THE GREAT NORTHSOUTH DIVIDE

The NorthSouth divide is broadly considered a socio-economic and political divide. The North
consists of the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan. The South is made up of
Africa, Latin America and Asia. The North is home to four of the five permanent members of the
United Nations Security Council and all members of the G8. "The North" mostly covers the West and
the First World, along with much of the Second World. While the North may be defined as the richer,
more developed region and the South as the poorer, less developed region, many more factors
differentiate between the two global areas. 95% of the North has enough food and shelter. Similarly,
95% of the North has a functioning education system. In the South, on the other hand, only 5% of the
population has enough food and shelter. It lacks appropriate technology, it has no political stability,
the economies are disarticulated, and their foreign exchange earnings depend on primary product
exports. In more economic terms, the Northwith one quarter of the world populationcontrols
four fifths of the world income. 90% of the manufacturing industries are owned by and located in the
North. Inversely, the Southwith three quarters of the world populationshas access to one fifth of
the world income. It serves as a source for raw material, for the North, eager to acquire their own
independent resource basessubjected large portions of the global South to direct colonial rule
between 1850 and 1914. As nations become economically developed, they may become part of the
"North", regardless of geographical location, while any other nations which do not qualify for
"developed" status are in effect deemed to be part of the "South."
The idea of categorizing countries by their economic and developmental status began during the Cold
War with the classifications of East and West. The Soviet Union and China represented the
developing East, and the United States and their allies represented the more developed West. Out of
this paradigm of development surged the division of the First World [the west] and the Second World
[the east] with the even less developed countries constituting the Third World. As some Second
World countries joined the First World, and others joined the Third World, a new and simpler
classification was needed. The First World became the North and the Third World became the
South.
Problems with defining the divide
Following the fall of the Eastern Bloc, which was commonly referred to as the Second World, many
of its constituent countries were reclassified as developing, despite being geographically northern. At
the same time, geographically southern nations previously considered "developing," such as the East
Asian Tigers or Turkey, have joined the modern First World, but are classified inconsistently in maps
showing the northsouth divide.[citation needed] Similarly, dependencies of developed nations are
also classified as Southern, although they are part of the developed world.
On an ideological level, some development geographers have argued that current concentration on
the northsouth divide as the main organizing principle for understanding the world economy has
overlooked the role of inter-imperial conflicts between the United States, Japan, and Europe.
Defining development

Being categorized as part of the North implies development as opposed to belonging to the South
which implies a lack thereof. According to N. Oluwafemi Mimiko, The South lacks the right
technology, it is politically unstable, their economies are divided, and their foreign exchange earning
depend on primary product exports which come from the North, and the fluctuation of prices. The
little control of imports and exports condemned the South to obey the imperialist system. The lack of
the South and the development of the North further the inequality and end up putting the South as a
source of raw material for the developed countries. The north becomes synonymous with economic
development and industrialization while the South represents the previously colonized countries
which are in need of help in the form of international aid agendas. In order to understand how this
divide occurs, a definition of development itself is needed.
The Dictionary of Human Geography defines development as processes of social change or [a
change] to class and state projects to transform national economies". This definition entails an
understanding of economic development which is imperative when trying to understand the north
south divide.
Economic Development is a measure of progress in a specific economy. It refers to advancements in
technology, a transition from an economy based largely on agriculture to one based on industry and
an improvement in living standards.
Other factors that are included in the conceptualization of what a developed country is include life
expectancy and the levels of education, poverty and employment in that country.
The North
International Organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as
well as the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), generally tend to agree that the group of
majorly developed countries includes the following countries/regions:
Countries described as high-income and advanced economies by the World Bank and IMF
Americas, Bermuda (UK territory), Canada, United States, Asia [edit], Hong Kong, Israel, Japan,
Macau, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Europe [edit], Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United
Kingdom, Vatican City, Oceania, Australia, New Zealand, Brandt Line
The Brandt Line is a visual depiction of the northsouth divide, proposed by West German
Chancellor Willy Brandt in the 1980s. It encircles the world at a latitude of approximately 30 North,
passing between North and Central America, north of Africa and the Middle East, climbing north
over China, Mongolia and Korea, but dipping south so as to include Australia and New Zealand in
the "Rich North".
Digital divide

The global digital divide is often characterised as corresponding to the northsouth divide; however,
Internet use, and especially broadband access, is now soaring in Asia compared with other continents.
This phenomenon is partially explained by the ability of many countries in Asia to bypass older
Internet technology and infrastructure, coupled with booming economies which allow vastly more
people to get online.
Development gap
The northsouth divide has more recently been named the development continuum gap. This places
greater emphasis on closing the evident gap between rich (more economically developed) and poor
(less economically developed) countries. A good measure of on which side of the gap a country is
located is the Human Development Index (HDI). The nearer this is to 1.0, the greater is the country's
level of development and the further the country is on its development pathway (closer towards being
well developed), exemplified well by Walter Rostow's model of development and the Clark Fisher
model.
Theories explaining the divide
Capitalism - Certain aspects of capitalism (especially Laissez Faire capitalism) have the potential to
lead to inequality, a potential which it has arguably demonstrated as per a number of perspectives: the
capitalist ideology relies on the constant motivation to produce capital accumulation. The nature of
capitalism leads those countries with a comparative advantage (developed) to accumulate capital
through dispossession or in other words to take capital from those less advantaged (undeveloped/developing). This accumulation by dispossession leads to the unequal development that
feeds the northsouth divide.
Globalization - Globalization, or Global Capitalism, as the leading cause for global inequality:
globalization enhances social and economic gaps between countries, since it requires economies and
societies to adapt in a very rapid manner, and because this almost never happens in an equal fashion,
some nations grow faster than others. Wealthier/ developed countries exploit poorer/ less developed
countries to a point where less developed societies become dependent on developed countries for
survival. The very structure and process of globalization perpetuates and reproduces unequal
relationships and opportunities between the North and the South, it tends to "favor the privileged and
further marginalize the already disadvantaged".
Immigration - Uneven immigration patterns lead to inequality: in the late eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries immigration was very common into areas previously less populated (North America,
Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand) from already technologically advanced areas (United
Kingdom, Spain, Portugal). This facilitated an uneven diffusion of technological practices since only
areas with high immigration levels benefited. Immigration patterns in the twenty-first century
continue to feed this uneven distribution of technological innovation. People are eager to leave
countries in the South in attempts to better their life standards and get their share in the perceived
prosperity of the North. South and Central Americans want to live and work in North America.

Africans and Southwest Asians want to live and work in Europe. Southeast Asians want to live and
work in North America and Europe.
Closing the divide
It is arguable from some perspectives that free international trade and unhindered capital flows across
countries could maybe lead to a contraction in the NorthSouth divide. In this case more equal trade
and flow of capital would allow the possibility for developing countries to further develop
economically. However, when the South called for New International Economic Order (NIEO) in
1974 to restructure the global economy, the South demanded more than emergence into the capitalist
market. Their demands included linking prices of commodity exports to manufactured imports,
transferring of technology from North to South, canceling or rescheduling debts of Third World,
improving representation in economic playersWorld Bank, UN Security Council, standardizing
prices for raw materials, solving food crisis, and opening up of the Norths market for manufactured
or semi-processed goods of the South. The North did not accept these demands. Why the North
didnt accept these demands were because they posed some challenged on their own. Specifically, the
South had no leverage over the North, since the South had very weak industrial bases and divided
structures. Another challenge was that the South was always pursuing the same goals. The biggest
challenge was that countries in the South was the nature of the leadership within their country. The
South had a strong-held perspective that they had an internal problem that indicated seeds of
corruption and maladministration, bad policies, and political instability. In order to keep their power
and leverage, the North reiterated their plan to assimilate the South into free international trade. As
some countries in the South experience rapid development, there is some evidence that those states
are developing high levels of South-South aid. Brazil, in particular, has been noted for its high levels
of aid ($1 billion annually - ahead of many traditional donors) and the ability to use its own
experiences to provide high levels of expertise and knowledge transfer. This has been described as a
'global model in waiting'. The South also suffers from strains of leaders who commit to foreign
interests over the interests of their own countries. Countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, and
Mexico have succeeded in moving away from the path of poverty to some semblance of prosperity,
but only with the help of strategic relations by the North, suggesting the North and South need a New
National Economic and Social Order. The South not only suffers from the failure to govern from its
leader, but also theres internal negative economic policies that show more commitment to foreign
interests than their own individual countries. The United Nations has also established its role in
diminishing the divide between North and South through its Millennium Development Goals. These
goals seek to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote
gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global
partnership for development all by the year 2015. Some critical steps that need to take place in the
dialogue between the North and South in relation to the New World Order is the acknowledgement of
the struggles that the South faces in the global economic system. The other step is to create a way for
the development of the South to change internal structures for a more interconnectedness with the
global economic order.

