How Media supports and compliments Global Capitalism
Any tool or outlet used to store and distribute data or information is referred to as media. Capitalism is both an ideology and an economic system in which profits are gained through the private ownership of production factors. Global capitalism, on the other hand, can be defined as a stage in capitalism's growth that is distinguished by a transnational capitalist class, capital, and state. This paper will argue that media supports and supplements global capitalism, that capitalism influences and shapes media creation, and that media is trustworthy. And despite that fact that media is not a monolith, there are ways to which it can counter or disrupt globalization.
How Media supports and compliments Global Capitalism
It is true to state that from the early1980s, the world has witnessed the dramatic restructuring of the media industry and this can directly be linked to the emergence of the global media market. The current global media system is dominated by 4 transnational corporations. This indicates that the centralization of media power which is the major characteristic of globalization has taken place. Media is currently undergoing thorough commercialization and this can be characterized with the declining importance of broadcasting along the public service standards (Harvey, 2006). This concentration of media power in only a few transnational media companies not only attracts a responsible primary to the shareholders but also the attention of a lot of advertisers, thus, its supports global capitalism.
How capitalism shapes media
Capitalism can simply be described as production for exchange. It is characterized by the desire by individuals to accumulate money through the genuine exchange which is facilitated by a free market. It can be acknowledged that the market is driven by the needs, as well as, the wants of consumers. It would be baseless to state that capitalism has not influenced media in any way. Media as an industry is associated with the procurement of equipment and services necessary in the capturing and covering of news articles. This equipment range from the simple cameras, microphones, and cables to the sophisticated use of the satellites, servers, internet, and state of the art broadcasting studios. All these equipment and services are paid for in the free market, hence there is production for exchange (Street, 2010). Major advertising agencies such as WME that are based in Australia always purchase service from established media companies and through well-negotiated contracts and exchange of money, the advertising agencies can have adverts from their customers aired by the media companies. In general terms, capitalism has helped shape media to what it is today.
How Media can disrupt Globalization
Globalization is an economic process of integration and has both the cultural and the social aspects and in that it facilitates the growth of the interflow of culture, ideas, and money. Globalization gives media the power to spread messages to places where before it took place it was hard to get diverse views on the messages, however, through a keen observation, it is true to state that media, if used inappropriately, can be used to push negative ideas or the ideas of the cultures that are considered more dominant, thus, affect globalization in a negative way (Herrmann & McChesney, 2001). By passing such ideas, a phenomenon such as cultural imperialism can occur, in which, members of a particular culture feel that their culture is being diluted or being sidelined due to the influence of media that is being used for corporate interests under the disguise of globalization. A good example of this is the negative images from the West that make it into the media, thus, negatively influence children, teenagers, youths, and young adults. The main idea behind this is that if people across the world through media can be molded into adopting the Western standards of living, it would be easy for transnational organizations to sell a common product to them since y eroding their traditions and cultures, the people will adopt the buying habits of the West.
Is Media reliable?
The media has for many years provided people with information and for that, it is acknowledged, however, there have been many instances where particular news articles have been released by the media without proper analysis (Dorer, 1997). A good example is in Israel where almost all the reporters working there play an important role in representing the government's opinion, however, in the United States of America (USA), the more the reporters criticize the government the more praise they get, as well as, awards and prizes. This example shows the type of double standard that exist in media and this may make it not 100% reliable.
Conclusion
Media supports global capitalism and this is evidenced by the existence of transnational media organizations, for example, Aljazeera, CNN, and BBC. Capitalism shapes each and every industry in the free market and this includes the Media industry. Globalization can be disrupted by the media if media is used to advance anti-integration messages such as those that promote that standards of only a particular culture. Media is not 100% reliable and this is due to the fact that there exist double standards not only among the reporters but also those who own the media companies.
References
Dorer, J. (1997). The seduction to be connected: Globalization of the media industry and the power of local/non-commercial media. Communications, 22(2), 191-204.
Harvey, D. (2006). Spaces of global capitalism. Verso.
Herrmann, E., & McChesney, R. W. (2001). Global media: The new missionaries of global capitalism. A&C Black.
Street, J. (2010). Mass media, politics and democracy. Palgrave Macmillan.
