TOPIC

Participation of Media and Media

Technologies in Globalization

Submitted By:

Malvika Singh

M.A (Mass Communication and Journalism)

C-923, Gaur Global Village,

Crossings Republic,

Ghaziabad, 201009

UP

09582235948

ABSTRACT

Mass media and globalization have a shared history. They both go hand in

hand and aid each other in attaining sheer finesse. Globalization means

going global and mass media with its different channels helps endlessly in

this process. Today we don’t have to go a foreign location to watch a world

cup match. We enjoy it in our home’s comfort. Mass media and

globalization make it possible. It is because of this phenomenon that we get

to live in what the Canadian scholar Marshal McLuhan calls, a Global

Village. In this global village we, as different nations of the world, share a

common culture and each other’s achievements and griefs. Thus

globalization is both a result of mass media endeavors and a proliferative

agent of the same.

Article

The term "globalization," like most terms of public discourse, has two

meanings: its literal meaning, and a technical sense used for doctrinal

purposes. In its literal sense, "globalization" means international integration.

Its strongest proponents since its origins have been the workers movements

and the left (which is why unions are called "internationals"), and the

strongest proponents today are those who meet annually in the World Social

Forum and its many regional offshoots. In the technical sense defined by the

powerful, they are described as "anti-globalization," which means that they

favor globalization directed to the needs and concerns of people, not

investors, financial institutions and other sectors of power, with the interests

of people incidental. That's "globalization" in the technical doctrinal sense”.

--Noam Chomsky

Often we come across sentences like “we are living in a globalized world” or

“the media is fanning the process of globalization”. Many obvious questions

flash in the mind; what is globalization? How is media related to

globalization? How is it fanning the process? Well if we talk about media

first, we can refer to it as ‘Octopus’; having its tentacles penetrated in

everything. Media acts as a channel through which an idea or a concept is

propagated across a vast spectrum. It has played different pivotal roles

hitherto and still is playing some of the big ones. We, as consumers, have

lately discovered the resurgence of media in the big picture. It has

entertained, informed, helped providing justice, put forth different issues;

national as well as international, to name a few. Media has now added one

more feather in its hat by acting as a pro to the process of globalization.

Globalization literally means going global; around the world. It means

expanding a phenomenon beyond geographical boundaries, which hitherto

remained restricted to the regional boundaries. Also, the process by which

the people across the globe are unified and function together. More often

than one, globalization and internationalization are used interchangeably but

there is a slight difference. Internationalization refers to the relation between

countries—political, economic, social etc where as globalization refers to the

integration of economy on a global scale. Globalization has changed the face

of the world. Things which were inaccessible due to ‘space’ constraint can

now be accessed, anywhere round the world. We can share the culture,

information, views, technology etc with someone who is sitting thousand

miles away. We drive cars that could only be seen on the sophisticated

European roads. The social causes now have an international appeal to them.

Views on international politics and economy are shared. This would not

have been possible, had the process of globalization not taken place. The

credit goes to media and its different panels.

Media has emerged as one of the causative agents of Globalization. Its

participation in the globalized world is humongous. Various media tools

such as television, newspapers, magazines, mobiles and lately, internet, have

fastened the process of globalization manifolds. All these act as channels to

send the message and get the feedback. Television and internet are the

fastest of all. Different broadcast channels flash news and people often

confirm it from the net. This helps in spreading of an idea real fast. Internet

provides many versions of truth, each catering to a certain moral, ethical and

psychological standard. People choose their version of truth and hence are

convinced faster. This helps in the promotion of an idea which in turn aides

globalization. Media is bestowed with the power to convince people, so

much so that the people start viewing things from the serving medium’s

view point. This is where the media starts to rule the psyche of the audience.

It has some set theories, with the help of which it manipulates the emotions

of its consumers. In Today’s globalized world, where media has become a

little bit of everything, there are some set theories which determine the

viewpoints of people. Theories that build and change perceptions, set

agendas, manipulate public emotions and above all spoon feed the

audiences, so much so that they become largely dependent on the media.

Some of the important theories are MSD (Media System Dependency),

Agenda Setting Function and Technological Determinism.

Let’s have a look on the account on how these theories affect the globalized

world and aid the process of globalization on the whole.

