Peculiarities of Media Creation Nowadays - Essay Example

?Peculiarities of Media Creation Nowadays Introduction Media can be described as communication channels through, which news, entertainment, educationor messages are passed through to humans. The media may include broadcasting medium such as radios, televisions or newspapers including the internet. All forms of media form an important part in our daily activities. In early nineteenth century when there were still primitive forms of media, the United States had devised ways to cover this important for of communication that is essential in the daily operations of a place. The creation of media in USA was initiated as a political decision of technological invention. This led to the political decision of having a state run postal service that eventually affected the society in one way or the other. The government through laws such as the public access to information laws clearly demonstrated the role of the state in shaping the path that journalism, mass media and mass communication would be affected. It also shows how future media would be created and how it influences the society either socially, politically or politically and how it relates to the global perspective. Eminent scholars have argued that political decisions, considerations and reasons led to the creation of the media in United States (Starr 2004, p.2) as a profitable and powerful institution where the decisions made led to the growing number of communication empires currently witnessed in the nation and the world at large. He states that technology and economics cannot singlehandedly explain the communication media currently present. To him communication media has got a direct impact on the exercise of power and understanding the media must account itself while taking into account political considerations. Therefore political decisions will continue to influence the media for a long time and its creation. In America, the framework provided either institutionally, politically or legally is favourable to the creation and development of media. The environment came about as a concern made of political considerations in which the American Constitutional framework and the defining political and legal decisions produced a viable and vibrant network of communication for the United States and later the world. The aforementioned coupled with the freedom of speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution led to the subsidization of newspapers through a comprehensive postal network that ensured some form of privacy. This encouraged people to take these forms of media for their daily activities as communication networks quickly spread to a much wider area of the society supported by a conducive legal and political climate. Politics has therefore converged with modern media as literacy and news receive more attention through the media that is utilized by them in all scenarios. Audiences can create the media by making themselves available to the media or making use of the particular media front and this explains the rationale for the existence of the media in our daily lives. The utilization of the media by those who provide it is always targeted towards a particular audience all the time. It is important to note that all prospective providers of media platforms must give account of their target audiences before any form of media is made or adopted (Gupta and Brooks 2013, p.201). Exploration of the target audience and its position within the system of mass communication allows the media creators or providers to identify sites of contestations in the system. The audiences in the media create contexts within which to combine the media and other life-style experiences as people create time to make use of different media in their daily tasks. Influence of Globalization on Media Globalization in relation to the media studies refer to the strengthening of connections between persons in the society that enables us understand the world as one to create awareness of our own place and how it relates within the world experience. As an integral part of communication media, journalism has contributed to this experience representing a key component in the transformation of the society both as a cause and an outcome. Journalism and mass communication has therefore become an integral part in the study of media as most projects take international approaches and perspectives (Reese 2009, pp.362-364). In all circumstances, the effect of globalization on the media need not be gainsaid (Samovar and Porter 1991, p.57). The effect of globalization on the media especially electronic media in changing social attitudes is important as new forms of media such as the internet and satellite television are among the primary forces that have contributed to the restructuring of the fabric of the society. The electronic media is relevant in this case because it is the mode that has been used to facilitate interconnectivity across large distances and the fact that it is flexible for achieving social interaction. Globalization is not uniform everywhere in the world and its rapid development is attributable to technological advancement in the international market. When globalization occurs in the mass communication or media sector to create global media platforms, there emerges what is known as cultural imperialism (Rantanen 2005, p.76) as countries try to dominate the other countries often weaker ones through the exportation of their media products. For example, America has dominated the entertainment scene through their products making it difficult for other nations involved in the production of similar products to flourish. Media companies especially the multinationals have achieved significant political and ideological power that makes them major and integral players in the global environment. The applications of these media include the use of information technology, electronics and telecommunication to achieve a certain aim. There are contradictions as to the influences of globalization on the media, but all these contradictions emanate from