Media in a Global Context
Prominent Uses of Communication
at Global Level
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War & Diplomacy
Ideological & Cultural Transmission
News & Information
Entertainment
Profit
Communication and Empire
 Integrally linked with history of war and commerce
(technological leaps in communication).
 Extent of empire as indicator of efficiency of
communication.
Communication and Empire
 Ancient Empires
 Asia: India, China
 Middle East: Persia, Egypt
 Europe: Greece, Rome
 Modern Empires
 Britain (BBC)
 United States (Voice of America)
 Counter-Empire
 New World Information Communication Order
Types of Media Systems
(Common Categorizations)
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Authoritarian
Western
Communist
Development
Revolutionary
Internationalization of Western
Concept
 UN General Assembly Resolution passed at its first
session, December 1946: “Freedom of information is a
fundamental human right and is the touchstone of all
the freedoms to which the United Nations is
consecrated.”
Western Model: Differing
Approaches Within
 Libertarian Model
 Lack of government interference
 Market-driven
 Social Responsibility Model
 Media should inform citizenry
 Government can intervene if media doesn’t fulfill its role
 Public should have some access to the press
Western Model: United States
 Press freedom in U.S.
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Minimalist tradition.
Constitution restrains government.
Right of expression almost absolute.
Freedom of press is absence of prior restraint with some
accountability after publication.
 No right of access, guarantees.
 No official recognition of journalists
Western Model: Europe
 Tradition of government activism and intervention.
 Press commissions, ombudsmen, oversight boards.
 Controls on content – advertising, children’s
programming, right of reply
Problems for Western Model
 Serving the public good vs. public desires
 Marketplace
 Public oversight
 Government intervention
 Huxley vs. Orwell
Press Freedom
 Freedom House criteria for freedom of the press:
 Legal environment
 Political influences
 Economic pressures
 Map of Press Freedom (2014) 197 Countries/Territories
 63 (32%) rated “free”
 68 (35%) rated “partly free”
 66 (33%) rated “not free”
 Rankings
Press Freedom
 Reporters Without Borders
 Reports of violations form the basis of criteria
 Map of Press Freedom (2014) 180 Countries
 Rankings
Recent Global Trends
 Globalization of the media
 Rise of moguls
 Anglo-American dominance
 Language
 News
 Pop culture
 Culture as basis for conflict
Citizen Murdoch
 Global Media Empire (News Corporation)
 Vertical Integration
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TV (Aided by Satellite Technology)
Newspapers
Magazines
Books
Movies
 Live sports plays key role
The Sun Never Sets on
Rupert Murdoch’s Empire
 From the 1999 News Corporation Annual Report:
 “Virtually every minute of the day, in every time zone on
the planet, people are watching, reading and interacting
with our products. We’re reaching people from the
moment they wake up until they fall asleep.”
Cultural Conflict
 Recent Example:
 Violence in France (January 2015)
 12 killed at satirical magazine, “Charlie Hebdo”
 Had previously been firebombed in November 2011 after
running a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad
 Universality vs. Pluralism