BARRIERS TO THE FLOW OF INFORMATION AND

GLOBAL INFO FLOW, THE FLIP SIDE
According to recent reports and analytical assessments these obstacles can be classified into two
categories: (i) "evident" obstacles, curbs and pressures; (ii)"non-evident" obstacles
Evident
Some barriers to freedom of information are easy to recognize, among these are :
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

physical violence and intimidation;

repressive legislation; censorship;
blacklisting of journalists;
banning of books;
monopolies established by political action;
bureaucratic obstructions;
judicial obstructions such as closed hearings and contempt of court rules;
Parliamentary privileges; and restrictive professional practices.

But the absence of these blatant obstacles does not always mean that full freedom of information
exists.

Such vague wording as "forbidden areas", as "any matter relating to the security of the
Republic", can be open to very narrow or broad interpretations, the very indefiniteness of
which often forces journalists and editors to apply self censorship constrictions on their work.
Censorship is a widespread practice, sometimes limited to particular subjects (pornography,
obscenity, violence, religious matters, delicate issues in international relations, foreign
dignitaries, protection of the young, etc.) but often covering subjects potentially disturbing to
the leading elite or groups in power. Prohibitive censorship may be based on laws", more
often on discretionary powers or even abuses.

Non evident
Other obstacles include:
1.
2.
3.
4.

economic and social constraints and pressures;

de facto monopolies (public, private, or transnational)
inadequate infrastructures
narrow definitions of what is news, what should be published, and what issues should be
debated;
5. And a shortage of professional training and experience. Obstacles of this kind, too, limit the
citizen's right to be informed and should be eliminated.

6. Still other obstacles can arise from entrenched cultural attitudes and taboos, and from an
unquestioning reverence for authority, whether secular or religious.
Access to news sources, to people, places, documents and information in general- or even to a
country - is a particularly thorny question. For it is through such administrative measures as granting
of visas, restriction of journalistsmovements, limitations on persons or offices as contacts for
newsmen, withdrawal of accreditation or expulsion from the country that governments may heavily
restrict the flow of news. There are also very often discrepancies between the treatment of national
journalists and foreign correspondents.
They also arise in areas where there are private monopolies, concentration of media ownership and
formation of conglomerates. When the public has only a single source of news, or where various
sources have the same general orientation, it is the monopolist who is in a position to decide what
facts will or will not be presented, what opinions will or will not be conveyed. Even if the owner of a
monopoly does not abuse his power, no single outlet can present the amount and range of news that
multiple sources make possible.
Some ethnic and linguistic minorities suffer from a restricted flow of information because the
established channels do not supply it in a form that meets their needs and takes account of their
cultural traditions.
But seen broadly, the one-way flow in communication is basically a reflection of the world's
dominant political and economic structures, which tend to maintain or reinforce the dependence of
poorer countries on the richer.
It intimately affects the psychological and social framework within which men and women lead their
lives. Hence, the quantitative imbalance is also a qualitative imbalance an influence on the mind
which has been described as "conditioning
While there are aspects of this imbalance in most parts of the world, its effect is most marked in
developing countries because of the quality of messages and the difficulty of penetrating into big
news markets, as well as because their general communication capability is weak.
There is a concentration on political affairs, generally presented in terms of crises, coups and violent
conflicts, or at best the emergence of striking personalities and pronouncements by elites. Processes
of development, affecting and enhancing the lives of millions of people, are neglected, or are
described solely in their effects on the political scene rather than examined in their substance.

NWICO
Information was first brought up in the context of a new international order at a meeting of the nonaligned countries in Tunis in 1976
The gap is growing between minorities who control communication and the public which is exposed
to its impact.
Needs for contact and for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, within nations and between nations,
become ever more imperative; yet dangers are seen in the power possessed by those with great
technical resources to impose their ideas on others.
They want greater access to the media, both individual and collective. This aspiration is often
thwarted by vested interests and by various forms of oppression.
Thus, it was around 1970 that the concepts upon which today's international debate is focused first
began to be formulated in clear-cut terms.
Criticisms formulated in many developing countries reiterated by certain socialist countries and
supported by many researchers and journalists in western countries, start from the observation that
certain powerful and technologically advanced States exploit their advantages to exercise a form of
cultural and ideological domination which jeopardizes the national identity of other countries.
The problems raised by the one-way information flow.
(It has been frequently stated, in particular, that due to the fact that the content of information is
largely produced by the main developed countries, the image of the developing countries is
frequently false and distorted. More serious still, according to some vigorous critics, it is this false
image, harmful to their inner balance, which is presented to the developing countries themselves.)
"decolonization of information
The non-aligned countries have played a major role in the evolution of ideas concerning the
dependence of the media, the imbalance in news flows and global communication patterns and the
negative effects of this imbalance. They have advanced the view that the vast majority of countries
are reduced to the state of passive receivers of information put out by a few centres.
This is how the call for a "new order" as distinct from the "old order" in the field of communication
and information came into being.
Thus, transformations in communications are related to the conceptual foundations of the new
international economic order. In certain respects, development and communication do follow or are
based on the same principles. It is vital that the present state of dependence of the developing world,
in its economy and its communications alike - a dependence which both generates ever greater
inequalities and is wasteful of natural (and in particular non-renewable) material and human

resources - be replaced by relations of interdependence and cooperation between national systems as

they become progressively autonomous and capable of endogenous development.
Cold war
The problem was, however, that once a radio network had been established it became vulnerable to
outside influences chiefly in two ways. First, on the overt political level, it became a target in the
ideological struggle of the Cold War. In Africa, for example, the initial broadcasting services were
short-wave systems (i.e. capable of covering larger distances at the same power as the more
expensive medium-wave systems) inherited from colonial administrations. The pattern of external
penetration can clearly be seen following the BBCs decision to begin broadcasting to Africa in
native languages in 1957, to be followed by Radio Moscow in 1958, the VOA and Radio Peking in
1959, and Deutsche Welle in 1962.
Reliance by newly established broadcasting systems on foreign programme content led to
accusations that developing nations were still heavily dependent on the Western powers, rather than
independent from them.
From the standpoint of London, Washington and Paris, it was hard to see their point. There, the flow
of information was seen like the flow of trade; it would flow freely if there was a market for it. On
the receiving end, however, it was noticed that the news agencies only seemed to report bad news
about events in Less Developed Countries (LDCs). This also applied, of course, to the developed
world, but for the newly independent nations desperate for foreign investment the proclivity of the
news agencies to report mainly on disasterscoups and earthquakes
Proponents of the NWICO argued that developing countries should be able to report stories using
their own reporters, and cover stories that were of more relevance to their audience.
One of the aims of the call for a NWICO was to create a more positive image of the developing
world rather than the perceived Western news medias preoccupation with negative news events such
as wars and disasters (Hachten, 1999, p. 164).
Masmoudi (1979) articulated the concerns of developing countries by identifying the inequalities that
hinder those countries from communicating with the rest of the world and from projecting
their cultural and social values to the world.
Such imbalances include: disparities in news and information exchange between developed and
developing countries; monopoly of news and information distribution channels by major news
agencies; inequity in the allocation of radiofrequencies; dependence of developing countries on the
news media of the West, leading to Western media imposing their views of the world on developing
countries; and the distortion of news events that concern developing countries (Masmoudi, 1979, pp.
172-185)
That is to say, the proposals covered far more than content and the direction of flows and extended
well into the organization and control of structures in the sector.

4 Ds: Four cornerstones emerge out of the material; they were referred to as the four Ds.
They represent themes that recur time and again in the discussions of the new order.
1) News flows are castigated as one-way flows, and measures to ensure a more equitable balance
of news flows between countries are demanded (Democratization).
2) The one-way flow and misrepresentations are interpreted to reflect a lack of respect for the
countries cultural identities, a matter of great importance to the non-aligned countries
(Decolonization).
3) The monopoly status of transnational corporations in terms of communications technology is
perceive as a threat to national independence (Demonopolization).
4) The vital role of mass media in the development process is underlined, and the non-aligned
countries join together to demand a more just distribution of communication resources in the world
(Development). Thus, the demands were broad and fluid and partly overlapping.
Democratization

The right of people and individuals to acquire an objective picture of reality by means of
accurate and comprehensive information as well as to express themselves freely through
various media of culture and communication.
The right of every nation to participate, on the governmental and non-governmental level, in
the international exchange of information under favourable conditions in a sense of equality,
justice and mutual advantage.
The responsibility of various actors in the process of information for its truthfulness and
objectivity as well as for the particular social objectives to which the information activities
are dedicated.
Guarantees for and the necessary protection of journalists and other factors of information in
the performance of their mission, and the responsibility of journalists in the performance of
this mission.

