Power Relations and the Reporting of International News - Essay Example

The ways in which power relations inflect the reporting of international news Introduction Globalization has brought huge changes in this world. Virtually, there are no life segments in which globalization failed to make an impact. In politics, economics, education, business as well as in social and cultural activities, globalization has brought huge changes. Journalism or reporting of international news is another area in which globalization was able to bring significant changes. It should be noted that the power relations has been changed drastically after the collapse of former Soviet Union. Earlier, America and Soviet Union were the undisputed superpowers in this world and majority of the other countries were keen on establishing political relationship with these countries. It should be noted that majority of the communist countries took aside of the Soviet Union whereas majority of the capitalist countries joined hands with America during the cold war period. As a result of that, the media in different countries started to make and report news wither in favour of America or in favour of Soviet Union, based on the political relationship of their mother country with the superpowers. In other words, neutrality in the reporting of international news has been severely damaged during the cold war period. At the same time, the destruction of Soviet Union as well as the introduction of globalization has changed the reporting of international news drastically. America became the undisputed leader in global politics after the destruction of Soviet Union, even though China is rapidly becoming the second superpower in the world. Moreover, “the forces of resurgent market liberalism, the decline of public service broadcasting, the global collapse of dictatorships and the outbreak of the so-called ‘catching up’ or ‘velvet’ revolutions of 1989-1991” (Keane, 2005, p.92) have contributed heavily to the changes in the global reporting styles. In short, the rapid changes in the global political and economic spectra have contributed heavily to the changes in the reporting of international events. This paper analyses how power relations inflect the reporting of international news. Power relations and the reporting of international news Philo and Berry (2011) have pointed out the major differences in the way of reporting the incidents in the Middle East in the recent past. They mentioned that the events in the Middle East, especially in the Palestinians –Israeli conflicts are represented, impartially by the global media at the moment. In their opinion, the recent coverage of the recent developments, including the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, has clearly suggests the neutrality of the media while reporting international events. Until a couple of decades before, majority of the news agencies failed to report the incidents in the Middle East in an impartial manner. In fact the news agencies were forced to report the events in a pro-American style, because of the monopoly of America in global politics. However, the influence of the America in global politics and economics started to decline ever since China and India like countries started to develop rapidly. At present, American economic growth is heavily dependent on the investments of Indian and Chinese companies in America or vice versa. In other words, America has lost its supremacy in global politics and economics in recent times. As a result of that, media agencies started to come out from American influences. Earlier, America has tried to influence the reporting styles of the media across the world, citing democratic freedom as a reason. They have labelled all the doings of communist countries as politically and economically motivated and that of the Americans as unbiased. Media agencies had no courage in challenging this claim at that time. However, people all over the world have realized that the democracy is no more a toy in the hands of the Americans. That is why the media giant Rupert Murdoch has once said; “Its partisans predicted an age of ‘democratic revolution’ and multi-channel communications structured by ‘freedom and choice, rather than regulation and scarcity’ (Murdoch, 1989). “During the second half of the 18 th century and in the early part of the 19 th century, a section of the commercial press did indeed become more politically independent, partly as the growth of advertising” (Curran and Seaton, 2009, p.6). In other words, news agencies started to realise the importance of market forces over political forces during this period. At present, global journalism has escaped from the influence of political powers. In fact, it is impossible for a news agency to report events in a biased manner at the moment since people have access to thousands of news channels and sources. If a news agency report an event in a wrong manner, its reputation will be spoiled. Globalization has helped the global economy to change from a political economy to a market driven economy. In other words, market forces are stronger than political forces at the moment. As a result of that, journalism also started to adopt a style of reporting which is highly in favour of the market forces rather than political forces. The case against straightforward accounts of market-driven journalism as the guarantor of democratic openness is strong. The new global journalism, includes all those forms of journalism that recognize that the borders between ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ are negotiable and subject permanently to osmosis. Global journalism is more or less aware of its dependence upon global dynamics – and thus sees itself as contributing positively to citizens’ understanding of the push-pull processes of global interdependence, conflict and compromise that stretch from local milieux to the four corners of the earth, and back again (Keane, 2005, p. 94) At present, there is a sound relationship between the professional news values and the national identity of the journalist, who is reporting an event or incident. According to Nossek (2007, p.343) there is an inverse relation between professional news values and the national identity of the journalist and the journal’s editors. In other words, if a reporter or a news agency tries to become more national, it will be difficult for that reporter or the news agency to become professional in all senses. In other words, when reporters give more importance to national interests, it would be difficult for them to report an event in an unbiased or professional manner. For example, American news agencies usually report news in favor of the Israelis because of the stronger relationship between Israel and America. These agencies will never criticize Israel even if Israel conducts massive raids upon innocent people in the Palestine. At the same time, if a Palestinian tries to attack an Israeli, these agencies would exaggerate that event and report it in a biased manner. “The worldwide coverage of the attacks of 9/11 