Media

Abstract

With a new Secretary-General, António Guterres, installed in 2017, the United Nations is in a position to hasten changes to its public information system and functions, which were slow to catch up with a fast-moving social media age. As the former head of UNHCR, he understands the importance of good relations with the media, which often have felt shut out by UN officials and member nations reluctant to expand the organization’s information outreach. Media attention had atrophied, at a time when the UN was coming under greater pressure and criticism for its handling of peacekeeping scandals and slow responses to crises, even when these were not the fault of the Secretariat.