De-colonization

The fundamental principles of international law, notably self-determination, sovereignty and

noninterference.
The right of every nation to protect its national sovereignty and cultural identity.
The right of each country to the observance of its interests, aspirations, and its political,
moral and cultural values
(These texts refer to international law, and some concepts resemble the rhetoric of the
dependence paradigm. In more concrete terms, it has to do with the assignment of radio
frequencies, access to frequencies on geostationary satellites, and telecommunications
infrastructure.)

De-monopolization

The third cornerstone refers to another prime topic of debate in UNESCO of the 1970s,
namely, the operations of transnational corporations:
The right of every nation to develop its own independent information system, in particular by
regulating the activities of transnational corporations.

Development

The right of every nation to develop its own independent information system.
The imperative of a more equitable distribution of information media.
Adequate professional training for journalists including those working in indigenous
languages.
(consolidate and develop the infrastructures of information, promote national agencies
and POOL, creation of regional information systems, creation of centres for the training
of journalists in the developing countries, etc)

(from wiki)
The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO or NWIO) is a term that was
coined in a debate over media representations of the developing world in UNESCO in the late 1970s
and early 1980s. The term was widely used by the MacBride Commission, a UNESCO panel chaired
by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Sen MacBride, which was charged with creation of a set of
recommendations to make global media representation more equitable. The MacBride Commission
produced a report titled "Many Voices, One World", which outlined the main philosophical points of
the New World Information Communication Order.
The fundamental issues of imbalances in global communication had been discussed for some time.
The American media scholar Wilbur Schramm noted in 1964 that the flow of news among nations is
thin, that much attention is given to developed countries and little to less-developed ones, that
important events are ignored and reality is distorted.[1] From a more radical perspective, Herbert
Schiller observed in 1969 that developing countries had little meaningful input into decisions about
radio frequency allocations for satellites at a key meeting in Geneva in 1963.[2] Schiller pointed out
that many satellites had military applications. Intelsat which was set up for international co-operation
in satellite communication, was also dominated by the United States. In the 1970s these and other
issues were taken up by the Non-Aligned Movement and debated within the United Nations and
UNESCO.
NWICO grew out of the New International Economic Order of 1974. From 1976-1978, the New
World Information and Communication Order was generally called the shorter New World
Information Order or the New International Information Order. The start of this discussion is the
New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) as associated with the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) starting from the early 1970s. Mass
media concerns began with the meeting of non-aligned nations in Algiers, 1973; again in Tunis 1976,
and later in 1976 at the New Delhi Ministerial Conference of Non-Aligned Nations. The 'new order'

plan was textually formulated by Tunisia's Information Minister Mustapha Masmoudi. Masmoudi
submitted working paper No. 31 to the MacBride Commission. These proposals of 1978 were titled
the 'Mass Media Declaration.' The MacBride Commission at the time was a 16-member body created
by UNESCO to study communication issues.
Among those involved in the movement were the Latin American Institute for the Study of
Transnationals (ILET). One of its co-founders, Juan Somavia was a member of the MacBride
Commission. Another important voice was Mustapha Masmoudi, the Information Minister for
Tunisia. In a Canadian radio program in 1983, Tom McPhail describes how the issues were pressed
within UNESCO in the mid-1970s when the USA withheld funding to punish the organization for
excluding Israel from a regional group of UNESCO. Some OPEC countries and a few socialist
countries made up the amount of money and were able to get senior positions within UNESCO.
NWICO issues were then advanced at an important meeting in 1976 held in Costa Rica.
The only woman member of the Commission was Betty Zimmerman, representing Canada because
of the illness of Marshall McLuhan, who died in 1980. The movement was kept alive through the
1980s by meetings of the MacBride Round Table on Communication, even though by then the
leadership of UNESCO distanced itself from its ideas.
The UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity of 2005 puts into effect some of the goals of
NWICO, especially with regard to the unbalanced global flow of mass media. However, this
convention was not supported by the USA, and it does not appear to be as robust as World Trade
Organization agreements that support global trade in mass media and information.
Issues
A wide range of issues were raised as part of NWICO discussions. Some of these involved longstanding issues of media coverage of the developing world and unbalanced flows of media influence.
But other issues involved new technologies with important military and commercial uses. The
developing world was likely to be marginalized by satellite and computer technologies. The issues
included:
News reporting on the developing world that reflects the priorities of news agencies in London, Paris
and New York. Reporting of natural disasters and military coups rather than the fundamental realities.
At the time four major news agencies controlled over 80% of global news flow.
An unbalanced flow of mass media from the developed world (especially the United States) to the
underdeveloped countries. Everyone watches American movies and television shows.
Advertising agencies in the developed world have indirect but significant effects on mass media in
the developing countries. Some observers also judged the messages of these ads to be inappropriate
for the Third World.
An unfair division of the radio spectrum. A small number of developed countries controlled almost
90% of the radio spectrum. Much of this was for military use.

There were similar concerns about the allocation of the geostationary orbit (parking spots in space)
for satellites. At the time only a small number of developed countries had satellites and it was not
possible for developing countries to be allocated a space that they might need ten years later. This
might mean eventually getting a space that was more difficult and more expensive to operate.
Satellite broadcasting of television signals into Third World countries without prior permission was
widely perceived as a threat to national sovereignty. The UN voted in the early 1970s against such
broadcasts.
Use of satellites to collect information on crops and natural resources in the Third World at a time
when most developing countries lacked the capacity to analyze this data.
At the time most mainframe computers were located in the United States and there were concerns
about the location of databases (such as airline reservations) and the difficulty of developing
countries catching up with the US lead in computers.
The protection of journalists from violence was raised as an issue for discussion. For example,
journalists were targeted by various military dictatorships in Latin America in the 1970s. As part of
NWICO debates there were suggestions for study on how to protect journalists and even to discipline
journalists who broke "generally recognized ethical standards". However, the MacBride Commission
specifically came out against the idea of licensing journalists.
Response of the United States
The United States was hostile to NWICO. According to some analysts, the United States saw these
issues simply as barriers to the free flow of communication and to the interests of American media
corporations. It disagreed with the Macbride report at points where it questioned the role of the
private sector in communications. It viewed the NWICO as dangerous to freedom of the press by
ultimately putting an organization run by governments at the head of controlling global media,
potentially allowing for censorship on a large scale. From another perspective, the MacBride
Commission recommendations requiring the licensing of journalists amounted to prior censorship
and ran directly counter to basic US law on the freedom of expression.
There were also accusations of corruption at the highest level of UNESCO leadership in Paris. The
US eventually withdrew its membership in UNESCO (as did the United Kingdom and Singapore) at
the end of 1984. The matter was complicated by debates within UNESCO about Israel's
archaeological work in the city of Jerusalem, and about the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The
U.S. rejoined in 2003.

MAC BRIDE COMMISSION

The demand of the non-aligned countries for a new international information order in
UNESCO brought tensions to a head at the organizations General Conference in 1976,
where the formulation of a declaration on mass media topped the agenda.
The International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, known as the
MacBride Commission, was appointed to study all manner of problems of communication
in the world
General Conference (Nairobi, 1976), representatives of all countries meeting in Nairobi urged
that the study of communication problems in modern society be pursued in more detailed and
systematic fashion and a synthesis made of them.
Some months later, the Director-General decided to entrust an international commission, with
Mr. Sean MacBride of Ireland as its President, with the task of carrying out a study of all
communication problems in present-day society

Commission's mandate specified the four main lines of inquiry

1. to study the current situation in the fields of communication and information and to identify
problems which call for fresh action at the national level and a concerted, overall approach at
the international level. The analysis of the state of communication in the world today, and
particularly of information problems as a whole, should take account of the diversity of
socio-economic conditions and levels and types of development.
2. to pay particular attention to problems relating to the free and balanced flow of information
in the world, as well as the specific needs of developing countries, in accordance with the
decisions of the General Conference.
3. to analyze communication problems, in their different aspects, within the perspective of the
establishment of a new international economic order and of the measures to be taken to foster
the institution of a "new world information order
4. to define the role which communication might play in making public opinion aware of the
major problems besetting the world, in sensitizing it to these problems and helping gradually
The Commission was chaired by Irish politician, diplomat and Nobel laureate Sean MacBride.The
individuals were chosen on the basis of personal merits and would represent only themselves.
The MacBride Commission also engaged a number of external scholars and experts to produce
specialized reports on aspects of the Commissions Work.
Commissions final report: Many Voices, One World. Communication and Society, Today and
Tomorrow. Towards a New, More Just and More Efficient World Information and Communication
Order, which was submitted to UNESCOs Director-General in Spring 1980
Recommendations and suggestions
o The fifth part of the book, Conclusions and Recommendations offers some eighty policy
recommendations of problems studied.
o The 82 Recommendations of the MacBride Commission

