Influence of Media on Society and Organisation - Term Paper Example

Influence of media on society, organisation, politics and human rights TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction................................................................................................................... 2.1 An explanation of the meaning of media....................................................................... 2.2 Identifying domestic, national and international media………………………………. 3.1 Evaluating the importance of media as an influence toward stakeholders……………. 3.2 Importance of media toward influencing disparate stakeholder groups………………. 3.3 Influence of pressure groups, political groups and media owners…………………….. 4.1 Challenges and pressures faced by the media…………………………………………. 4.2 Exploiting media constraints…………………………………………………………… 4.3 Global news media……………………………………………………………………… 4.4 The impact of global news media………………………………………………………. 5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………… References Influence of media on society, organisation, politics and human rights 1. Introduction Because it is becoming recognised that media is a powerful and significant source of information for diverse members of global society, and is a prominent force in shaping cultural, political and organisational values and principles, it would be practical to perform an examination of media’s persuasive attributes and social authority to determine the extent to which media serves to manipulate change and stakeholder behaviours. This report aims to identify the capacity of media to influence social, organisational and political ideologies in today’s society. The objectives of the report is to perform a comprehensive examination of the media influence on a specific organisation, Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F), a fashion retailer that has, in recent years, been inundated with media influence that has radically changed its business position and social relevancy in foreign and domestic consumer markets. The study achieves this objective through consultation with a variety of modern media sources highlighting a variety of alleged unethical behaviours of Abercrombie & Fitch and an exploration of how this dissemination of information has altered consumer behaviour, social attitudes about the A&F clothing brand, and subsequently changed organisational strategy and behaviour of this business. Through examination of relevant theories of social justice, universalist ideologies of what constitutes human rights, the research-supported influence of social reference groups, and disparate cultural norms in domestic and foreign markets will supplement an expounding of the role of modern media in essentially perverting the global image of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand. 2.1 An explanation of the meaning of media Media is inclusive of television, radio, a variety of print sources such as magazines, the Internet and even film production. It is encompassing of a variety of information transmission channels that deliver news and other relevant data to a variety of stakeholders in society. Understanding what constitutes media in society is important as information provides the foundation for how people respond, perceive and interact with media-delivered knowledge, an arbitrated experience, which alters sociological, political and psychological ideologies. Hence, media is not only a resource by which to attain knowledge and information, it is a system maintaining the ability to alter culture, organisational practices and strategies, and societal ethics (to name only a few aspects). 2.2 Identifying domestic, national and international media Regional media organisations are inclusive of such organisations as Al Jazeera, an Arabic news channel servicing the Arabian Peninsula. The main focus of Al Jazeera is to highlight news issues that are relevant and which impact society in Saudi Arabia, such as highlighting the War in Afghanistan, the current activities of the Palestinian State, and the impact of foreign nation political strategies that impact Saudi interests. The mission of domestic media sources such as Al Jazeera is to focus primarily on what impacts social and political welfare within a domestic context. National media is characterised by such organisations as the South African Broadcasting Company, a public broadcasting service sustaining three television channels and 18 different radio stations servicing the interests of South African society (Herbst 2013). National media are media systems that broadcast or print information for the pursuit of gaining only national attention and generally involve dissemination of information that is relevant for national needs and interests. The mission of national media organisations is to provide national citizens with information relevant to the expectations and ideologies of a particular country. International media involves such organisations as CNN and BBC International that are available to mass global markets highlighting a variety of news information that explores global politics, global consumerism, and even reporting on the inter-connectivity of global capital and securities markets. International media sources report on events and information that is not isolated to a single geographical region. These media networks often distribute media that is multi-ethnic and inclusive of the dissemination of topics that are relevant to global audiences of disparate socio-economic demographics. The mission of international media sources, such as CNN, is to provide non-biased dissemination of information involving scenarios and social situations that have a global context; a diversified media model. 3.1 Evaluating the importance of media as an influence toward stakeholders The media services as a method for disparate stakeholders in society to maintain a connection with their social environment and the activities occurring across the globe. Humans are social beings, a rather universal characteristic of mankind, hence media provides an effective outlet for communication in a way that satisfies inherent needs for social belonging (Sterne and Scott 2010). From a more sophisticated viewpoint, it is recognised that media is important as the press freedoms provided to media organisations and their associated representatives leads to less governmental corruption (Ahrend 2002). This is a highly beneficial aspect of media especially in democratic societies and even developing countries in which de-regulation and free market ideologies dictate a need for less government influence in social scenarios and business operations. The intended lack of bias that is part of media organisational philosophy as it pertains to accuracy and truthfulness in media reporting provides the template for governing the activities of many global government actors, hence altering their behaviours to provide more transparency and integrity in governance ideology. 