How Do the Media Contribute To Maintaining a Sense of National Identity - Essay Example

?Global Media Cultures How Do The Media Contribute To Maintaining A Sense of National Identity? Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Contribution of Media to Maintaining a Sense of National Identity 4 National Identity and Globalisation 5 Impact of Broadcasting Media on National Identity 7 Conclusion 10 References 12 Introduction In relation to the present day context, media reporting has started to play a pivotal role in terms of treating different issues objectively as either black or white. Often, news reporting plays a vital role with regard to exemplifying a sense of national identity by taking a strong stand against different social issues and challenges. Many people believe that media should not hold opinions for creating national identity. According to Price (1995) “national identity becomes the often elegant collection of images that the government manufactures or encourages to keep itself in power” (Price, 1995). For example, Since China emerged as a socialist republic nation, it has confined the use of television, newspaper along with radio as an extremely regulated piece of medium. Global media cultures bestow strong implications for establishing national identity. In a more pessimistic sense, the decentralising of culture with the emergence of globalization can be perceived as a biased and uneven process in the media. The role of media has turned out to be a mode of trading along with marketing of products as well as prejudices. The nation and the society are influenced by the media in a number of ways. It is the media that helps them to get information about a lot of facets and also to form opinions and make judgements regarding various issues. Moreover, media in society is fundamentally a function of how this society chooses the media. Furthermore, the media’s relationship with the nation is automatic. Correspondingly, media can aid public involvement through advocating the issue and transforming the knowledge, technologies and skills to the people. Media also plays a vital role in terms of creating awareness about rural development programs. Therefore, media acts as a pioneering inter-medium to generate a sense of national identity by revealing societal concerns and presenting a nation with its various auras and identities in front of the global nations. With these considerations, the main purpose of this essay is to address the contribution of media to maintaining a sense of national identity (Dash, 2009). Contribution of Media to Maintaining a Sense of National Identity In any country, the media plays a vital role in edging, forming and imitating public opinion. For developing a nation and building a good identity of the nation around the world, media often acts as source for ensuring that proper governance is maintained by exposing a number of hidden deals and corrupt practices, thereby putting a check on the cancer in the form of corruption in the society. The different news media keep the cautious citizens updated. Media also plays the role of a communicator between people and the government. With the help of the media technology, government can prescribe all kinds of agreements in front of the people and it is very much beneficial for the national development. Moreover, during the election time, the media can play vital role by publishing the bio-data of the candidates, which is helpful for the general public to choose their candidate. In recent days, media technology has become so powerful that it is in a position to break or make a government. For example, the present US President Barak Obama led the Democratic Party to victory because he projected very confident in front of the media (Dash, 2009). Moreover, media plays a crucial role in forming and developing attitudes about diverse beliefs, cultures and ethnic groups. At times distorted, negative or ill-informed media reports about other nations can promote racial division and prejudice. Moreover, community leaders often use different modern day media such as print media and internet to render their assertive communication about a particular nation which acts a major source to drive the essence of the nation forward in the global platform (Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection, 2005). Media can also be termed to be very much helpful for developing the cultural policies related to a nation. National Identity and Globalisation The role of media in terms of emphasizing cultural diversity in the nation has facilitated to build up new virtual geographies that offer migrants a new kind of experiences. In a more border sense, the culture/globalization can be observed to raise different criticalities for media. With the help of the media, compounded by the skill of developed media, resourceful disadvantaged nations have become vulnerable to cultural imperialism. On the other hand, powerful global countries such as the United States use media of standardized version for developing the nation’s culture imperialism (Academia, 2007). According to the observation of Giddens ‘media interventionism’ is where industrialised countries hold a “paramount position in the production and diffusion of media” to develop culture and nation identity (Uwosomah, 2008). A recent study on globalisation of culture diversity by media described globalisation as suppressing of national culture by western culture which was referred as cultural imperialism. Western culture, particularly of the United States, was more popularised by the American transnational visual media which dominated the global media scenario until other nations were capable to surface with the equally pertinent and dominant approaches. With the emergence of the transactional media from other nations, it has become possible to break the monopoly of cultural imperialism which America had enjoyed for decades. Conversely, deprived communities all over the world are now connected one way or another through the use of media (Uwosomah, 2008). Owing to the fact that primarily educated people use developing communication technologies to maintain their identities thus the globalization of the satellite technology has helped to sustain the rise of national culture in the global scenario. Contextually, Aksoy and Robins argue that transactional media feeding promotes deethnicization and frees the migrant from the pincers of a frozen image of the nation (Uwosomah, 2008). The actual content of the media is the other dimension which can delineate the methods and processes whereby the media contribute to maintain a national identity. Media aids not only in effectively maintaining local culture and identity but also weakens the monopolistic grip of transnational conglomerates on the media. Much of the media contents are a manufacture of meaning through images that serves as a mere interpretation of reality rather than a pure reflection. It can apparently be said that media plays a vital role in ascertaining a sense of national identity because at times images created by the media of the politicians or any respected persons hamper the culture of the nation. A recent example of the paramount significance and far-reaching role of media can be ascertained from the publishing of a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad in the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper which hampered the sentiments of the Islamic nations (Academia, 2007). Moreover, satellite broadcasting was held to be a threat to the integrity of the German culture. The convergence of media on the internet has enabled to broaden the reach on different components of media which has also acted a critical factor in ensuring a sense of national identity. Moreover, international media order has compounded social spheres and disengaged the traditional links between physical locations as well as social meanings which in turn has helped to develop national identity (Academia, 2007). The other notable contribution of the media is that it helps the