Main conclusions

a variety of solutions adopted in different countries - in accordance with diverse traditions,

patterns of social, economic and cultural life, needs and possibilities. This diversity is
valuable and should be respected; there is no place for the universal application of
preconceived models.
The review has also shown that the utmost importance should be given to eliminating
imbalances and disparities in communication and its structures, and particularly in
information flows.
conclusions are founded on the firm conviction that communication is a basic individual
right, as well as a collective one required by all communities and nations. Freedom of
information - and, more specifically the right to seek, receive and impart information - is a
fundamental human right; indeed, a prerequisite for many others.
it is essential to develop comprehensive national communication policies linked to overall
social, cultural and economic development objectives. Every country should develop its
communication patterns in accordance with its own conditions, needs and traditions, thus
strengthening its integrity, independence and self-reliance.
The basic considerations which are developed at length in the body of our Report are
intended to provide a framework for the development of a new information and
communication order. We see its implementation as an on-going process of change in the
nature of relations between and within nations in the field of communications.

Recommendations
1) Strengthening Independence and Self-reliance
Communication be no longer regarded merely as an incidental service and its
development left to chance. Recognition of its potential warrants the formulation by
all nations, and particularly developing countries, of comprehensive communication
policies linked to overall social, cultural, economic and political goals
Developing countries take specific measures to establish or develop essential
elements of their communication systems: print media, broadcasting and
telecommunications along with the related training and production facilities
As language embodies the cultural experience of people, all languages should be
adequately developed to serve the complex and diverse requirements of modern
communication.
A primary policy objective should be to make elementary education available to all
and to wipe out illiteracy, supplementing formal schooling systems with non-formal
education and enrichment within appropriate structures of continuing and distance
learning (through radio, television and correspondence).
The communication component in all development projects should receive adequate
financing. So-called "development support communications" are essential for
mobilizing initiatives and providing information required for action in all fields of
development - agriculture, health and family planning, education, religion, industry
and so on.

 The educational and informational use of communication should be given equal

priority with entertainment.
Tariffs for news transmission, telecommunications rates and air mail charges for the
dissemination of news, transport of newspapers, periodicals, books and audiovisual
materials are one of the main obstacles to a free and balanced flow of information.
This situation must be corrected, especially in the case of developing countries,
through a variety of national and international initiatives
The electro-magnetic spectrum and geostationary orbit, both finite natural resources,
should be more equitably shared as the common property of mankind.
2) Social Consequences and New Tasks
Promotion of dialogue for development as a central component of both communication
and development policies.
Setting up national mechanisms to promote participation and discussion of social
priorities in the acquisition or extension of new communication technologies.
The concentration of communications technology in a relatively few developed countries
and transnational corporations has led to virtual monopoly situations in this field. To
counteract these tendencies national and international measures are required, among them
reform of exisiting patent laws and conventions, appropriate legislation and international
agreements.
Introduction of guidelines with respect to advertising content and the values and attitudes
it fosters, in accordance with national standards and practices.
While acknowledging the need of the media for revenues, ways and means should be
considered to reduce the negative effects that the influence of market and commercial
considerations have in the organization and content of national and international
communication flows.
Developed countries should foster exchanges of technical information on the principle
that all countries have equal rights to full access to available information.
3) Professional Integrity and Standards
The importance of the journalist's mission in the contemporary world demands steps to
enhance his standing in society.
As in other professions, journalists and media organizations serve the public directly and
the public, in turn, is entitled to hold them accountable for their actions. it appears
necessary to develop further effective ways by which the right to assess mass media
performance can be exercised by the public
The press and broadcasters in the industrialized world should allot more space and time
to reporting events in and background material about foreign countries in general and
news from the developing world in particular.
To offset the negative effects of inaccurate or malicious reporting of international news,
the right of reply and correction should be further considered
4) Democratization of Communication

 The media should contribute to promoting the just cause of peoples struggling for
freedom and independence and their right to live in peace and equality without foreign
interference.
Censorship or arbitrary control of information should be abolished.
Special attention should be devoted to obstacles and restrictions which derive from the
concentration of media ownership, public or private, from commercial influences on the
press and broadcasting, or from private or governmental advertising
Attention should be paid to the communication needs of women.
The concerns of children and youth, national, ethnic, religious, linguistic minorities,
people living in remote areas and the aged and handicapped also deserve particular
consideration.
5) Fostering International Cooperation
The progressive implementation of national and international measures that will foster
the setting up of a new world information and communication order.
International cooperation for the development of communications be given equal priority
with and within other sectors (e.g. health, agriculture, industry, science, education, etc.)
as information is a basic resource for individual and collective advancement and for allround development
Particular efforts should be undertaken to ensure that news about other developing
countries within or outside their region receive more attention and space in the media.
The Member States of UNESCO should increase their support to the Organization's
programme in this area.
Better coordination of the various communication activities within UNESCO and those
throughout the United Nations System
National communication policies should be consistent with adopted international
communication principles and should seek to create a climate of mutual understanding
and peaceful coexistence among nations.
Due attention should be paid to the problems of peace and disarmament, human rights,
development and the creation of a new communication order.
All forms of co-operation among the media, the professionals and their associations,
which contribute to the better knowledge of other nations and cultures, should be
encouraged and promoted.

UNESCO

In 1945, UNESCO was created in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two
world wars in less than a generation that political and economic agreements are not enough to
build a lasting peace. Peace must be established on the basis of humanitys moral and intellectual
solidarity

In the field of communication, UNESCO has become a forum where issues can be raised and
discussions pursued in depth.

Early 1960s, UNESCO endeavored to conclude, in cooperation with preeminent professional

organizations, arrangements relating to the international exchange of news. to increase the
developing world's means of expression and to gather and exchange news, films and various
broadcasts for the mutual benefit of these countries.

At the sixteenth session of the General Conference (1970) that the delegations of several
developing countries referred explicitly to what might be called the issue of the unequal
distribution of the media, asking that better adapted and balanced international news exchange
systems be organized and stressing the right to cultural identity.

At its eighteenth session in 1974, in order to facilitate communication between nations and
between peoples and to promote a better understanding of the role played by the media in the
implementation of national development policies and plans, the General Conference
recommended that a first Intergovernmental Conference on communication policies be organized
in Latin America in 1975 and that a similar intergovernmental conference by prepared and held in
Asia in 1977.

San Jose de Costa Rica in July 1976.

Kuala Lumpur in February 1979

UNESCO used the concept of a world information order rather than an international
information order. The change in wording was made on the initiative of the Western countries,
who wished to make the connection to the demand for a new economic order less explicit. The
word international connotes relations among nations, whereas world prompts associations to
global cooperation more generally, with concepts like the global village and world
government (Rosenau 1969, Holsti 1967).

New International Information Order in UNESCO brought tensions to a head at the organizations
General Conference in 1976, (Nairobi, 1976), where the formulation of a declaration on mass
media topped the agenda.

International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC)

It was established in 1980 for promoting the development of mass media (MSM) by financing
projects that meet the following priorities:

promoting media pluralism and freedom of expression;

training in the field of media;

development of community media;

use of new technologies in order to ensure greater efficiency of independent and public media.

The IPDC is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international
community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries. The Programme
not only provides support for media projects but also seeks an accord to secure a healthy
environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media in developing countries.

Promotion of freedom of expression and media pluralism

Encouraging the free flow of information, at international as well as national levels, promoting its
wider and better balanced dissemination.

freedom of expression

strengthening communication capacities in the developing countries are essential to increase

citizens participation in decision-making processes and to assert their fundamental rights

Development of community media:

Community-based media contribute to media pluralism, diversity of content, and the

representation of a societys different groups and interests. Community media encourage open
dialogue and transparency of administration at local level and offer a voice to the voiceless.