and the Iraq war of 2003 have revealed the paucity of evidence of a communicative integration which supposedly helps alleviate conflicts and liberates the media from the traditionally strong influence of belligerent governments and patriotic cultural influences” (Hafez, 2007, p.169). Global media was successful in reporting the 9/11 incidents as well as the 2003 Iraq war in a neutral manner. These agencies were able to condemn the communal forces for their attacks on America. At the same time, they were able to condemn America for its unnecessary attacks on Iraq. It should be noted that one of the major the cited reasons for the 2003 attack on Iraq was the possession of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq or Saddam. However, even after 11 years from the Iraq war as well as the execution of Saddam, nobody has reported the seizure of weapons of mass destruction from Iraqi soil. In other words, the cited reasons for the Iraqi attack were far away from the realities or the real reasons. In fact George Bush was taking revenge upon Saddam for humiliating his father Bush senior in an earlier encounter. However, many of the American news agencies tried to hide this reality. However, global media agencies did succeed in unveiling the baselessness of the arguments of the Americans. Based on the nature of operation, global media can be divided into two categories; more powerful and less powerful. The most powerful media are private conglomerates, engaged primarily in generating and supplying consumer demand for news and information through lurid headlines and broadcasts tones from headlines. The less powerful media, especially the internet provides channels for two way communication, permitting the creation of a global epistemic context within which virtually simultaneous political action and activism can take place in widely separated locations (De Jong and Shaw, 2004, p.18). 24 hour news channels with various interests are available in all languages across the world at present. These news channels present breaking news as well as the discussions about such news with the help of experts. In fact, the news viewers usually get confused while hearing the news and discussions from different news channels which have different political interests. For example, in America, there are plenty of news channels which support the Democrats as well as the Republicans. The pro-democrat channels conduct discussions in support to the governmental policies whereas the pro-republican channels conduct discussions and give news against the governmental policies. Even the same information might be presented in different manner by these news channels. As a result of that, the viewers of these channels may not get the exact information all the time. At the same time, it is impossible for somebody to regulate the contents or news spreading through internet or social media. All the people in this world have the freedom to write on internet or spread their views and thoughts. The arrival of social networks has caused huge problems and challenges to the private conglomerates or media owners who tried to provide wrong information to the public. “The gaps in comparative socioeconomic status, technology use, information, and knowledge between and among peoples of the world have reached very distinct levels” (Lull, 2000, p.3). Information Technology became cheaper at present compared to its price a couple of decades before. Even a layman is capable of purchasing a smartphone that will give him access to different internet media as well as social media like Facebook, Twitter etc. It should be noted that these modern media has the ability to provide all the information to all related to a specific event or activity taking place at some corners of the earth. For example, it is often said that the recent revolutions in Libya and Egypt were caused by social media. Gadhafi and Mubarak tried to spread wrong information about the social, economic and political situations in their country with the help of some news channels that support them. They used iron fist to avoid the spreading of information against their interests from the country. However, they failed to realize the power of social media in causing political changes in a country. People outside Libya and Egypt were able to empower the people in these countries through social media. The outcome is history now. Both Mubarak and Gaddafi were thrown away from power. In short, power has limitations in controlling modern media like social network. Even the Chinese government knows this fact very well, even though they were able to control the information flow inside China. “The globalization of the digital revolution has ensured that media content is instantaneously delivered and widely accessible in a uniform format- in the form of text, sound, still and moving pictures and databases” (Thussu, 2006, p.2). Sarikakis (2004) has pointed out the importance of the role of the public in the communication process. Earlier, media owners had monopoly in controlling the spreading of information. At present, the control of spreading of information is slowly shifting from the hands of the media owners to the hands of the ordinary public. The arrival of internet and social media is helping the world in this regard. Since there are fewer restrictions on the spreading of information over social media, it is possible for the people to get all the information about a particular incident from various corners. Conclusions The reporting of international news was influenced by the global political and economic powers in the past. Superpowers determined earlier about how to present news in front of the public. However, the scenario has changed drastically at present. The arrival of digital channels such as internet and social media made it almost impossible for the news agencies or the governments to mislead the people with wrong information. In short, political power or economic power has limitations in controlling the flow of information in the present world. References De Jong, W. and Shaw, M (2004) Global Activism, Global Media, London: Pluto Press. Curran, J. and Seaton, J. (2009) Power Without Responsibility: Press, Broadcasting and the Internet in Britain. London: Routledge. Hafez, K. (2007). The Myth of Media Globalisation. Cambridge: Polity Press.  Keane, J. (2005) Journalism and democracy across borders. London: Routledge  Lull, J. (2000) Media, Communication, Culture: A Global Approach. Cambridge: Polity Press.  Murdoch, R. 1989. ‘Freedom in Broadcasting’, MacTaggart Lecture, Edinburgh International Television Festival (Edinburgh, 25 August 1989). Nossek, H. (2007) Our news and their news: The role of national identity in the coverage of foreign news. Journalism August 2004 vol. 5 no. 3 343-368 Philo, G. and Berry, M. (2011). More Bad News from Israel. Publisher: Pluto Press; 2 edition (8 April 2011) Sarikakis, K. (2004) British Media in a Global Era. London: Arnold. Thussu, D. K. (2006) Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-flow. London: Routledge. Read More