The Role of the International News Outlets in Forming International Opinions - Essay Example

?Content Analysis Introduction News coverage can be different depending on the news outlet covering an event. The perspectives of news outlets are also based on the cultural, social, and political elements in the country or the region where the news outlet is mostly published. The perspective of the reporters and editors of these news outlets also determine varying perspectives on news. What may seem incendiary and controversial news from a conservative Asian publication may be considered tame or uncontroversial for Western and liberal publications. This essay shall revolve around the thesis that news coverage in two websites would be different because of the specific social, cultural, and political undertones impacting on the website. Examples from evidence gathered shall help support this thesis. This essay shall gather its evidence for 10 days by browsing through news websites to peruse political and other news. Specific news items shall be chosen and then compared to other perspectives or news items from other websites. This process shall be carried out with different websites from western and Asian settings choosing within the time period for data gathering. A comparative analysis of the news articles shall follow this data gathering process. Main Body News terms and definitions There are different terms which need to be defined before this comparative analysis can proceed. Firstly, news agenda refers to the list of news items or topics which editors would choose to follow. The news values on the other hand refer to the importance which is allocated on a certain news item. Sources are the individuals and other relevant items where the information would be gathered. Aljazeera and BBC These two news outlets are considered trusted international networks with the British Broadcasting Corporation being the most extensive news outlet in the world. It is considered a public corporation with measures undertaken in order to ensure its independence from the government (Briggs, 1985). It transmits to millions of homes worldwide, including hotels, resorts, and is now easily accessed via phones. Aljazeera on the other hand is a news outlet based on Qatar and was designed mostly to focus on Arab news and events (Seib, 2008). It is also the largest news outlet in the Middle East, mostly offering an Asian, mostly Middle East Asian perspective on the news. It also runs 24 hours a day with coverage in other countries expanding through the internet (Seib, 2008). This news outlet mostly highlights a less western influenced perspective on current events and affairs. Aljazeera and CNN In comparing the content of Aljazeera and CNN, the Aljazeera news provides a more international variety in its news while the CNN is more US and western focused (Flournoy and Stewart, 1997). Where other perspectives on the news are sought, the reader needs to go to the regional levels of their news outlet, including CNN News Asia where the Asian news can be seen. For Aljazeera, the focus is understandably the Middle East, however, they also include the international news in their front pages (Maalouf, 2008). News Agenda The news agenda is dominated by the Syria issue. In news outlets like CNN and Aljazeera, the threat of a nuclear arms threat from Syria has been discussed, and the position of the US on the issue has been dominant in the news agenda as several related articles have been seen in the past 10 days in these news outlets. The news agenda also includes various discussions and opinions on the Syria issue from the perspective of the US and the rest of the world, including Britain, Russia, and Syria itself. The brewing nuclear threat has been emphasized in the articles, and seems to mimic the same pathway by which the Second Gulf War with Iraq eventually unfolded, with UN nuclear inspections being suggested by the international community and demands by the US President for the international community to take more decisive actions on the issue. UN inspections have been carried out on Syria, however, the international community is still very much concerned about Syria and its possible future actions. The threat of a chemical attack has been highlighted as a major concern in this case and in the CNN article, the focus has been placed on the various international processes involved in securing a united stance on the Syria issue. The sources of the article include statements from major political players, including President Obama, foreign ministers from different countries, including Syria and Russia, as well as Secretary of State John Kerry. In the Aljazeera article, the sources of the news are more or less similar, mostly the US President but also the US Congress. For the US, these two powers are considered the major movers of political decisions. While the CNN article did not dwell too much on the international position on the issue, the American position was sufficiently discussed by the author. Moreover, it also provides a discussion on ways by which the Syria crisis can be resolved with the appropriate interventions. Another topic which has been dominant in this week’s articles is the sentencing of the New Delhi gang rapists, including the controversial ruling on the teenager who was part of the gang who gang-raped a medical student a few months past. This is part of the news agenda of the editors especially as various links to other articles are easily seen in the page of the website featuring the main news articles. News values In terms of values, the news highlighted for the past ten days are those which are timely and which are in response to the various events unfolding in different parts of the