Community radio

Human resource development:

There are millions of journalists working in different media and they are perhaps the most
influential knowledge brokers in society. But many journalists from developing countries lack
access to quality journalism education and training institutions to develop their skills. In order to
address this issue at its roots, UNESCO places special emphasis on building the institutional
capacities of journalism education institutions, notably through the development of centres of
excellence, and on providing training to trainers.

(UNESCOs support for journalism education in Africa, By disseminating information to citizens,

the news media enables citizen participation in development and strengthens accountability
feedback mechanism)

Under UNESCOs The Need for Quality Journalism Education in Africa: Building Centres
of Excellence in Africa initiative, the most promising journalism education institutions in Africa
identified by UNESCO are being supported to become centres of excellence in journalism
education by improving staff training, curricula, learning materials, media resource centres,
networks and management skills.

Promotion of international partnership

IPDC is the only programme within the UN system aimed at mobilizing the international
community to act together in support of free, independent and pluralistic media in the developing
countries

In accordance with its standard-setting role, IPDChas developed a comprehensive set of Media
Development Indicators (MDIs) aimed at enabling the assessment of media landscapes at national
level. These indicators, that cover all aspects of media development, are currently being applied
in various countries worldwide to identify their specific needs in view of guiding the formulation
of media-related policies and improving the targeting of media development efforts.

GLOBAL VILLAGE
Global Village is a term closely associated with Marshall McLuhan, popularized in his books
The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962) and Understanding Media
(1964). McLuhan described how the globe has been contracted into a village by electric

technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at
the same time. In bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion,
electric speed heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree.
Marshall McLuhan predicted the Internet as an "extension of consciousness" in The Gutenberg
Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man thirty years before its commercialization.
The next medium, whatever it is - it may be the extension of consciousness - will include
television as its content, not as its environment, and will transform television into an art form. A
computer as a research and communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass
library organization, retrieve the individual's encyclopedic function and flip into a private line to
speedily tailored data of a saleable kind.
Today, the term "Global Village" can be used to describe the Internet and World Wide Web. On
the Internet, physical distance is even less of a hindrance to the real-time communicative
activities of people, and therefore social spheres are greatly expanded by the openness of the web
and the ease at which people can search for online communities and interact with others who
share the same interests and concerns. Therefore, this technology fosters the idea of a
conglomerate yet unified global community. According to McLuhan, the enhanced "electric
speed in bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden imposion has heightened
human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree." Increased speed of communication and
the ability of people to read about, spread, and react to global news quickly, forces us to become
more involved with one another from various social groups and countries around the world and
to be more aware of our global responsibilities. Similarly, web-connected computers enable
people to link their web sites together. This new reality has implications for forming new
sociological structures within the context of culture.
From Global Village to Global Theatre
No chapter in Understanding Media, or later books, contains the idea that the Global Village and
the electronic media create unified communities. In fact, in an interview with Gerald Stearn,
McLuhan says that it never occurred to him that uniformity and tranquillity were the properties
of the Global Village. McLuhan argued that the Global Village ensures maximal disagreement on
all points because it creates more discontinuity and division and diversity under the increase of
the village conditions. The Global Village is far more diverse.
After the publication of Understanding Media, McLuhan starts to use the term Global Theater to
emphasise the changeover from consumer to producer, from acquisition to involvement, from job
holding to role playing, stressing that there is no more community to clothe the naked specialist.

LOCAL BLOGGERS: VOICES FROM THE GLOBAL VILLAGE

From Delhi to New York, there are local bloggers opening their cities up to the world

There is a rich pile of hyperlocal blogs run by dedicated volunteers across the country but digital
storytelling giving voice to local people and telling of their relationship with their town or city
in the tradition of the Gentle Author is surprisingly scarce. It is happening in some locations,
however.
Every Person in New York
Jason Polan is sketching every person in New York: on the train, on the street, in a gallery, from
behind. For the last four years, the artist has roamed the streets with a pen and pad, sketching
passing strangers, mostly without them realising. Depending on his other artistic commitments,
some days he draws a couple of people; others, he will find 100. He started, he says, because he
wanted a project in which he could interact with fellow New Yorkers. He encourages people to
email him specific details of where they will be and at what time to increase their chances of
getting drawn. "I hope that it shows there are a lot of interesting people here who are doing a lot
of interesting things," he says. So far, he has clocked up an impressive 17,000. Only 8.16 million
to go then. His blog ends with a promise: "When the project is completed we will all have a gettogether."
The Delhi Walla
Five years ago, Mayank Austen Soofi, "a small-town guy" from Uttar Pradesh, was a frustrated
writer working as a waiter in a five-star hotel in Delhi. Daily excursions into his new city were
his escape; he wrote about the city to understand it himself and The Delhi Walla blog, created in
his local library, was the result. A celebration of the food, culture and books of India's capital, it
aims to profile 1% of Delhi's 11 million population. "Each seems to live in a different Delhi. To
have a fleeting sense of their personal Delhis makes me appreciate the nuances of my Delhi," he
says. His approach is similar to the Gentle Author in that he eschews negativity and criticism. "I
write without intending to be provocative," he said in an interview with Rediff.com. "I don't like
writing bad things about people. No point." He has started a reading club called The Delhi
Proustians, written four guidebooks and a new book will be published by Penguin India later this
year. "I think it's the best narrative non-fiction to have come out of India after Mala
Sen's excellent India's Bandit Queen. You see, I don't fake modesty," he says.
We Are Cardiff
Dismayed by the stereotypical portrayal of Cardiff as a city for hen and stag dos and sporting
events, freelance writer Helia Phoenix and her friends Adam Chard, a designer and photographer,
and Simon Bradwick, a web developer, set up We Are Cardiff in 2010. Phoenix was inspired by
Julie Michelle, the aspiring photographer behind I Live Here: SF, a blog about local residents
of San Francisco (currently in abeyance after Michelle's partner suffered a stroke). We Are
Cardiff tells the stories of ordinary Cardiff folk, from korfball player Terry Matthews to Dan
Allsobrook, an IT consultant and allotment-lover. Some, such as English student Alice Paetel,
give paeans of praise to "the nature that surrounds the city so tightly" while others, such as music
producer Lee Marshall, lament the replacement of "a colony of weird and fascinating shops like
a coral reef" with "another identikit franchise". Most importantly, says Phoenix, the people who
are featured can write their own life story an antidote to the way that mainstream media
interviews are often spun. We Are Cardiff is now making a documentary based on some of its 60
interviewees. Phoenix is a great admirer of Spitalfields Life but is not puzzled why more blogs

don't follow its lead. "I'm not surprised that more people don't do it because it's too timeconsuming," she says.
Ventnor Blog
A thriving hyperlocal site on the Isle of Wight has helped promote Mr Caulkhead, a mysterious
character who has been broadcasting fantastic audio shorts about the island's local dialect. Using
a telephone andipadio (free software enabling people to stream audio via a phone live to the
web), Mr Caulkhead has broadcast his Colloquialisms over the internet weird words in a thick
local accent that are accompanied by an amusing story illustrating the word's usage. Ventnor
Blog also published his broadcasts alongside illustrations by a local artist. The result is a warm,
witty history that could only ever work online. Mr Caulkhead had a prolific run of words last
winter but sadly has not broadcast an episode for a year, although he was on Twitter recently
promising some more words for his adoring audience.
I Live Here: PDX
A "love letter to Portland and an anthology of its residents, neighborhoods and moods", it was
also inspired by I Live Here: SF. Unsurprisingly for a creative city with such a firm sense of
itself, Portland has other blogs depicting the local community, including one that publishes a
photograph (or more than one) every day:portlandoregondailyphoto.blogspot.com
Hello Ottawa
In portraits and interviews, Hello Ottawa explores local people and their relationship to their city.
It was created by Anne Patterson, a community manager and new media strategist living in the
city.

GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
The study of global communication examines the continuous flows of information used in transferring
ideas globally. An intricate connection has developed worldwide due to globalization and the increasing
ability to interact on a global scale. Globalization has led to an increasing ability for interaction on a

global scale through media. Research analyzes the ways in which the ability of information must now be
studied without stringent relations of receiving and sending of information.
Global communication is a growing discipline within university Communications departments. Centers
like the Center for Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University
of Pennsylvania include this field. Likewise, academic journals such as the Global Media Journal focus
on the current place of global communication in academia.
The study of global communication has increased dramatically due to changes in global interactions.
Arjun Appadurai claimed that the "central problem of todays global interactions is the tension between
cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenization". Homogenization of culture came as American
culture globally influenced others. Global interactions are no longer binary, affecting multiple parties in
multiple locales.

