Commercial media walking the tightrope?

Many column inches (and web scrolls) were dedicated to Rupert Murdoch’s bold declaration on the 6th of August 2009 that web content should be paid for. We are all used to Murdoch’s bold statements but this was one to be taken seriously because it is already happening. The prolific Wall Street Journal for instance, one of Murdoch’s treasures, now charges for its online content. Aside from merely commenting on the fact that access to journalism on the web should become paid for, Murdoch also emphasised that the quality of journalism is at stake: “Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting” (Murdoch, 2009). This declaration could be a hit at citizen journalism or Murdoch’s last attempt at salvaging his golden years of news making – whatever said and done it certainly provokes food for thought on the status of journalism on the web.

The initial first response to all of this is simply will the web-user public go for it? If journalism was to come at a price, will news-sites still attract an avid fan base? This is open to debate and only time can really tell. I for one feel that this will raise serious problems for online news. The Internet, from its onset, has been about access to a free world of endless information. The Internet culture as we know it is based around the extraordinary power of sharing, creating and experiencing an entire information society – for free. Rupert Murdoch’s comments must not be dusted under the carpet though – for years quality print journalism has come at a price, surely the same must apply to quality web content? After all, the journalism business, be it print, broadcast or online, is at the end of the day just that – a business. Peter Anderson, in an insightful article entitled ‘Challenges for Journalism’ argues that “people have to care about decline in the quality of news services” for it to be taken seriously. With this in mind, I find it hard to believe that people won’t go elsewhere if their favourite news site starts charging. Another aspect to consider is if news sites do retain a section of their audience of paid-for content, this is more than likely to be people who can afford to pay for content on a regular basis.

If we are to go with this presupposition that commercial journalism is likely to be given the finger should they start to charge – what does this mean for the rest of the media society. Surely this means a bow in the armour for public-funded media? News sites such as BBC Online and the ABC website have gained huge audience numbers and are likely to up in popularity if commercial news sites start charging. It came as no surprise then when a different Murdoch protested that public-funded media such as the BBC was creating the death of independent media. Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 2009, James Murdoch stated “The expansion of state-sponsored journalism is a threat to the plurality and independence of news provision”. There is certainly a tense thin line between paid-for journalism and handing over control to the competition.

Which then leaves the other obstacle for independent media – citizen journalism. This current buzz word in the media world has been liberating in terms of providing the lay man with a voice. The recent Oxford Social Media Convention as reported by The Guardian focused on the fact that journalism must start to take notice of the rise of citizen journalism. In an article for the IEE Review entitled Rise of the Blog, Stephanie Gordon states that there are “currently some 50 million blogs worldwide” and they are starting to be taken very seriously within the information society (Gordon, 2006). This undoubtedly creates competition for paid-for online journalism as there is growing amount of free journalism that is available on the Web.

The future for online journalism seems very much up in the air particularly with the question of paid-for content. Can Murdoch’s intervention take off successfully or will it simply initiate a new found reign for public-funded media and citizen journalism?

Only a text, Tweet or tap away folks!

Today’s consensual understanding of the Internet and its impact upon globalization is that the world in a sense has been brought closer together. As Giddens convincingly defines it, it is the “intensification of world-wide social relations, which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa” (Giddens, 1990: 64). Cultures are able to intermingle like never before and the Internet has taken communication to a different level altogether.

Although distances and localities are being brought closer, what is the impact of the Internet on the traditional home setting? An article entitled ‘The family together in front of the TV is dead: Facebook, Twitter and Spotify rule’ appeared in the British Times newspaper at the beginning of August. It reveals that the digital age, instead of bringing individuals closer, is in fact pushing families further away from each other.

                                                   

The article begins by commenting on how traditionally, from the introduction of the first BBC radio in 1922, electronic media has brought families closer together.

A report released by Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, suggests otherwise of the advent of new technologies. The report shows “how far Britons have become addicted to the internet for entertainment, becoming separated from other family members in the process” (Sabbagh and Foster, 2009).

The report interestingly reveals that “while television viewing is holding up at 3 hours 45 minutes a day, that is only because people are surfing the net at the same time” (Sabbagh and Foster, 2009). Technologies and the demands of the digital age therefore create what can be described as a “distraction culture” – we are constantly preoccupied by some gadget or the other.

Much debate has been placed on the ironic un-sociability of social-networking sites and whether technologies make us more socially-insular people. However, it is interesting to reflect upon whether this is infiltrating our family lives, in whichever small way. Are the days of family members gathering on the veranda for a chat ‘just because’ disappearing because Dad’s on the computer, Mum’s on the phone and Jane is looking up Cambodia on Google Maps on her Iphone?

(Virtual) Departure Lounge

One of the great products of globalization is travel. John Tomlinson, a fundamental cultural globalization theorist writes: “We think of such distant places as routinely accessible, either representationally through communications technology or the mass media, or physically, through the expenditure of a relatively small amount of time (and, of course, of money) on a transatlantic flight” (Tomlinson, 1999: 4). Globalization brings with it the possibility to be anywhere at any time, experiencing cultures that we could have only imagined otherwise. Tomlinson goes on to say: “Jet travel is an intrinsic part of connectivity and, in its increasing commonplace integration into everyday life, demands attention as cultural experience” (Tomlinson, 1999: 9).

I totally agree. And I think today (Tomlinson was writing a decade ago), travel certainly has the attention it deserves. Every other person is travelling – for business, pleasure, Tokyo or New York. I would go so far to call it a trend – people travel not only for the cultural experience but to gain that cosmopolitanist title – the sophisticated/earthy globe trotter.