3.2 Importance of media toward influencing disparate stakeholder groups Before understanding how media serves to influence social attitudes and values, the general public at large, it is necessary to evaluate how global citizens respond to social conditions. Marketing theory indicates that adults and youth markets alike are strongly influenced by the opinion and relevancy of social peer reference groups. One of the most fundamental, rather universal needs of members of society is to obtain a sense of social belonging and the receipt of esteem from others in a social context (Weiten and Lloyd 2005). To achieve this belonging and satisfy needs for esteem, members of society make comparisons to others in society who maintain favourable characteristics to the individual. This group provides an aspirational characteristic and the opinion and values of this reference group becomes the framework by which a person measures their own perceptions, cognition whilst also gaining a sense of self through this comparison (Holton 2004). Social media, as one example, provides an effective outlet for individuals to engage with certain aspirational reference groups and evaluate sentiment that is posted in this media outlet by which to develop their own sense of self. Through this evaluation and assessment, the individual is able to define themselves according to motivational needs theory. Hence, social media via an Internet channel becomes an influential mechanism that changes social attitudes and values. This is often why media organisations recruit attractive and influential celebrities to represent their ideologies as the aspirational characteristics of this reference group better engages and enthuses certain demographics in society to listen to a media source’s objectives and ideologies being transmitted. There is no better example of the importance of media influence in changing social sentiment than with the company Abercrombie & Fitch. In 2012, social media (such as Facebook and Twitter) were abuzz with social commentaries about the alleged unethical strategies utilised by the firm in an effort to improve consumption desires with youth markets. In 2006, the CEO of the organisation, Mike Jeffries, indicated very frankly to a variety of media sources that the company would only hire good-looking individuals as salespersons in-store and that the company absolutely did not wish for people who were not considered cool to purchase the company’s clothing line (Levinson 2013). Offered the CEO, “A lot of people don’t belong in our clothes and they can never belong” (Levinson 2013, p.1), in an effort to indicate the core values of the firm. As a result of these comments, famous American actress Kirstie Alley indicated in social media and on several television programs that she would never purchase any merchandise from Abercrombie & Fitch (Winston 2013). A&F further made statements with representatives from Internet and print media that the company would never carry plus-sized merchandise that is suitable for the overweight consumer segment, causing many diverse consumer segments to publicly chastise the organisation via social media channels. As a result of this negative public backlash, the company experienced a sudden drop in sales at a rate of 17 percent, a substantial change for a company that had historically experienced considerable consumer interest in the brand and maintained increases in revenues year-on-year since 2005. Even CNN, an international media organisation, disseminated the comments and ideologies of CEO Mike Jeffries and reported on the alleged unethical business behaviours of the organisation. Figure 1 illustrates the backlash of overweight citizens and special interest advocacy groups indicating hostility against A&F and attempted methods to mock the organisational model of this business. Figure 1: Mock A&F Publicity Exposing Hostile Sentiment about CEO Comments Source: LeTrent, S. (2013). ‘Attractive & Fat’ ad spoofs Abercrombie, CNN Living. [online] Available at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/23/living/abercrombie-attractive-and-fat (accessed 21 May 2013). Pressures from this social media sentiment that ultimately led to changes in values and attitudes about the relevancy and integrity of A&F led to immediate organisational changes and reversal of CEO sentiment. The CEO offered many apologies in a variety of media sources, however with the prevalence of negative sentiment on social media from many social reference groups, the company still continues to experience sales decline and diminishing consumer interest in the brand. It turns out, however, that the company was not really in the business it thought it was. News releases in a variety of different media sources indicated that this backlash and social desire to boycott the organisation indicated that the company will be forced to close a total of 180 different stores by 2015 (Huffington Post, 2012). The CEO realised the importance of improving public relations in order to sustain the longevity of Abercrombie & Fitch as a result of the pressures that social media and even international media organisations were placing on the business. Said the CEO in an effort to improve his brand image, “We look forward to continuing this dialogue and are taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying” (News Limited 2013, p.1). It was not until sales declines jeopardised the longevity of this long-standing and once-respected company that the CEO changed his stance on utilising vanity-inspired and rather unethical business practices in an effort to reduce the negativity that was pervading the organisation via social media channels. This illustrates how media maintains the ability to apply pressure to organisations and force a radical alteration of historical strategic policy. 