NDM News: Globalisation

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What examples can you think of?

Our news is influenced by American cultural imperialism because we are constantly hearing about America and their culture in the news. The current US media domination amounts to cultural imperialism because it forces US culture on us through our media consumption. For example, when it comes to elite nations and elections for the next president, the British news make sure that it is one of the main news stories. Celebrities are also a key news story in the British news such as Kim Kardashian. Any thing that Americans seem to consider as celebrity news, it will be covered in the news in most countries. Natural disasters is also another big news story that we would hear about if anything happened in America. Even though other countries have natural disasters, we are not notified about it as much due to familiarity. However, since America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, and is ruled by elite people, their cultural imperialism has a big influence on our news.

 

 2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?

The increased globalisation of news as improved the audiences experience as people can now gain much more information then before on the internet. There is also a sense in immediacy in the news now due to globalisation as people can hear as well as watch news as it arises. As we live in a "global village" (McLuhan) we can view events live as they happen and many people around the world can share the same moment. For example, with the Paris attacks, people were able to watch footage of what was happening that same night. However, it can be said that we've been "dumbed down" (Keen) due to the increased globalisation of news because the media reflect and create the social and cultural world we live in because the media producers construct our views of all these global events and therefore construct our values and ideologies.

 3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?

Globalisation benefits the main providers of news. Due to globalisation, major news institutions, such as AOL Time Warner and Vivendi Universal, are able to reach increasing audiences and expand globally to become global players. The largest media organisations are supplying progressively more of the media we consume. This, however, effects the small local institutions as they have less power. Global brands will have more influence and often pushes home-grown media organisations out of business and replacing them.