the functions of the media which is basically to inform persons, shape the opinion of the public and perform commercial functions. Globalization may affect the media in a positive way through efficient development that is derived from the benefits that come from the flow of information that allows audiences to establish opinions and value judgments. By informing and shaping the opinion of the public, the media meets the needs of the public as they have answers to questions that may be about who, what, where, when and other relevant questions (Axford and Huggins 2001, p.151). Globalization has occasioned the international development of communication where media has increasingly been concentrated within and across national borders which is due to the deregulation and privatization of the media sector. Implications on how news influence our life is either through the concentration of mass-media ownership and the increase of soft media content arising out of alliances of media houses and the policymakers. Researchers have noted a variety of effects on mass media in the global environment that occurs due to globalization. The mass media in the global environment is dominated by a few multinationals that have become more integrated in the international scene for the distribution of products. The resulting effect is that the multinationals such as Time Warner and News Corporation lead to what is known as cultural imperialism through loss of identities. The global commercial system has therefore experienced radical changes and it is likely to continue so irrespective of the profits made or expected. Information through media and globalization influences how news is received by the public. Researchers opposed to globalization and its effect on the mass media consider news as manipulating and therefore it is important that the providers find it necessary to differentiate real and credible news from those that are not worthy of reporting. Consumers of news are therefore free to demand the global media providers to provide credible news especially among the international cable networks. Media globalization which basically means the globalization of communication information companies has got the effect of making the companies which in most cases usually concerned with growth develop important relations with the particular state organs employed. This comes with it a proliferation of mediated communication which results in information that is misinformed or falsified (Tomlinson 1999, p.229). It is impossible to discuss mass communication and journalism through media and how globalization has affected it in one way or the other without discussing the use of technology relevant to media. Globalization effect on the media mainly stems from the fact that the advances in information technology has made it easier to communicate and the requirement of media as a facilitator of all other forms of globalization. Global connections have brought forth new forms of journalism that help create politically significant new spaces in the social system lead to social change as journalism contributes to the transparency of the society. This can lead to the outbreak of new logics that ultimately changes how the society looks at itself in relation to social change for example the changes experienced in China. Through the influence of globalization, one is able to view programs from across the world thus enabling us to understand the cultures and lifestyles of others. The emergence of a global concept of shows, movies or series targeted at the global audience with an impact on the contents of a program is a concept that presents precedence. Advertising is also one area in which the use of television and the radio as a medium for dissemination of information has been put to great use to expose the global products to a wider international audience. The contents contained in a media present itself as a global form of entertainment and provision of information. Today, having good knowledge is partly attributed to the ease of access of media. For example, in China, school children get to be taught English through the radio or television. This has been made possible due to the advantage of audio and visual facilities offered by radios and televisions. As globalization trends in media accelerate, there has been a change in the rules of international communication and the ease of access of information depending on each state. Globalization of the media has had a great influence on nations as it has promoted the reform in management of systems of information dissemination in nations. In China for example, under the pressure of democratization and globalization, the government has devised new modes of information communication that have Chinese characteristics in response to the challenges posed by globalization. As much as globalization of the media has got both advantages and disadvantages, it has got consequences that are devastating in nature. A further review of the media should be carried out in relation to its role in globalization as the assumption that media is paramount for globalization to take place may be misplaced. Considering that the media has always been a policy actor in its own right and the link between the public opinion and the mass media having been strengthened, it is important for all persons concerned to disseminate information that will be received by all concerned in a positive way. Bibliography Axford, B., and Huggins, R. 2001. New media and politics. London, SAGE. Gupta, R., and Brooks, H. 2013. Using social media for global security. Indianapolis, IN, John Wiley & Sons. Rantanen, T. 2005. The media and globalization. London, SAGE. Reese, S.D. 2009. The future of journalism in emerging deliberative space. Journalism. 10, 362-364. Starr, P. 2004. The creation of the media: political origins of modern communications. New York, Basic Books. Samovar, L.A., and Porter, R.E. 1991. Communication between cultures. Belmont, Calif, Wadsworth Pub. Tomlinson, J. 1999. Globalization and culture. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Read More