3.3 Influence of pressure groups, political groups and media owners International media often broadcasts or prints commentaries made by representatives of this international organisation that is disseminated to cultures around the world. In recent years, in cooperation with world leadership, the UN has continued to exert its agenda in an effort to adopt a set of human rights that are universal and pressure diverse nations and cultures to adopt this set of universal norms as routine social practice and ideology. It should be recognised that in most Westernised cultures, there is a set of shared culturally-driven values regarding social justice ideology and its relevancy to establishing human rights protections. Social justice theory, as defined by Flynn (1995), asserts that all stakeholders in society, regardless of ethnicity, class, or social prominence should be afforded equal opportunities and equal rights from a social perspective. Social justice is a morally-relevant set of assumptions and expectations from a society that has been developed over time to ensure protectionism of human rights. However, the notion of equal protections is not accepted or considered relevant in every international culture around the world. Pollis and Schwab (1979) indicate that the human rights norms being imposed by the United Nations and Western countries are not defendable and appropriate for global culture and therefore are not applicable or relevant universally. International media sources, such as the ownership of CNN, which endeavours a mission to report unbiased information about the ideologies and social expectations of the United Nations are reported in countries such as China in which there is significant government oppression as a means of sustaining high levels of power distance between generic Chinese society and the Communist government. Hence, media serves as an influence on political systems by applying pressure that stems from increased knowledge with Chinese citizens about global sentiment regarding oppressive and dictatorial regimes, laying the foundation for rallying Chinese citizens to engage in rebellion and defiance against Chinese government regimes. This was witnessed in the Tiananmen Square rebellion of 1989, a series of riots performed by Chinese citizens to force government to accept reform that included less oppression and more freedoms (Cunningham 2010). The riots were inspired by a variety of media sources that continued to portray Chinese government leadership as intolerable to Western values of social justice, thus inspiring citizens to act against the government as media served as an influence to make citizen realise they deserved freedoms against governmental tyranny. As a result of these riots, media owners abandoned implications of diplomatic relations and simply reported of the harsh treatment that the rioters received which led to a profound change in historical Communist doctrine, opening negotiations and trade agreements with many Western nations in order to avoid further negative, global backlash against Chinese government policy (Nathan 2002). Increase in the inter-dependencies between national and international media sources and basic reporting of events associated with Tiananmen Square not only informed international citizens in society about the dangers of dictatorial political regimes, but inspired Chinese culture to demand freedoms more aligned with United Nations’ imposed social doctrines and Western values related to freedom and liberty. 4.1 Challenges and pressures faced by the media Commercial media sources are funded through sponsorship and advertisement with many global corporations. It is the responsibility, under journalist codes of ethics, to remain unbiased and simply report on news events as they occur and without inclusion of editorial opinion. However, especially in capitalistic societies, large conglomerates have significant power and authority that is highly influential in persuading political policy development and organisational policy development in order to satisfy corporate interests. As such, corporate advertisers can threaten to pull this advertising revenue unless the media ownership agrees to promote positive business behaviours that have occurred with the sponsor or advertiser, thus threatening the longevity and revenue-building opportunities of the media organisation (Ingram 2008). Furthermore, government maintains considerable influence in establishing legislative policies that can mandate news agencies to become licensed and comply with regulatory demands for news reporting. Not all societies are governed by democratic systems which involve social approval and representation to enact laws that restrict media activities and reporting methodologies. Policing forces, especially in oppressive and dictatorial national governments, often confiscate journalists’ cameras and equipment in an effort to stifle honest reporting of tyrannical incidents occurring with despotic government actors. This type of journalism oppression can serve to frighten journalists from achieving reporting of global events with political significance, hence altering organisational policy for media owners. A relevant example of government serving as an oppressive challenge to fair and accurate news reporting involves the Iraq War and the role of the United States in facilitating this conflict. Government secrecy was a significant challenge in reporting to the world about the implications of this war to educate and inform global society. The Bush Administration asserted that Iraq was directly responsible for producing weapons of mass destruction, yet the U.S. government refused to supply information and evidence that supported this assertion to the media (Schulman 2007). News media owners, recognising this barrier to effective and trustworthy reporting, maintained a challenge as to whether to appeal to judicial branches of U.S. government to force the executive branch to reveal the accuracy and evidence of this implication about Iraqi involvement in constructing such weapons or whether to dismiss potential, future cooperation with government. Under U.S. law, it is a mandate for journalists to have freedom of reporting, however government secrecy mandated that media organisations would have to engage in complicated legal proceedings and judicial appeals to provide precision in legitimate news reporting. Organisational policy, in this instance, often involved forbidding journalist employees from enacting lawsuits against secretive American government in an effort to better suit the interests of global social stakeholders about the consequences of Iraqi allegations of tyrannical government behaviours that could, theoretically, impact the welfare and security of global society. 