GLOBAL COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

Does the Development of Global Communications Inevitably Lead to Cultural Homogenization?
The development of global communications has led to the establishment of world messenger services
such as CNN, a chain of restaurants globally recognised by their golden Ms, and a worldwide
appreciation for Michael Jackson. But to establish whether these phenomena are indications of an
imminent homogenization of culture, the evidence of these cultural commodities presence, and their
implications for and influences on local cultures, needs to be explored. Conversely, there is a suggestion
that global communication technologies may create the opposite, and instead strengthen local cultures.
Nonetheless, both these positions have developed from the framework of the globalization dialogue,
which itself may need to be questioned to determine whether it reflects reality, or is purely a Western
experience and reminiscent of the imperial age, and perhaps no longer relevant.
Initially, the sheer massive presence of Western cultural goods throughout the world makes the case for
inevitable cultural homogenization, or more specifically, Americanization, a probable one.
Developments in global communications have made the exchange of goods and ideas near instantaneous
and unimaginably easy. From the inescapable presence of McDonalds and Hollywood movie posters, to
the Western clothing brands with social prestige and the World Banks dictation of plans and patterns of
development throughout the world, the limitless amount of evidence of American-led cultural commodity
domination makes the case for seeing cultural globalization as Americanization a persuasive one
(Tomlinson, 2005: 176). Advocates of this view usually cite the global presence of the US television and
film industries (Ferguson, 1992: 72) and infer the influence this media hegemony has on a native culture.
Critics of this view note how it reduces culture to its material goods. It makes a leap of inference from
the simple presence of cultural goods to the attribution of deeper cultural or ideological effects
(Tomlinson, 1999: 84).But if John Streets suggestion that people who regularly read a paper come
increasingly to share its politics, (2001: 108) is based in fact, then there is reason to believe that the same
could be said of televisions effect on culture. Despite this, it could be argued that instead of influencing
culture, the most media does is reinforce pre-existing views and values (Street, 2001: 108). That is,
people interpret the media through their own pre-existing value systems. Although often cited as an

example of Americanization, Coca-cola, for example, is attributed with an array of meanings and uses
within particular cultures distinct from the manufacturers original intention. In Russia, Coke can smooth
skin, in Haiti it can revive the dead, and in Barbados it can turn copper into silver (Tomlinson, 1999: 84).
This shows that the horde of evidence of global consumption of American commodities is not necessarily
evidence of cultural imperialism and homogenization. When applied to television, this idea suggests that
whatever the cultural origins of the programme, the audience will interpret them within the context of
their own culture, as media artefacts do not always result in cultural assimilation (Ferguson, 1992:
72), but instead only highlight the differences between cultures. But commercial television and feature
films are inventions of American origin, and thus any television culture, irrespective of its content and
influence, can be viewed as a cultural homogenization of sorts: that of a television culture. As Don Ayteo
of MTV notes, Weve revolutionized the way Indian kids devote themselves to leisure Weve created a
youth culture where there simply was none before (Street, 2001: 223). From this perspective, the
globalization of the media can be viewed as a web which enmeshes and binds in all cultures
(Tomlinson, 2005: 176).
Alternatively, TV has not only produced a homogeneous television culture, but has provided a platform
enabling local cultures to strengthen and diversify. A clear example of this is in Reevess notions of the
Third Cinema and Peoples Theatre, whereby people develop folk and alternative media opposed to
commercial cinemas values, theories, and stylistic approaches (1993: 235). Thus, the development of
global communications has enabled people to showcase and strengthen their cultures and traditions, or
even to develop a national identity. The creation of the Internet has made this even more the case, as
individual people are increasingly becoming their own media force, separate from the dominant
institutional order of communications (Reeves, 1993: 235) and thus less under its influence.
Nonetheless, the Internet is essentially a Western platform, as it retains Western values of individualism
and freedom of expression. Despite its diverse cultural utilization, the Internet still encourages a uniform
set of ideals. Tunstall even suggests that it is because of these values that make the imported media
culture so popular (1981: 58). Unpopular characteristics such as the subservient position of women
and caste inequalities in authentic culture make people embrace the imported culture. This suggests a
gradual cultural homogenization, as, apparently, everyone wants the same thing. Not only is Tunstall
guilty of presentism and univeralism assuming that his cultures morality is superior and eternal and
universally desired, but he also fails to recognise other possible factors in Americas media prevalence,
such as its economic strength as an exporter and other countries economic or other insufficiencies in
making their own media.
The simplistic notion of an American-led TV culture also ignores the pluralisation of cultural production
centres around the world (Tomlinson, 2005: 180). TV Globo in Brazil and the Mexican company
Televisa dominate their own markets as well as export to the rest of the Hispanic world (Tomlinson, 2005:
180); Egypt exports to the rest of the Arab world; Indias film industry has audiences throughout Asia and
Africa; and in the Scandinavian markets Sweden reigns (Tunstall, 1981: 62). In fact, the global audience
devotes 80% of its viewing time to domestic, national media and only 20% to media from outside its
borders (Street, 2001: 210). Thus, the initial assumption by advocates of a cultural homogenization theory
not only overstates the influence of foreign cultural commodities, but also the prevalence of these
commodities, as, in the case of television, it is home-produced programmes which top the ratings
(Tomlinson, 2005: 180). This suggests that globalization is not the process of domination necessary for
cultural homogenization, but a decentred network, in which the patterns of distribution of power are

unstable and shifting (Tomlinson, 2005: 185). But this critique of cultural homogenization ignores
Hollywoods influence on these non-American film industries. According to Street,
Nations with proud traditions of film-making independence like France, England, Sweden, India,
Indonesia and Japan are in fact gradually succumbing to the irresistible lure of product that is not only
predominantly American but, even when still indigenous, is rooted in the glamour of the seductive trinity
of sex, violence and money, set to a harmonizing score of American rock and roll (2001: 222).
That is to say, there is an increasing tendency for media around the world to be put into primarily
American packages (Tunstall, 1981: 273).
But is this a case of cultural homogenization, or one of transculturation and hybridity? The globalization
dialogue has led to the idea that each nation has a single, monolithic culture that needs to be protected.
The GATT (General Agreements of Tariffs and Trade) rounds are a prime example of this, as they show
globalizations perceived threat of cultural extinction through their immigration, trade and cultural
policies which restrict or manage the access their citizens have to external sources of media and culture
(Street, 2001: 221). Canada, France and most of Scandinavia have erected tariff barriers and imposed
quotas to limit the number of foreign television imports, and throughout recent history states such as
Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Iran have all banned satellite dishes to limit outside influence.
This shows that there is, at least, a fear of cultural assimilation and homogenization among political
powers. But most cultures simply do not correspond to the inorganic Westphalia state system, as they both
transcend borders and can be innumerable within them. Thus, it is far more appropriate to view global
culture as a phenomenon between rather than within countries. From this perspective, cultures are
hybrids, consisting of components borrowed from one another, and global communications simply lead
to greater cultural hybridization (Street, 2001: 227). Hip-hop is a music culture viewed almost entirely as
Black American, and more specifically a part of the urban Black American culture of those living in the
deprived area of the Bronx, New York. In reality, hip-hop is the product of a complex hybrid mix of AfroAmerican, Caribbean and Hispanic musical cultures (Tomlinson, 2005: 182): a hybridization that could
only occur through global communications. With this in mind, the American influence on the TV and film
industries does not necessarily induce a homogenized global culture, but rather a diverse hybridity of
cultures: a cultural mixing and hybridization rather than with direct cultural imposition (Tomlinson,
2005: 182).
The point of cultural identity as national identity, already briefly mentioned, is also worth further analysis.
Tunstall argues, The problem of cultural identity is part of a larger problem of national identity (1981:
57). But in human history, the nation state is a relatively recent experience, and so it is no surprise than
human interaction through culture predates and does not fit into these imagined borders. India has nearly
20 languages and an enormously diverse wealth of religious traditions and cultures. As John Street asks,
Is it realistic to see mass media corporations, however big, imposing a single culture? (2001: 226) This
point also highlights the North-North, not North-South, nature of the globalization dialogue (Ferguson,
1992: 73). India and many other victims of European colonisation throughout Asia and Africa do not fit
into the Western model of synonymous national and cultural identities. Africa is the continent where
national identity is least strong of all (Tunstall, 1981: 57). That is not to say that it is culturally weak or
more susceptible to cultural imperialism, as Tunstall suggests, but instead the carving up of the continent
by its colonisers forced its many cultures into borders and synthetic national identities irrespective of their
peoples realities. Thus, globalization theory, and by extension the theory of cultural homogenization,

