NDM news: Globalisation

Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? Give some examples arguing for or against this perspective.

British culture, to be precise, along with the other cultures has certainly been 'Americanised'. This is because of the ways America portray their culture with the media content they constantly produce which includes films television shows and the news. If we consider the US election and the reactions of people around the World, it can be suggested that people have become fond of their culture. The UK's reaction on social media supports this as they expressed their emotions as the result of the election was announced in November. Unlike the decision for the UK to leave the EU, the World didn't act surprised in any way. This is evident through the activity in social media through the days and weeks of the announcement where only Europeans reacted even-though it could affect the World (e.g trade). Therefore, I do believe America's culture has definitely been forced upon us without our consent and people have accepted it and are mimicking their behaviours. However, we could argue that audiences are active uses of media so they aren't as brain-dead as the effects theory implies. Audiences may now have a better understanding of the American culture because of the content of theirs being transferred to other countries but it doesn't mean they will completely adapt/consume their behaviours and values.

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

We could argue that moral panics have been increased as audiences are able to unravel more surprising news stories from around the World. The development in digital media has meant that audiences have easier access to news so can challenge their views and values with the numerous news stories there are online. For example, for British audiences watching/reading news about the immigrants fleeing their deprived countries may be concerned about their position in the country and the effect an increase in the population will have on the nation's politics, economics and social lifestyles. Therefore, the experience the audience receives here may be a shock to them but it would give them more information and a reality check of the situation in Europe now. News that would be able to go global would be on social media and foreign news websites. This would give them more access to all types of news from a different perspective on the immigrant issue which would be a better experience for audiences as they are able to form an opinion based on a balanced story. However, it would all depend on the amount of research audiences are willing to do to be able to reinforce and/or challenge ideologies.

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

I would argue that it has mainly damaged large news institutions as audience's power is gradually increasing because of the development in new and digital media. An example of where audiences have become powerful is with citizen journalism which is where audiences can report on news events which they have witnessed or recorded using photos or video. This evidence of an event would not be able to be recorded by news institutions because they would be less likely to witness something occur compared to the rest of the World. Once its recorded it would make its way onto the internet where it would become viral. Therefore, audiences view it on social media and wouldn't care to read the actual journalists report of the event as the live raw footage would have been enough. This is why journalism is at risk of becoming extinct because the public are able to do the most important parts of their job. However, it provides these institutions with footage for their audience to watch on television which makes them feel more connected to the story because its an actual recording of an event. Despite this, the person who recorded the event could have manipulated the content or audiences may look past certain things in the footage to reinforce their ideologies. The decline in newspapers could both benefit and damage news institutions. It could damage them because audiences may go to people on social media or blogs for news. But the institutions could evaluate and assess these committed bloggers and could offer them jobs for online journalism which would improve recruitment. So costs could be lowered especially because some of the bloggers may not have a degree for journalism and the audience from the blogger can be transferred to the news institution.