Megaphone

Megaphone (pronounced meg-uh-fohn)

(1) A cone-shaped device for magnifying or directing the voice, used mostly outdoors when addressing large audiences.

(2) In the figurative sense, suggesting a mouthpiece or promoter; one who speaks for or publicizes on behalf of another.

(3) As megaphone diplomacy, a criticism of international relations conducted inappropriately in public.

1878: An Americanism and a compound word, the construct being mega- + -phone.  Mega was from the Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas) (great, large, mighty), from the primitive Indo-European meǵhs (great). It was cognate with the Latin magnus, the Sanskrit मह (maha) (great, massive, large-scale, epic), and with the various Germanic forms, the Gothic (mikils), the Old English micel, the Middle English muchel, the English much, the Old High German mihhil, the Old Norse mikill and the Danish meget.  Phone was from the Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ) (sound), from the primitive Indo-European bhohneh, from bheh- (to speak), related to fame.  The modern device for assisting hearing by the magnifying of the voice was invented by Thomas Edison although un-powered instruments with a funnel-like shape had been used at least since Antiquity; in Ancient Greece, megalophonia meant "grandiloquence" and megalophonos, “loud-voiced."  Although the industry notes detail differences, the terms loud-hailer, blowhorn and bullhorn are often used interchangeably.  Megaphone is a noun & adjective, megaphoned & megaphoning are verbs, megaphonic is an adjective and megaphonically is an adverb; the noun plural is megaphones.

Diminutive weather forecaster Greta Thunberg (b 2003) with megaphone.

Ms Thunberg's resort to the megaphone to raise the world's interest in the matter of climate change induced by human activity was an example of an attempt to achieve what letters to the editor, press releases and academic papers had failed to effect.  If she's disappointed in what's happened since she became involved that's understandable but she has achieved more than most.  Probably resigned to the sad fact nothing fundamental is likely to change until the crisis hits the point at which the rich start to die or suffer significant financial loss, she'll at least have the satisfaction of being able to say "I told you so" although doubtlessly would have preferred a better outcome.

In political activism the megaphone can be a helpful tool but in international relations (IR), those matters transacted between governments, "megaphone diplomacy" is a term usually of derision because it so often tends to be pointless or worse, counter-productive.  It's something too often seen when those with no background or training in IR get involved, thinking the tactics learned in domestic politics can be appropriate when dealing with other countries.  When early in 2020, Scott Morrison (b 1968; Australian prime-minister 2018-2022) publicly called for an investigation into the origin of COVID-19, he suggested recruiting independent investigators akin to “weapons inspectors” to determine the source of major disease outbreaks and said this was "...a very reasonable and sensible course of action”.  In this he was of course correct and had he pursued the matter through normal diplomatic channels, international support might have ensued but using the megaphone did little but anger Beijing which, of course, retaliated by imposing trade sanctions.  That had real consequences for the people Mr Morrison represents and in terms of finding out anything about COVID-19, achieved nothing.  Anyone with a sophisticated understanding of IR could have explained that was what would happen (had they been asked) but Mr Morrison presumably got to go to his church and, between the clapping, singing and strumming of guitars, told the congregation he'd stood up to the Godless atheistic Chinese Communist Party (CCP) so there was that.