might just be another theory through which the West formulates world history in terms of its own
experience (Tomlinson, 2005: 177). Nonetheless, due to the history of Western Imperialism, it would be
almost perverse to not recognise the patterns of neo-colonialism in the form of cultural imperialism
here. To the extent that sub-Saharan Africa does participate in the global media market, they do so within
delivery systems created and maintained by the global [Western] corporations (Street, 2001: 225), and it
is clear that some initiate media movements and flows, while others are receivers and are effectively
imprisoned by it (Tomlinson, 2005: 177). From this perspective, global communications are just an
extension of neo-colonialism in the form of cultural imperialism a forerunner to cultural
homogenization.
Furthermore, the age of imperialism and colonialism was partnered with a period of scientific thought
inspired by notions of racial superiority and inferiority. The British model of imperialism made it possible
to scientifically distinguish between civilized, advanced cultures, and uncivilized, backward cultures.
Linguist Friedrich von Schlegel, for example, believed that Indo-Germanic languages were superior to the
Semitic-African languages, a reflection of the culture, society and mind of their speakers (Said, 2003: 98).
This shows how Europe constructed its identity by relegating and confining the non-Europeans to a
secondary racial, cultural status (Tomlinson, 2005: 177). But as global communications continue to
eliminate physical distance, these cultures are coming into direct proximity with one another, and the
Wests established cultural confidence and certainty is in decline. From this perspective, the notion of an
inevitable cultural homogenization is just and echo of the Wests colonial past. And as it is becoming
increasingly multi-cultural due primarily to immigration and undergoing a significant decline in its
cultural power, (Tomlinson, 2005: 185) the image of cultural homogenization and imperialism that of
the domination and subordination of cultures is becoming increasingly irrelevant.
Nevertheless, the neoliberal nature of globalization and its tools global communications do maintain
the conditions of the imperialist domination and subordination. Globalization has allowed wealthy
countries to exploit the poorer, by pushing them to eliminate trade barriers, whilst keeping up their own
(Stiglitz, 2002: 6). Although capitalism has no loyalty to its birthplace, and so provides no guarantees
that the geographical patterns of dominance will continue (Tomlinson, 2005: 187), there are measures
taken by the wealthier, more powerful states to maintain the status quo. Stiglitz refers to the Uruguay
Round a part of the GATT agreements and its strengthening of intellectual property rights, stopping
developing countries from producing affordable life-saving drugs, effectively condemning thousands to
death (2002: 8). It has also resulted in dangerous workers exploitation, where globalization had resulted
in poor countries labour force being forced into low-paid, often dangerous, factory jobs, as their old jobs
become obsolete. This not only highlights the uni-directional flow of influence, but more broadly, it
highlights global communications influence on the spreading, homogenized culture of capitalism.
Whether the commodities are uniform in flavour or not, the developments in global communication are
producing a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country (Tomlinson, 1999:
76). The expansionary and imperialist nature of capitalism, accelerated by developments in global
communications, has brought cultural life in more and more areas within the grasp of the cash nexus and
the logic of capital circulation (Tomlinson, 2005: 179). This view of globalization and global
communications points to a variety of cultural homogenization through an overarching culture of
capitalism.

The cultural homogenization theory relies largely on Western conceptions of the world, such as the
Westphalia system, as well as ignoring large parts of the world that are mostly excluded from the ambit of
these communications. Thus, the theory can be seen as a primarily Western-centric perspective, distorting
the reality for large populations of the globe. It also relies heavily on the idea of a media presence and
influence that are simply not grounded in hard evidence. It implies that cultures are distinct from one
another, when in reality they are far more interdependent and are formed through hybridization a
process that global communication developments are accelerating, and thus creating a more diversified
and colourful patchwork of cultures. Initially, the argument of cultural imperialism suggests that Western
dominance is leading to the Americanization of weaker states, but it also highlights the imperialistic
tones in the cultural homogenization argument, as it deconstructs 19th century Europes attempt to create
cultural security and certainty by subordinating the cultures of their colonies, concluding that the cultural
homogenization dialogue is an outdated, irrelevant reverberation of imperialism. Nonetheless, global
communications have increased the spread of capitalism, and in this respect, it would appear that cultural
homogenization is inevitable in the form of a commodity, capital culture.

DEMOCRATIZATION OF COMMUNICATION
(News Article)

Time was, we would get recommendations from trusted institutions. You know the names:
Consumer Reports for products, Lonely Planet for travel, KCRW for music, the New York Times
for all the news thats fit to print, the list goes on. Their word was sacred, and we the masses
were grateful for their filtering, their curation. If your track wasnt on heavy rotation on their
playlist, so to speak, you werent going to sell. But as we all know, the Internet changed things.
And how.
I thought about this recently as I was planning a trip to Paris and sought recommendations on
things to do, places to eat from a variety of sources. Between friends, colleagues, peer reviews on
TripAdvisor, New York Times lists, the hotel concierge and travel sites, I was getting bombarded
with tips on how to spend 36 hours in the City of Light. It was confusing, time-consuming and,
ultimately, overwhelming to parse the recommendations, cross-check those that seemed
promising and book.
Its no blinding insight to say that, with the democratization of communication that the Internet
enabled and the resultant onslaught of data and artifacts created there is a greater need for
filters than ever before. We are sipping from the proverbial firehose and drowning in the ensuing
deluge. Or, as Clay Shirky put it (by way of JP Rangaswami, who writes eloquently about the
subject), we dont live in an age of information overload, but of filter failure. Quite so.
The notion of authority and credibility is changing. Previously credibility inured to institutions
and brands. We still revere traditional arbiters of taste the Michelin guide still makes or breaks
many restaurants. But this is changing. The filters of old are decreasing in reach, power and
authority. Instead, authority is atomizing to the individual level. Examples abound of individuals
using social platforms such as Twitter and YouTube to broadcast to a much wider audience. The
Amazon star rating is becoming as important as the NYT Book review.
Social recommendations have always played a big part in our decisions, and this also is changing
with the advent of the social graph. The concept of trusted peers or filters is expanding to those
once or twice removed from our friends. The prospect of using this social graph to inform our
searches, to be the new PageRank is what underpins the huge potential of Facebook.
At the same time, we as consumers have become more proactive in seeking filters, in
following. Besides email, Twitter and YouTube, the concept of the follow is central to a new
breed of vertically-oriented sites and feeds: Svpply for products, 8tracks for music (see
disclosure), Lyst for fashion, I-Escape for boutique hotels, Covestor for stocks, food blogs like
An American In London for local restaurants, Jason Hirschorns Media Redefined feed for my
daily run-down of industry news, and so on.
But this also means a splintering of tastes. As we roll our own filters based on new authorities
and new friends and Circles, so there becomes less overlap in our general tastes. What does this
all mean? Its too early to tell. But, as always, the new filters will look to institutionalize
themselves to cement and project their authority (Jason Hirschorn will turn his feed into a

business, natch). At the same time, our splintered filters will result in a self-selecting bias. We
naturally gravitate towards filters that echo our point of view and taste. In public affairs, this
leads to a polarization of the polity. More darkly, as JP writes, There is a growing risk that you
will only be presented with information that someone else thinks is what you want to see, read or
hear. Accentuating your biases and prejudices. Increasing groupthink. Narrowing your frame of
reference. Whatever the case, there is enormous value to be created in being the new filter and
the prospect of owning this promises great wealth and power to those that can do it at scale.
Back to my weekend in Paris. After consulting so many sources, we ultimately just went with the
recommendations of our concierge. He didnt disappoint, but it got me thinking: it would have
been great to have a Quora for Paris a Q&A site where I could ask where the best Sunday
brunch near the 1st is, with socially filtered answers or, better yet, a Summify to smartly
condense recommendations from institutions and friends into an easily digested form. That I
would pay for.

MEDIA MOGULS

The three fundamental forces in the history of the mass media have been politics, technology and
commerce.

A media mogul we define as a person who owns and operates major media companies, who
takes entrepreneurial risks, and who conducts these media businesses in a personal or eccentric
style.

use of the term media mogul indicates a person who largely built up his own media empire; this
entrepreneurial element can include the launching of new media enterprises, but in practice often
consists largely of buying up, and taking over, existing media companies. This entrepreneurial
and growth aspect distinguishes the mogul from the crown prince. The crown prince is the
second-generation media entrepreneur, who typically inherits major media properties from his
pioneering father. The inheritor in some cases is not a son, but a widow, nephew, or other relative.

The American press grew explosively in the late nineteenth century and produced, in men like
Pulitzer and Hearst, the first wave of media moguls.

media moguls political connections and electoral support which lead to the greatest public
controversy.