4.2 Exploiting media constraints One significant constraint with today’s media is Libel Law, stating that no journalist can defame or provide slanderous news reporting that targets a specific individual or group. Defamation is defined under English law as communicating false statements about an individual or group that maintains the ability to damage their reputation. The key word in this definition is false. However, exploiting this legal restraint is achievable based on providing the judicial system with concrete evidence that a statement is supported by irrefutable fact. Under Section 6 of the Libel Act of 1843, the provision of proof that a statement is accurate becomes a valid defence against allegation of defamation and when it can be reasonable demonstrated that a statement made by the media organisation was to provide significant public benefit (Folkard 1908). Hence, media organisations can avoid being involved in complex defamation lawsuits by ensuring compliance with respected codes of journalistic ethics, ensuring transparency and honesty in reporting, and ensuring that equality is promoted under a sense of relevant social justice. Obtaining membership in the organisation referred to as the International Federation of Journalists, as one example, an organisation that condemns discriminatory reporting practices and the utilisation of media as a propaganda mechanism, can illustrate to stakeholders the ethical stance and intention of media organisations. Since it is known that the role of journalists is often demonised, tangible illustration of ethical agenda to broader societal stakeholders can exploit more trust in the integrity and honesty of media reporting. Yet another example of a legal constraint for media organisation is associated with The Broadcasting Act of 1990 which indicates the specific factors considered illegal for broadcast on television and radio in the United Kingdom. If the information associated with a scenario that could be considered obscene by the United Kingdom was a legitimate newsworthy event, international media organisations have options of presenting the information to global audiences whilst adhering to social and legally-defined standards of obscenity in the UK by not transmitting this information to this particular culture. Not all media organisations are constrained by geography or the ability to disseminate information on a global basis, hence the organisation still complies with UK expectations of public decency whilst still ensuring that the information is properly distributed to important audiences globally. Media organisations are also impeded by social constraints. For instance, Islamic countries frown upon advertisements and dissemination of information regarding contraceptives. Saudi Arabian culture and government attempts to oppress any media representation of women. Journalists are either forced to comply with these expectations or determine methodologies to ensure they overcome and exploit these constraints. Whilst it is recognised that journalists must not utilise media forums as a method of distributing propaganda, media sources can be more diligent about reporting on various women’s rights movements that are occurring (legitimately) in the country in order to raise global social awareness of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. This would allow stakeholders, in the long-run, rather than the media organisation, to apply pressure on Saudi government and society to ensure that women are given equal protections and representation in media sources. By making such reporting a priority, whist maintaining the highest level of ethical conduct related to fair and accurate reporting, it could provide the foundation for removing social constraints and ensuring more equal representation of women in this population. 4.3 Global news media One example of the benefits of interaction between stakeholders and the media can be represented with the country of Nigeria. Nigeria has always been a culture that maintains a strong ethical inclination toward preserving potential family and social relationships. As a collectivist nation, loyalty and commitment to ensuring strong bonds and shared meanings with important social groups is a primary social expectation for this rich culture. However, in recent years, Nigerian youth markets have started to be exposed to a variety of American films, music and other media that are often filled with obscenities, themes of powerful sexual expression and general vulgarity (Salami and Awolowo 2006). In a culture where familial values are primary social values, Western media is often considered offensiveness by traditionalist Nigerian social members and there is growing concern that the influence of American media is degrading the historical, conservative values of the country. Nigerian youths are beginning to imitate the obscenities and behaviours of Western celebrities depicted in video media which is creating a situation where once-compliant youths are seeking rebellion against their caretakers and other national authority figures in an effort to break down their perceptions of inappropriate social norms. This is a belief by many traditionalists in Nigeria that American media is destroying the cultural capital of the nation and impacting their ability to maintain a positive international identity (Salami and Awolowo 2006). As a result, leaders within the organisation, Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has been promoting a need for engagement with disparate players involved in global media to improve social and professional relationships. The leaders of NPAN held a stakeholders’ meeting to address diversifying and growing the industry whilst also being able to provide values to important Nigerian stakeholders (Akingbolu 2012). Nigerian representatives of the national media recognised there was a need for more collaboration with alternative media sources to improve media planning and to open new channels of media distribution. In an environment where lack of collaboration with media players led to a single channel of media representation (the aforementioned American media), NPAN’s recent commitment to improving media development illustrates how media and media stakeholders work collaboratively to enhance relationships. Citizen reactions in Nigeria, as stakeholders of global media distribution and reporting, served as pressure for organisations such as NPAN to reconsider media planning that would provide a more balanced distribution system to avoid erosion of long-standing Nigerian values. Though this is only representative of a singular example of collaboration between stakeholders and the international media, it does illustrate a collective opportunity to express a new variety of ethics and media corporate responsibility to ensure that traditions, norms and cultural expectations are respected in media planning and distribution methodologies. Media organisations work with other nations in similar fashion to ensure fair representation of the interests of diverse, global stakeholders and ensure that cultural values are considered in the ethical codes of conduct of global media organisations. 