Media System Dependency theory, proposed by Ball-Rokeach and De-fleur,

explains the dependence of society on the media. Of late, the world has

witnessed the resurgence of media as a new court of justice. We look up to

media for anything which is supposed to be given or done by authorities

falling under the governmental paradigm. Media acts as a channel through

which exchange of various kinds take place. News and views from across

the globe pour in and the consumer is equipped with the desired set of

information. It helps him globalize in a better fashion and he becomes linked

to the rest of the world. Also, MSD theory explains the relation between

media and the society. The version of truth presented by media is instantly

taken by the society and feedback is given. The amount of positive feedback

reflects the amount of globalization.

Media also build consents and make or break pre conceived notions. This it

does through the Agenda Setting function. It is very important for the

process of globalization. The world in which we thrive is an economic and

globalized world. Obviously, there are many foreign companies seeking a

market in developing countries like India. Nevertheless, to build a market in

India is a Herculean task as the Indian market is colored. Here, the masses,

who are generally the middle class, go by the image of the company

concerned. So, to attract the potential consumer, the company needs to build

an image and who, other than media, can do it best? The organization

concerned appoints a media house which acts as its PRO. Hence, comes into

being the game of manipulation of the emotions of the people. The multi-

national companies play a pivotal role in process of globalization; aided by

media.

The notions, ideas, beliefs, moral and ethical values of people, lately, are

affected by the media on a large scale. In a sense, media determines and

controls the thought process of public. Its akin the Agenda Setting Function

of the media. What people think and how they think are humongously

regulated by these channels. The primacy of human mind seems to be taken

over by technology. By technology, I mean everything that compliments the

human life by making it easy. Technology guides and regulates the thought

process of people. In a sense, people cease to apply their own intellect and

blindly follow what is being offered to them. This ‘quality’ of the audiences

is tapped by the media giants as well as the big corporations. They use it

according to their will and need.

Also, transmission of culture has always been an important function of mass

media. It aids in facilitating culture exchange and multiple flows of

information and image between countries through international news

broadcasts, television programming, new technologies, film and music.

Before the 1990’s, mainstream media systems in most countries of the world

were relatively national in scope. Since then most communication media

have become increasingly global, extending their reach beyond the nation-

state to conquer audiences worldwide. International flows of information

have been largely assisted by the development of global capitalism, new

technologies and the increasing commercialization of global television,

which has occurred as a consequence of the deregulation policies adopted by

various countries in Europe and the US in order to permit the proliferation of

cable and satellite channels. Globalization theorists have discussed how the

cultural dimension of globalization has exercised a profound impact on the

whole globalization process. The rapid expansion of global communications

in the 21st century can be traced back to the mechanical advancements of

technologies during the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, which started

mainly with the invention of the telegraph in 1837.

Nevertheless, it was the evolution of technologies capable of transmitting

messages through electromagnetic waves that made possible the

advancement in the globalization of communications. The emergence of

international news agencies in the 19th century, such as Reuters, paved the

way for the beginnings of a global system of codification. Nonetheless, it

was not until the 1960’s, with the launch of the first geo-stationary

communication satellites, that communication by electromagnetic

transmission became fully global, thus making the globalization of

communications a distinctive phenomenon of the 20th century.

However, every coin has two sides. Continuous studies in the field of mass

media have given birth to umpteen modernization and development theories.

The key theories in international communications grew out of international

relation studies. The “modernization” or development” theory in the area of

communication research emerged in the Cold War context and were largely

preoccupied with the ways in which the media could help transform

traditional societies to include them into the capitalism orbit. The

dependency theories of the 1960’s and 1970’s were perceived as an

alternative approach grounded in neo-Marxism, and which adopted a

theoretical framework that saw capitalism and inequality as a key

perspective in understanding the impact of power relations on global

communications.

The Media System Dependency theory, as explained earlier, lays focus on

the fact that the mass media aids the first world countries in their capitalistic

quest, thereby disturbing the balance of power and aggravating the economic

disparity between nations. Globalization is thus seen as having consequences

for the distribution of power and wealth both within and between countries.

Not only this, another flipside of interdependence of mass media and

globalization is cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism theories of the

1970’s and 1980’s highlighted how the media in developing countries

imported foreign news, cultural and television genre formats and also values

of capitalist consumerism and individualism. The core critique of the

imperialism thesis was that the developing countries had established a

relationship of subordination in relation to the First World countries that had

historical roots in European colonialism, culminating in a centre-periphery

relationship. We can take America and Mexico as example where the former

is a centre state and the latter is a periphery state.

