Globalization and the Arab Media and Internet - Essay Example

Reflective Essay: Globalization and the Arab Media and Internet Introduction Research has shown that the Arab countries delayed greatly in adopting media and internet. This is due to various factors including national political systems, technical complexity of using Arabic language on the internet, and high costs incorporating high charges for connections. Also studies indicate that Iraq and Saudi Arabia were the last Arab nations to offer public internet access in 2000 and 1999 in that order. However, by mid 2008, most Arabs were deemed to be using internet. This was nevertheless under strict political control due to fears of political rebellion and conservation of traditional values. Nonetheless, in the contemporary society, significant political modifications and globalization have highly influenced Arab media and internet (Zittrain and Palfrey, 2008). It is evident that Arab media and internet has greatly been applied in international commercial transactions and in information dissemination all over the world. This reflective essay will focus on globalization and Arab media and internet. In particular, the essay will focus on achieving various objectives including: assessing the development of Arab media and the impacts of globalization. Development of Arab media and internet Like in many other countries, Arab media and internet have developed in stages, starting from print media such as news papers and magazines, to the discovery of Television and radios and to the emergence of computers and the internet. It is apparent that until 1999, Arab media and internet has been under great control. In Iraq for instance, UN sanctions deliberately made personal computers expensive and scarce, while at the same time, the regime banned the use of modems. However, though currently there is public access to the internet, it is somehow expensive and under great scrutiny. In addition certain websites believed to be hostile or going against state policy are to be reported and are afterwards blocked or filtered (Zittrain and Palfrey, 2008). The old media which includes the print media is also under stringent control. Ultimately internet blocking and filtering and strict control on media will perhaps be remembered, together with the prohibitions on camera phones and satellite dishes. These are considered as futile attempts to slow development for the sake of conserving traditional values. Even with the high attempts to prevent people from accessing internet, it is important pointing out that the internet has offered the Arab citizens with much ideas and information compared to the past (Kamalipour and Mowlana,1994). With the increased globalization, state attempts to control internet use have greatly impacted business activity; particularly the contemporary international IT-based kinds of businesses (Zittrain and Palfrey, 2008). Currently, Arab mass media includes print media such as magazines and newspaper; radio, Television and the internet. The satellite television channels including the Al Jazeera has had a great effect on the Arab discourse and the Arab media. Currently, due to greater regionalization of media and globalization, Arabs have gained greater access to international information and this has encouraged and improved international commercial transactions. Impacts of globalization Globalization refers to the rising unification of the global economic order through the lessening of various obstructions to international trade including export fees, tariffs, and import quotas. The objective of this is to boost goods, services and material wealth through a global division of labour by factors catalyzed by global specialization, relations, and competition. Globalization describes the way in which societies, regional economies, and cultures have become incorporated through transportation, communication and trade. Nevertheless, globalization is generally recognized as been impelled by a combination of technological, economic, political, socio-cultural, and biological factors. Currently, globalization has greatly impacted social media. This includes ways in which globalization has enhanced the development of social media and how the media and internet has assisted in solving issue linked to globalization. One of the major features of globalization is the enhancement of spread of communication and information technologies. In the past individuals only relied on information obtained from Print media such as newspapers and magazines; radio and television (Mehta, 2008). Nevertheless the rapid technological changes and advancements has brought with them facsimile machines, computer equipments, satellite communications, telex systems among others. These are an improvement of print media and with them persons are able to obtain information on all that is happening all over the world. It is apparent that Arab countries only relied on print media and the emergence of personal computers and the internet were not well welcomed in these countries. Most Arab states put precautions and controlled that which the citizens could access. This meant even blocking essential websites that had important information for the citizens. Nevertheless, it is important noting that the internet offered Arab states with information than they never had before. In spite of spreading information media and internet has assisted in bringing people from various parts of the globe together (Samoleit, 2005). The development of social media and internet in the Arab countries has been accelerated by the need to enjoy E-commerce (Samoleit, 2005). E-commerce means that commercial transactions can be carried out online. This includes both domestic and international transactions. It is apparent that the internet has simplified trade transactions as buyers do not have to move from one place to another in search for goods and services (Samoleit, 2005). International commercial transactions are governed by a body of law referred to as international commercial law. An international commercial transaction is a business transaction which engages the elements of more than one nation. This means that a country carrying out business transactions with foreign nations. Since the Second World War, international trade has expansively grown. This as a result has seen the amplifying significance of international commercial law, which plays an essential responsibility in world development, especially through the incorporation of global markets. International commercial law encompasses customary rules of procedure and evidence, customary commercial law and general principles of commercial law. Contemporarily, globalization has brought with it the need to use the media and internet as tools for transacting business (Moens and Gillies, 2006). Though the use of media and internet in business transactions have simplified transactions procedures, they are deemed by many as delicate tools that requires scrutinization at all levels. As a result, various rules have been put in place in order to control international commercial transactions. These rules in addition ensure that international commercial transactions are carried out effectively without such interferences as corruption and bribery. Through globalization, journalists from all corners of the world are able to network, and this has revolutionized printing, news, editing and reporting (Mehta, 2008). It is worth noting that in earlier days, nations did not have a clue of what their neighbour countries were doing, thanks to globalization and technological advancement which brought with them the press media which initiated after information revolution. More notably, globalization has assisted significantly in news circulation. In general, it has made it possible to obtain sufficient and timely processing and spreading of information. Almost all people in broadcasting organizations are able to access global news due to the decreased costs of global communication. It is important pointing out that, though social media and internet have rapidly developed in the contemporary society as a result of globalization and technological advancements, they have their own disadvantages. First of all, research has indicated that the role of journalists have greatly decreased currently. Though this has been associated to mistrust of the journalists by the people, internet and social media has played a significant role in this. For instance, the existence of various websites for instance the citizen journalism websites, face book, You Tube, Twitter, Flickr, and Google among others have proved to be adequate enough to offer individuals with the required information and news. These websites have allowed people to share information internationally within seconds after occurrence. In certain cases, people obtain information even before journalists arrive at the scene. However, academicians believe that there is and will always be a need for a trained professional journalist. Conclusion This reflective essay has focused on Arab media and internet. Particularly it has focused on the development of Arab media and internet and the effects of globalization. Like in other countries, Arab media and internet have developed in stages, starting from print media such as news papers and magazines, to the discovery of Television and radios and to the emergence of computers and the internet. It is apparent that in the contemporary time, Arab social media and internet has grown rapidly. This has been due to rapid technological changes and globalization. These have brought with them various changes in the society which has simplified business transactions and information dissemination among individuals internationally. For instance, globalization has assisted in the spread of communication and information technologies. Technological advancement has brought with it satellite communications, computer equipments, facsimile machines, telex systems and the internet among others. These have immensely assisted in spreading information and also have assisted in bringing individuals from various parts of the world together. In addition, international trade which is as a result of globalization has currently been simplified due to the discovery of E-commerce whereby people from different nations can undertake commercial transactions through the internet. References Kamalipour, Y.R., and Mowlana, H. 1994, Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Mehta, A. 2008, Impact of globalization on media. Available at http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/introduce-yourself/23343-impact-globalization-media.html Accessed August 10, 2011. Ramberg J. and International Chamber of Commerce, 2000, International commercial transactions, (2nd Ed), New York, ICC. Samoleit, A. 2005, Globalization and media in the Arab world. Available at http://www.grin.com/en/e-book/53286/globalisation-and-media-in-the-arab-world Accessed August 10, 2011. Zittrain, J. and Palfrey, J. 2008, Internet Filtering: The Politics and Mechanisms of Control. The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering. Cambridge, MIT Press. Read More