But of course it would be oblivious (well downright stupid) to assume that this gift of globalization is for everyone. In fact, it probably works out that a mere 2% of the world’s population can afford the means to stack up the air miles. And what about the rest? Here is where Tomlinson’s notion of representativeness of travel and cultures through the media becomes relevant. Anthony Giddens, another guru on globalization, says on the impact of media and technology in general: “as a result of modern newspapers, the inhabitant of a local village has a broader understanding of contemporary events than the prime minister of a hundred years before” (Giddens, 1990: 77). This analogy reveals the strength of the media’s role in bringing home a different location’s events.

One of my favourite websites is Lonely Planet.com. It’s full of life, vibrant colours, vivid images. And the capability to (mind the cliché sign) “take you there” with a click of the mouse. This is one of the reasons why I find the visual element of the Internet highly endearing for the novel cultural lover. One of my other favourites is the BBC’s “Week in pictures”, which picks up some of the most stunning photography from around the world for its online readers to enjoy. Flickr is becoming rapidly popular too – here you can upload and share photos in an organized fashion.

And then of course there is the video on the Web tool – YouTube. What a God send. I now call the beautiful tropical island of Sri Lanka home and recently I came across this YouTube clip that a friend of mine had posted on his Facebook. It was made by the Tourist Board of the Sri Lankan government and with the 20 year civil war in the country recently coming to an end, the clip encapsulates all there is to love about this stunning, now war-free country. Ignoring the obvious capitalist motive, the clip really does capture the country in all its beauty and brings the viewer unable to actually visit Sri Lanka that bit closer.

And so we have the simple wonders of the Web. It is easy to take for granted in this day and age when technology is advancing by the second but we should remember that it wasn’t that long ago when it was difficult to imagine let alone experience a foreign land.  Let’s embrace (virtual) travel  - one of globalization’s first treasures.

Food for thought

Lonely Planet

www.lonelyplanet.com

Globalization and cultural identity – John Tomlinson

http://www.polity.co.uk/global/pdf/GTReader2eTomlinson.pdf

The African Dream

The once “Dark” continent emerges into the light of globalization

When advances in technology are discussed whether over a cup of coffee with friends or by a columnist for The New York Times, the emphasis is clearly on the developed and in most cases Western world. A review of the multinational American corporation Apple’s latest Iphone for instance is more than likely to feature in the media. But what of the developing countries? Hardly any column inches are dedicated to the growth of technology in developing countries.

One of my favourite academics Ramaswami Harindranath (who coincidentally lectures at The University of Melbourne) suggests in the opening chapters of his book Perspectives on Global Cultures that the developed world are yet to benefit from the “trickle down of the joys that globalization brings” (Harindranath, 2006: 14). While this can be argued of the majority of the developing world I believe that this is slowly changing.  The developing world can be said to be playing catch-up with the West.

I have a soft spot for everything African as I spent the first 16 years of my life in Zambia. I was keen therefore to learn more about the progress made in Africa where technology is concerned. In my daily browsing of the BBC website sometime in April I stumbled across a news article that featured the African continent taking on the broadband revolution. The article goes on to state that plans are underway for East Africa to gain three underwater fibre-optic cables. This furthering in technology for this part of the world would eventually mean access to advanced telephone services, Internet banking and downloading of music and film – aspects of everyday life in the Western world which we take for granted.

Encouraged by the hope that Africa is taking small steps towards technological advancement and certainly feeling the heat of globalization like the rest of the world, I did a bit more discovery work on the Web. It was here that I discovered this article entitled Technology elevates Africa’s global status. The article tells the story of a truly African innovation – Ushahidi. Ushahidi (which in Swahili translates to ‘testimony’), as the author of the article Rebecca Wanjiku relates, “is a website and communications platform that was developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election violence in 2008”. While this innovation may seem insignificant in the dog eat dog technology world of the West, this is a major breakthrough for the crisis-torn Kenya and the rest of Africa who undergo conflict-driven and often bloody elections. Using Google Maps, the web engine allows anyone in the world to set up their own way to gather reports by mobile phone, email and the web and then have these mapped.

Ultimately and in my view extraordinarily, we have a piece of technology with a worldly benevolent purpose. With our era tinged with war and conflict, innovations such as these, however small an impact they may have, have just that – an impact. International news corporation Al-Jazeera now uses Ushahidi in its reporting of the war on Gaza. It is certainly clear why Ushahidi has won many awards and continues to have a global impact on the path to a war-free world.

Food for thought

BBC News Africa

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

Ushahidi

www.ushahidi.com

Introducing Global Village…

Hi everyone!

Welcome to Global Village… a virtual space that will offer musings on the impact of new media and technological advancements on global cultures and identities. Is the world becoming a smaller place and what does this mean for the global society?

I’d like to say the term was originally mine but sadly that would be fibbing and the credit goes to Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan’s understanding of the term suggests that the globe has been reduced to the size of a village through the means of information technology. Today’s world is smaller as its citizens are able to connect with each other more efficiently through the Internet. As a result, cultures are brought closer together than ever before.

What fascinates me is that through just the simple click of a button we can be anywhere at anytime (virtually of course!). One can watch coverage of Sydney’s New Year celebrations at Harbour Bridge through YouTube from Sri Lanka or read a traveller’s blog in Nepal through an Iphone from Namibia.

In the course of my blog I will cover aspects of cultural globalization, today’s technological impact and also the changing face of the media.

Here’s some food for thought to get you going…

An intro to the term ‘Global Village’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan

P.S. I’ll be adding related articles/blogs/links to my blog entries where relevant in a “food for thought” section