Globalisation, cultural hybridisation, public service broadcasting, social construction of the news

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Public service broadcasting

In the UK, there are parts of the media that are not owned by ?? or ?? but are instead owned by the ?. These are the ? and ??.

? (a theoretical perspective), like the ?, would point to the fact that the BBC’s hierarchy is made up of ?, ? ? with ? views and therefore do not need to be ?? to produce media content that largely supports a ?? and marginalizes ? or ? viewpoints.

However, critics of the BBC have suggested that, despite not being subject to quite the same ?? of other companies, the company has followed a familiar path of “??” its content in recent years. Based on the ?s research into BBC broadcasts of ?? and other issues, this adds weight to the ? idea of the media exercising ??, rather than owners ?? everything from above.

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The media and global culture

Globalisation refers to the increasing ? of all the countries in the world. This exists in such areas as ? and ?, ?, ? and ?.

? argues that the media today is a global industry, and it is a ?? that promotes (through ? and the promotion of ? and ?) other global industries. Together this creates a ??. Because of the internet, as well as ? and ???, media content genuinely can be ?, almost instantly, to almost everywhere in the world.

? wrote about the global village. This is the idea that through ?? we have ? all around the world. We no longer always need the ? or ? of professional media production to hear about what’s happening on the other side of the world: through new media, we can hear it instantly and from the ?.

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Cultural imperialism

A number of sociologists, including ??, have suggested that the ? of the media has led to cultural imperialism: the ? world dominating the rest of the world through the media and the ? of its own ??. This occurs in a number of ways:

• Global conglomerates - These are companies that combine various ?? and operate on an ??. Many media companies own businesses across different ? (for example ??s News Corp, which owns ?, ? and ?? in several countries). In this way, large media companies can dominate the ?? in different

  countries.

• Advertising - Through new media such as ? and ?, companies who can pay for ??? dominate what people see and read on an everyday basis, all over the world. Companies like ? and ? are everywhere. ?? wrote about “?” – a concept that suggests that one impact of ? is the world is becoming more-and-more like McDonalds: ? and ?-?.

• Cultural homogenisation - This is the idea that ?? are killed off by globalisation and the whole world becomes the same, with the same ?, ?, ?? and ?. This idea was expressed clearly by ?? in her book ??.

• Americanisation - These ideas suggest that the globalisation of ? and ?is effectively and simply ?.

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Cultural hybridisation

By hybridisation, sociologists mean that local ?, ?? and ? cultures have mixed, sometimes creating something new (a ??), and sometimes existing side-by-side as ??.

However, some sociologists, including many ?, argue that this ?? view is too bleak. They suggest that in fact culture moves in ?? not just from West to East. An example which is often used is ? films: not only are they popular in many countries outside ?, they have influenced ? culture too, with Hollywood films incorporating ?-style ? and some Bollywood ? crossing over into Western culture. ?? points out that, as well as India, ?? has a strong media industry.

Even Ritzer’s McDonald’s example can be criticised, as McDonald’s does not actually just export its ?? and experience and replicate it in every other country. For example, in other countries, the ?? is replaced by ??.

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Evaluating cultural hybridisation

• Some sociologists, including ?, have suggested that ? and ?? fail to take into account ? and ?? in their analysis. The West dominates ?? because of its economic power. It co-opts some aspects of other ? if it is able to exploit it for a ?.

• ? consumers like to buy the ? and therefore features of ?? that can be marketed as exotic will be. Again, that is a long way removed from the sort of ? suggested by the concept of ?-??.

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The social construction of the news

While the news is presented as ?, ? and the ?? of reality, it is in fact a media product like any other, subject to many ?, ? and constraints. 

What is broadcast, or written up, as news each day is a ??: different stories could have been told, but this complex range of ?, ?, ?, ? and ? factors result in the particular stories that are told, and in the ? that they are told.

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The social construction of the news - news values

? and ? refers to news values. This refers to the way in which ? and ?? attach ? to a particular ? and judge its ‘?’. Different ? and ?? will prioritise stories based on a number of different pieces of ?. Different values might differ in different ? or at different ?.

However, stories are much more likely to be perused and published if they meet the following criteria:

• ?

• About ?-? and ? people

• About “? countries” - countries that are ? and located in the ? such as ?

• ? - current stories are best

• “? news”

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Social construction of the news - news values

Since Galtung and Ruge were writing, what is deemed “?” has changed. ? news is now much bigger and there is a bigger focus today on ? news. ? updated the news values, adding the importance of ?, ? images and the involvement of ? as features that would ensure a story was included in a ? or ?.

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Social construction of the news - constraints on the news

? constraints also influence what ends up being presented as news. ?? and ?? mean that some stories are much more ? to journalists and editors than others. As such, stories that are ?? will be preferred to ones that are in ??.

So, ?, ? and ? practical constraints influence what is presented on the news.

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Social construction of the news - well-drafted press releases

News stories will also often reproduce a ?-? press release, rather than involve any actual ? at all. ? and ??, for example, when announcing a new policy or initiative, will produce a press release, with a ?? and perhaps a relevant ?, and many newspapers will simply reproduce that copy as a brief ?, without any ? or ? at all.

?, a neo-pluralist, calls this “?” and found that, in a ? in the 19??s, ?% of stories in ?newspapers were made up of that sort of ?, rather than generated by ?.

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Social construction of the news - agenda setting and gatekeeping

? also says that editors act as ? because they decide what is news and what is not. This is essentially a ? process. Sometimes this will be based on ? considerations (such as ? on a page) and other times it will be ? or ? or based on ??.

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Evaluating the social construction of the news

• Marxists - Marxists would argue that this process is less to do with news values and more to do with ??. ?? control the news to protect ?? and spread their ?? to establish ?. This process has been observed many times by ?

• Neo-Marxists - ? and ? control the news content through ??

• Pluralists - news stories reflect ?? because audiences could turn to ?? created by prosumers. In addition, the news is ? and ? (?). Pluralists such as ? argue that actually the news does fairly reflect ?. He researched ??? and concluded that there was a ?, even-handed discussion of ?? (quite the opposite of the ?conclusions).

• Postmodernists - prosumers are ? because audiences can get different ?? from different ?

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Regulating the news - The Leveson Inquiry

In the UK, the press is regulated by ? which replaced ? which was shut down after the ??.

During this enquiry:

• Replace the PCC with a new ??.

• For the body to be ? but to be backed up by ?.

• The intention was that the ? would be confident that ? would be taken seriously, but also that the press would be confident that the ? would not interfere with their freedom.

ISPO has several responsibilities: it makes sure that member newspapers and magazines follow the ??, investigates serious ?? and can fine publishers up to ? in cases where they are particularly serious and ?, and publishes an ?? about how newspapers and magazines follow the ?? and handle any ?.

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Regulation of the news - arguments for and against state regulation

For:

• Intrusive ? and invasions of ?

• Lack of ? ‘protecting ?’

• Lack of various points of view

• Press ?, especially in the ?

Against:

• Journalists must feel free to ? and expose the ?, including ??

• Politicians have indicated that the ?? would like greater ? to prevent the press from publishing ??

• Any state involvement in regulation is a “??” to greater ?? and ?