people of the nations to search job prospects through internet. Moreover, most of the educated people are doing internet surfing on a daily basis for gathering news about the world. It is one of the big contributions of the media to maintaining a sense of national identity. Furthermore, visual media is one of the leading contributions of media for building a sense of national identity. Visual media represents the public view along with generating patriotic feelings. Moreover, with the help of media, government at times creates a sense of national identity by enlivening varied sorts of societal images that generate a sense of belongingness amid the people. It also facilitates to create a bond of solidarity amid the citizens (Tomlinson, 2003). Impact of Broadcasting Media on National Identity The broadcasting media has created a profound impact on different spheres such as education of children. The average child today spends more time in front of the televisions. According to a survey by Fairbrother, it is determined that students feel that the mass media have had more impact on their approaches towards the national identity (Mathews & et. al., 2008). For instance, the regulation of the Chinese administration controls has recently come under threat by the spectacle that is news media. Although tough restrictions and exclusions still apply to online pamphlet, cracks are starting to emerge in the degree to which the heavy guidelines and censorships are actually possible. According to the Price, media has thinned any competitive political voice in a revolution of technology. Moreover, mobile technology and internet have progressively become more arduous to regulate (Academia, 2007). In the wider situation, media is having a profound impact on a global scale. The impact of the media in terms of maintaining a sense of national identity is determined by globalisation. In the early years of BBC, radio was deliberately employed to establish a connection between the dispersed along with disparate listeners and the symbolic heartland of national life. In time of World War, broadcasting media became the essential mechanism for building combined life as well as culture of the nation (Academia, 2007). An essential example to illustrate this is the media’s depiction of global conflict and chaos. According to Cleasby “portrayal of developing nations are limited to the narrow agenda of conflicts and catastrophes” (Academia, 2007). Moreover, in this modern world, a globalised society cannot be imagined without a far reaching and a powerful media. In other words, human life has become much deserted without communication as well as media at almost all levels of social activities. Media contributes their part in every sector of the nation such as culture, developmental and political. It cannot be ignored that media is playing a decent role in narrowing down these disparities to the maximum possible extent. The modern day media that encompass electronic media, newspapers, internet, social media others have reached a broader social horizon. However, at times media hampers the society and it also hampers the national identity. The first issue which can hamper national identity is the independence of the media. The other issue is the priority of the information and quality of the media. Moreover, media is a major agent of development and socio-economic transformation in any society. For example, in India and Bangladesh media largely contribute towards socio-economic development. Electronic media even surpasses the barriers of illiteracy which is a crucial concern in these nations. Mass media thus carries the message of political and economic fairness and permission to the multitude of deprived masses. Moreover, the relationship of public service broadcasting to the national identity can be differentiated into two parts. At times, the governments of different nations have used mass media to their advantage in constructing a sense of national identity. For instance, media assault on national identity continued after 1993 elections in Cambodia. Media took a strong stand point to ascertain their position regarding the happenings in the nation which facilitated to ensure a democratic viewpoint of the mass population (Academia, 2007). Another form of emerging media i.e. social media also plays a vital role to maintaining a sense of national identity. Social media often portrays a distinctive image of a nation regarding its various social and cultural issues through the opinionated and forthright views of people using such medium. Due to its ability of communicating the viewpoints of people on a comparatively faster mode to global audiences, social media has become a modern pioneer of national identity creation. Conclusion From the overall discussion, it is determined that media is a fundamental component in the creation and prolongation of national identity. It has been observed that media in the present day scenario has often been regulated which has acted as a barrier towards its efficient performance. The facet of globalization has had a strong effect on culture diversification thereby media has become a more important part of establishing a sense of national identity. Different media play diverse roles in terms of establishing national identity. In relation to social-economic development, media also contributes their part to maintaining a sense of national identity. It is determined that media has a critical role to play in terms of addressing and conforming the cultural policies of a nation. It is found that the role of media has evolved from being a crucial medium of enhancing a sense of nationalism to mitigating the challenges raised by cultural imperialism. With the intensification of globalisation, in order to ascertain a sense of national identity the factors associated with cultural imperialism need to be overcome. Consequently, media has facilitated to render a more even society which is devoid of any cultural bias or prejudice. This has enabled to project a nation from a more moderate standpoint, thus helping the nation to act as a part of global community. Moreover, national identity is a crucial part for a nation’s belonging in the societal dimension. Thus, media has over the years ensured their strong viewpoint regarding national development. Media in future will play an ever role as with the development of more use friendly techno0logies the role of media will become even greater as people will possess greater access to information. Media, thus needs to ensure that more refined information are travelled to the common masses, which can facilitate to provide people greater leverage to challenge the prevailing and uncalled-for social norms. Media’s role can become a critical dimension for ensuring that a nation attains its desired social status in the global echelon. References Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection, 2005. A National Action Plan to Build on Social Cohesion, Harmony and Security. Living in Australia. [Online] Available at: http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/a-multicultural-australia/national-action-plan/nap [Accessed October 21, 2013]. Academia, 2007. National Identity and the Role of the Media. F- scray. [Online] Available at: http://f-scray.com/oot/?p=180&page=6 [Accessed October 21, 2013]. Dash, S., 2006. Role of Media in Nation Building. Orissa Review. [Online] Available at: http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2009/Jan/engpdf/50-51.pdf [Accessed October 21, 2013]. Mathews, G. & et. al., 2008. Hong Kong, China Learning to belong to a Nation. Routledge. Price, M. E., 1995. Television, The Public Sphere And National Identity. Oxford: Oxford. Tomlinson, J., 2003. Globalisation and Cultural Identity. Polity Press, pp. 269-277. Uwosomah, A.C., 2008. The Role of the Media in the Rise and Demise of Nation- States. Slideshare. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/austenonereader/the-role-of-the-media-in-rise-and-fall-of-the-nation-state [Accessed October 21, 2013]. Read More