4.4 The impact of global news media The homogenization of global culture is one implication of global news media. Social media, a prevalent theme in the transformation of global news media, creates a type of social interconnectivity that changes social values from one country to another. For instance, it was aforementioned that Chinese social values were radically changed with media representation of political upheavals which created a demand for liberation and freedom that had not previously existed in traditionalist China. With globalisation comes, often, the ascendancy of a dominant culture which absorbs and transforms local cultures (O’Connor 2006). For some cultures, this is unacceptable and represents a threat to traditionalism and cultural relevancy as a unique national identity. Global media organisations can exploit this concern by working collaboratively with regional or national media organisations to ensure that there is adequate representation of the cultural values and social values of a given nation. By expressing a high level of ethical behaviour related to securing the individuality of a sovereign nation that feels it is being threatened by global homogenization of culture, the media organisation can build more respect and esteem for the organisation. This could, theoretically, lead to more interest in gaining sponsorship and advertisement (revenue builders) from the threatened nation which would improve the capital position of the news organisation. Global media ownership can develop collaborative or strategic alliance policies with concerned or otherwise endangered nations concerned about cultural integrity and identity as a means of promoting, for instance, human interest stories about the national culture to educate global citizens about the viability and heritage of foreign cultures. Global media also impacts political policy development through its ability to educate and inform global stakeholders in society about actions occurring with disparate and diverse political regimes across the globe. Whereas government activities were once insulated from global knowledge about governance ideologies and political relationships with national citizenry stakeholders, today there is much more transparency as a result of global news media organisations and distribution channels that increase available audiences to knowledge and information. Political regimes are highly influenced by pressures that are caused by direct reporting of their activities (whether ethical or unethical) and the ability of stakeholders under the rule of these governing forces to demand more representation as nations become more embracing of democratic ideologies. Global media organisations, therefore, maintain ample opportunities to work collaboratively with political actors in a variety of different governance ideologies to open new channels of reporting internationally and break down barriers that once constrained journalists from gaining access to important, global newsworthy events and scenarios. The significance of authority and ability to apply pressure would make it advantageous for political representatives of other countries to build a rapport and relationship with global media organisations to ensure they are not deprecated (or perceived to be so) through legitimate media reporting. It would be of benefit to foreign leadership, whether democratic or despotic, to recognise the imperatives of creating alliances and collaborations with media representatives and journalists to secure their reputational position globally and build international trust with disparate government regimes. With growth in industry in developing countries and the emergence of beneficial and economically-advantageous trade relationships, political leaders in many foreign countries would benefit from gaining a positive sentiment from global citizenry stakeholders and business leaders as this serves as the foundation for foreign direct investment that secures a higher revenue position for these foreign governments. Through collaboration and consultation with global media ownership and journalists, this would secure more cohesiveness under the concept of globalisation that would have significant social, financial and reputational security that is necessary in a world where homogenization of culture is becoming a legitimate and measurable phenomenon. 5. Conclusion As illustrated by the research, there is a multi-faceted type of inter-dependency between stakeholders and media organisations in contemporary society. Global media maintains many influences on changing social, political and organisational strategy development through its ability to provide pressure for change. Social attitudes, especially, evolve as a result of media influence with the homogenization of global media distribution which maintains many positive and negative implications on cultural identity and political evolutions within a nation or region. It is clear that media organisations are highly influential in altering social attitudes and values, especially when coupled with the influence and authority of important social reference groups from a psycho-social level. References Ahrend, R. (2002). Press freedom, human capital and corruption, Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. [online] Available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=620102 (accessed 9 February 2014). Akingbolu, R. (2012). NPAN seeks understanding among media stakeholders. 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