national values and policies to influence other nations.

Great, but how do I convey this concept in an engaging way? As a USC Annenberg master of journalism student, I spend most of my time covering race, politics and popular culture, so this was new territory for me. But the good thing about soft power diplomacy and journalism is that they’re both about finding the best way to communicate a topic to a diverse audience. I found that the best way to do this was from a multimedia angle, using videos and photographs to add multiple perspectives to the story. 

A few weeks later, I packed up my camera and got on a plane straight to Delhi, India (with a minor 24-hour delay in Istanbul, but that’s a story for another day). When I arrived, I was immediately struck by India’s unique beauty. The country was covered in a beautiful yellowish-orange haze, accented by lush green trees that lined the streets. Birds sang at all hours of the day, flying over a labyrinth of cars and motorcycles moving in chaotic harmony. Being in India was truly humbling. The people were welcoming and warm, especially those who came up to me and asked for a selfie. I guess they’d never seen anyone who looked like me before, so in a way, I was representing my culture while also learning about another.

Click through the slideshow below to see photographs I took while exploring Delhi.

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