|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
“The imbalance in the flow of news and information between industrialised and developing countries [has been] a major topic in international meeting…Today virtually no-one disputes the reality of this imbalance…It must be acknowledged that the way in which the public in industrialised countries is informed about the Third World is not very effective” (UNESCO 1980, in Philo 1993, p104). This essay will test the hypothesis that coverage of Third World nations is invisible in New Zealand mainstream news media. Through primary research of New Zealand Herald coverage of ‘Third World’ nations and by drawing upon theories of global information flow, media imperialism and compassion fatigue, it is possible to see whether this hypothesis proves to be accurate. ... According to the hypothesis, low and medium developed countries will have less media coverage than high developed countries.
Information flow is the direction and volume of information and in this case the information is news media. According to the hypothesis, Western information prevails and Third World information is undermined. ... Sepstrup (1989 in Barker, 1997) characterises international flow as limited in volume and weak in theoretical and conceptual clarity. ... Chris Barker draws the conclusion that the USA dominates television programming which following on from this shows media imperialism (1997).
Media imperialism is globalisation of news agencies and the reliance on American news values. ... Media imperialism directly relates to the historical concept of cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism is defined as the ‘sum of the process by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes even bribed into shaping social institution to correspond to, or even promote, the values and structures of the dominating centre of the system’ (Schiller, 1976 in Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1996, p3). Schiller was interested in the rise of American corporate power and its ideological expansion worldwide via the media. Media imperialism is based on the domination of Western culture. ... There are exceptions to media imperialism such as internet sources of Third World news media: OneWorld. ... However, media imperialism is an important factor in assessing the invisibility of Third World nations in mainstream news media.
Compassion fatigue is another term that can be used to describe the ever decreasing coverage of Third World events. Compassion fatigue is the impatience felt by journalists and consumers of news alike with disaster reports from Third World nations. ... A study by Susan Moeller of the 1991 influx of Third World disasters compares news media to fashion and a ‘been there done that’ attitude (1999). Moeller uses the example of the 1985 hit song “We Are the World” starring Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen to show the concept of compassion fatigue. Western media coverage of Third World events reinforces compassion fatigue through news values.
News values, technology and economic forces can show why third world countries are underrepresented in mainstream news media and this imbalanced information flow. ... This illustrates news media elitism and relates back to the concept of cultural inheritance. ... By this time there is very little that anybody can do, and therefore the crisis becomes another victim of compassion fatigue. ... She notes that Nicaragua media’s political affiliation is laid bare. Both the media and their audiences know they are instruments of political struggle and there is a wider range of angles taken.
Approximate Word count = 2672
Approximate Pages = 10.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|