It has always been argued by the communication scholars that the US-based

transnational organizations serve to undermine the cultural autonomy of the

countries of the South. They see the US developing an imperialist control of

the world through mass media. Many American scholars were critical of the

modernization perspective and the idea that the Western media entry in the

Third world contribute to national development. Many international media

giants like Reuters, AP, UPI and AFP have been assigned a role by media

scholars of having contributed in spreading a global agenda and in creating

particular perceptions of the South as being a place of “corruption, coup and

disaster” for Western audiences. However, these four news agencies remain

key players who dominate the dissemination of news and information with

majority of the newspapers and other media organizations depending on

them for international news. One of the core reasons of this dependence is

the limited number of alternatives.

Nevertheless, technological advancement has not only shattered social

boundaries of the world; it has brought tremendous transformation in all

fields of life. Marshall McLuhan has stated that the world is a Global

village. This has happened due to advancement in the fields of science and

technology. People of the world now live in close proximity. They share

their joys and sorrows with one another. They benefit from the inventions

and discoveries made by other people. It is the media that creates the

experience of global shared time, especially by informing people around the

world about “events” that they can share. Communications give people a

chance to contact other people in distant locations whatever the time.

Globalization of any country is reflection of that country. This cutting edge

of technology has provided us the opportunity to move from a stagnant

phase of ignorance to a modern era of revolution and logic. As we are living

in rapidly and constantly changing times, change is around us, about us,

within and without us. Another function which the mass media performs

today is that of a watchdog. We can learn about wars, revolutions,

earthquakes, floods etc in different parts of the world through mass media

aided globalization. For example, the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria, where

thousands of people have been uselessly killed and hostages are being

mercilessly beheaded, is promptly relayed thousand miles away on our

television screens. We sympathize with our fellow brothers and sisters and

share their grief. The terrifying cases of Ebola epidemic started somewhere

in Africa and precautionary measures were being taken thousands of miles

away in India. We learn about the different functions the UN is performing

in various fields of economic uplift and international trade and relations

between states. The editorials of popular newspapers are useful

commentaries on national and international affairs. They tell us about social

matters like debates, public meeting affairs, transport problems, price levels,

art, literature, religion and so on every now and then.

Also, general health programs get easily publicity like campaigns for child

health, family planning, awareness about AIDS, TB and Swine Flu.

Television can be used to teach uneducated people. We can have programs

for teaching the basic details of languages. Such programs can be extremely

useful for our villagers and the working class people in the cities.

Mass media aids globalization and vice versa. It helps to reveal the news of

people’s misery so that concerned authorities can take necessary steps. The

whole world has become a global village due to media. Today the powerful

effects of media have spread in every society of all over the world. Now

with the advancement in the field of science and technology, we are globally

interconnected and communicate with other countries. There are a group of

computers that can communicate with each other connecting million of other

computer networks in the world. World Wide Web is collection of millions

of changing documents on computers all over the world. These documents

may contain the books, magazines, pictures, films and information one

needs. The different websites that run into millions, offer information in the

sciences,arts,religion,education,commerce,industry,agriculture,law and

almost every topic or subject. The internet has surely brought countries and

nations closer. It has functioned to help in the development of the world into

global village.

Media is the root cause of some major developments in today’s world;

globalization being one of the most important. The way media with its

different panels shape the mentality of people is incredible. Globalization is

the buzz word today and media claims the full credit of fanning it across the

globe.

References:

1. Fox Jeremy, Post Modern Encounters: Chomsky and Globalization :

Page 129

2. Aggarwal Virbala, Handbook of Journalism and Mass

Communication: Page 67

3. Harcup and Tony, Journalism: Principals and Practice (2nd edition):

Page 36, 37

4. Kracht Franziska, Dynamics Between Culture and Commerce in

Media Globalization: Page 121

5. Joshi V. K., Globalization of Print and Electronic Media: Page 44, 45

6. Birgit Beumers, Globalization, Freedom and the media after

Communism: Page 22

7. Bhargava Gopal, Mass Media and Public Issues

8. Schramm Wilbur, Mass Media and National development