world. With the internet, news already travel fast and the news outlets have become aware of the fact that they can easily be delayed in their news reporting (Silvia, 2001). The values attached to the news items are based on relevance. At present, the highly relevant news articles are those which are drawing the attention of the international community, in this case the threat of a nuclear arms war with Syria has become an international concern (Silvia, 2001). The gang rape of the medical student has also drawn worldwide notice, especially with thousands of Indians protesting in the streets calling for major actions on resolving the issue of rape in India. In comparing these two news outlets, the differing perspectives are very much apparent. CNN provides a more western-centric perspective of the news and international events, sometimes focusing on how specific events impact on the west and on relations with the Middle East (Kalyango and Onyebadi, 2012). There is a significant amount of detachment on the part of CNN and BBC in terms of how the news outlets perceive news from the Middle East or from the non-western countries (Aguair, 2009). The perception is based on a tumultuous relation with the west. On the other hand, the Aljazeera news outlet provides a more accurate and more balanced perspective on current events. The articles on Syria from the CNN and BBC perspective seem to highlight the role of the US and other western nations in stabilizing the possible political turmoil. The Aljazeera perspective on the other hand provides an Asian perspective as well as a more balanced perspective on the news (al-Najjar, 2009). They discuss Syria in the context of how the issue started and how it can be resolved by the parties. Although the western perspective is also offered, Aljazeera is more open in its ability to evaluate the issue using contextual resources. In conclusion, this paper has considered the role of the international news outlets in forming international opinions and perspectives. These international news outlets have allowed the readers to understand the international community from a variety of perspectives and orientations. Nevertheless, these news outlets are very much influenced by the perspectives of the world they mainly exist in, sometimes the influence being changed in order to fit the dominant perspective and beliefs of the individual running the news outlet. There are distortions of the news, more so with CNN and BBC which is a western centric organization. With the analysis of Aljazeera on the Syria issue, the issue brings forward the problems of the country in relation to the possible threat of turmoil. For CNN and BBC however, the issue on Syria is presented to the world as yet another Iraq-like conflict, one which requires the interference of the US and the international community. There is bias on the part of CNN and BBC against the Asian community, and the Aljazeera news outlet is concerned more with presenting an accurate picture of the Middle East and of Asia. In the future, I would likely read Aljazeera more that CNN and possibly other international news outlets because of their more balanced and less biased perspective on events. I would also less likely be swayed by the opinions of international news outlets like CNN and BBC especially as they are run by Western corporations and do not provide an accurate picture of events happening across the globe, especially Asia. References Aguiar, L., 2009, Framing a global crisis: An analysis of the coverage of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict by Aljazeera and CNN. Estumos en Comunicacao, 6; 1-17. al-Najjar, A., 2009, How Arab is Al-Jazeera English? Comparative Study of Al-Jazeera Arabic and Al-Jazeera English News Channels. Global Media Journal, 8(14):1-35. Briggs, A., 1985, BBC: the first 50 years, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Flournoy, D. and Stewart, R., 1997, CNN: making news in the global market. Bedford: University of Luton Press. Kalyango, Y. and Onyebadi, U., 2012, Thirty Years of Broadcasting Africa on U.S. Network Television News, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 669-687. Maalouf, A., 2008, The Influence of Al-Jazeera in the Arab World & the Response of Arab Governments, London: ProQuest. Seib, P., 2008, The Al Jazeera Effect: How the New Global Media Are Reshaping World Politics, London: Potomac Books, Inc. Silvia, T., 2001, Perspectives on the information age. Iowa: Iowa University Press. Appendix Stories by region US/Britain Europe Asia Middle East Africa CNN Syria crisis Obama and the Syria crisis North Korea reactor Flooding in Colorado Hostage crisis in the Philippines Syria crisis Prime Minister and Syria Crisis Car pileup in London Iran on Syria crisis Prince William leaving military service Syria crisis India gang rape sentencing Philippines hostage crisis North Korea reactor fears Violence in Pakistan Syria crisis India gang rape sentencing Philippines hostage crisis Roadside bomb in Pakistan Pakistan and Taliban talks Syria crisis Child mining Zimbabwe takeover policy Zambian amnesty homosexual conduct Pakistan crisis Al Jazeera Syria crisis North Korea reactor Hostage crisis in Philippines Legal action against Egypt India gang rape sentencing Syria crisis Prime Minister and Russia on Syria issue Hostage crisis in Philippines India gang rape Pakistan bombing India gang rape sentencing North Korea fears Hostage crisis in Philippines Pakistan turmoil Japan reaction to French cartoons Syria crisis India rape sentencing North Korea reactor issue Hostage crisis in the Philippines Pakistan bombing Syria crisis Pakistan crisis Philippines hostage crisis North Korean issue India sentencing of rapists Top Five stories Read More