(Rupert Murdochs newspapers were also highly partisan and belligerent in British national
elections of the 1970s and 1980s; and Murdoch was no less partisan in city, state and national
elections in the US. Axel Springer in West Germany and Robert Hersant in France were also
belligerent right-wing partisans of the mass circulation Press in a succession of elections.)

Silvio Berlusconi

served three times as Prime Minister of Italy from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011,
led the country almost ten years and seven years as leader of opposition.

Berlusconi's extensive control over the media has been widely criticised by some analysts.

Berlusconi's reported 90% control of the Italian national media.

Berlusconi owns via Mediaset 3 of 7 national TV channels

Rupert Murdoch

Murdoch started by building an Australian and then a British newspaper empire before moving to
New York; there he began with newspapers before switching to magazines, a Hollywood
production studio and a chain of TV stations.

In 1990 he was the leading newspaper owner in both Britain and Australia; the only person to
own both a major group of US TV stations and a major Hollywood studio; owner of a massive
circulation US weekly magazine (TV Guide) and five other major magazines; owner of book
publishing interests (the US Harper & Row and the UK Collins) of truly world significance.

(In Britain the Thatcher government twice waved through major Murdoch newspaper purchases,
although the law appeared to require a reference to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.)

Murdoch own Star asia in early 90s

20th century fox, wall street journal, harper collins

TRANSNATIONAL NEWS AGENCIES

Domination of transnational news agencies in the world Domination or hegemony is
exercised by 5 largest transnational news agencies. AP UPI Rueters AFP ITAR-TAS
(information telegraph agency of russia - telegraph agency of the soviet union 80%
of 15 great news media corporations dominate the production of radio sets, tv sets
and print media sets including printing devices, radio and tv communication

satellite, paper ink and other elements of mass media technological infrastructure.
The statistics provide the details of disparities that exists, and the dominance of
north in the field of information. Thus making the south depend on north
Eg.1 During the british war with argentina, over their claim on falklands islands,
several developing countries supported the argentinian claim, but their newspapers
were receiving the stories put out by the transnational news agencies, which were
biased in favor of britain. The newspapers in the developing countries could not
afford to send their own correspondents to cover the war.
Eg, 2 The gulf war provides the eg. of how dependent . for news on the west can
destroy the content of third world media. During the gulf war, India's language
dailies did not have the capacity to cover war events with their own correspondents.
Almost all the newspapers depended upon the news originating from the western
news agencies. The usage of words in the news dispatches became a form of
psychological warfare during the so called gulf war.

CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP

Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media
convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations
control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates
increasing levels of consolidation, with many media industries already highly
concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.
Globally, large media conglomerates include Viacom, CBS Corporation, Time
Warner, News Corp, Bertelsmann AG, Sony Corporation of America, NBCUniversal,
Vivendi, Televisa, The Walt Disney Company, Hearst Corporation, Organizaes
Globo and Lagardre Group.
As of 2012, The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the US,
with News Corporation, Time Warner and Viacom ranking second, third and fourth
respectively.
In nations described as authoritarian by most international think-tanks and NGOs
like Human Rights Watch (China, Cuba, Russia), media ownership is generally
something very close to the complete state control over information in direct or
indirect ways (see Gazprom Media).
Media mergers are a result of one media related company buying another company
for control of their resources in order to increase revenues and viewership. As
information and entertainment become a major part of our culture, media
companies have been creating ways to become more efficient in reaching viewers
and turning a profit. Successful media companies usually buy out other companies
to make them more powerful, profitable, and able to reach a larger viewing
audience. Media Mergers have become more prevalent in recent years, which has

people wondering about the negative effects that could be caused by media
ownership becoming more concentrated. Such negative effects that could come into
play are lack of competition and diversity as well as biased political views.
Media oligopoly
An oligopoly is when a few firms dominate a market. When the larger scale media
companies buy out the more smaller-scaled or local companies they become more
powerful within the market. As they continue to eliminate their business competition
through buyouts or forcing them out (because they lack the resources or finances)
the companies left dominate the media industry and create a media oligopoly.
Elimination of net neutrality
Net neutrality is also at stake when media mergers are occurring. Net neutrality
involves a lack of restrictions on content on the internet, however, with big
businesses supporting campaigns financially they tend to have influence over
political issues, which can translate into their mediums. These big businesses that
also have control over internet usage or the airwaves could possibly make the
content available biased from their political stand point or they could restrict usage
for conflicting political views, therefore eliminating Net Neutrality.
Debates and issues
Concentration of media ownership is very frequently seen as a problem of
contemporary media and society. When media ownership is concentrated in one or
more of the ways mentioned above, a number of undesirable consequences follow,
including the following:
Commercially driven, ultra-powerful mass market media is primarily loyal to
sponsors, i.e. advertisers and government rather than to the public interest.
Only a few companies representing the interests of a minority elite control the
public airwaves
Healthy, market-based competition is absent, leading to slower innovation and
increased prices.
Diversity of viewpoints
It is important to elaborate upon the issue of media consolidation and its effect
upon the diversity of information reaching a particular market. Critics of
consolidation raise the issue of whether monopolistic or oligopolistic control of a
local media market can be fully accountable and dependable in serving the public
interest.
Freedom of the press and editorial independence

On the local end, reporters have often seen their stories refused or edited beyond
recognition. An example would be the repeated refusal of networks to air "ads" from
anti-war advocates to liberal groups like MoveOn.org, or religious groups like the
United Church of Christ, regardless of factual basis. Journalists and their reports may
be directly sponsored by parties who are the subject of their journalism leading to
reports which actually favor the sponsor, have that appearance, or are simply a
repetition of the sponsors opinion.
Consequently, if the companies dominating a media market choose to suppress
stories that do not serve their interests, the public suffers, since they are not
adequately informed of some crucial issues that may affect them.
Concern among academia rests in the notion that the purpose of the first
amendment to the US constitution was to encourage a free press as political
agitator evidenced by the famous quote from US President Thomas Jefferson, "The
only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted
when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted
to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure. Freedom of the press has long been
combated by large media companies, but their objections have just as long been
dismissed by the supreme courts.
Deregulation
One explanation for the cause of the concentration of media ownership is a shift to
neoliberal deregulation policies, which is a market-driven approach. Deregulation
effectively removes governmental barriers to allow for the commercial exploitation
of media. Motivation for media firms to merge includes increased profit-margins,
reduced risk and maintaining a competitive edge. In contrast to this, those who
support deregulation have argued that cultural trade barriers and regulations harm
consumers and domestic support in the form of subsidies hinders countries to
develop their own strong media firms. The opening of borders is more beneficial to
countries than maintaining protectionist regulations.
Critics of media deregulation and the resulting concentration of ownership fear that
such trends will only continue to reduce the diversity of information provided, as
well as to reduce the accountability of information providers to the public. The
ultimate consequence of consolidation, critics argue, is a poorly informed public,
restricted to a reduced array of media options that offer only information that does
not harm the media oligopoly's growing range of interests.
For those critics, media deregulation is a dangerous trend, facilitating an increase in
concentration of media ownership, and subsequently reducing the overall quality
and diversity of information communicated through major media channels.
Increased concentration of media ownership can lead to the censorship of a wide
range of critical thought.

Other
Another concern is that consolidated media is not flexible enough to serve local
communities in case of emergency.[citation needed] Some say that the Minot train
derailment was exacerbated by consolidation of media, but an EOU study cited by
Radioworld notes that even though Minot's media was under the same ownership,
the Emergency Alert System (EAS) - which is completely automated - should have
been activated by emergency management officials (media personnel are not
necessary for EAS activation) but was not.[17][18] So it is shown that consolidated
media did not play a significant role in this incident.
Determinants of media pluralism

Size and wealth of the market

Within any free market economy, the level of resources available for the provision
of media will be constrained principally by the size and wealth of that economy, and
the propensity of its inhabitants to consume media. [Gillian Doyle; 2002:15] Those
countries that have a relatively large market, like the United Kingdom, France or
Spain have more financial background to support diversity of output and have the
ability to keep more media companies in the market (as they are there to make
profit). More diverse output and fragmented ownership will, obviously, support
pluralism. In contrast, small markets like Ireland or Hungary suffer from the absence
of the diversity of output given in countries with bigger markets. It means that
support for the media through direct payment and levels of consumers
expenditure, furthermore the availability of advertising support [Gillian Doyle;
2002:15] are less in these countries, due to the low number of audience. Overall,
the size and wealth of the market determine the diversity of both media output and
media ownership.

Diversity of suppliers/owners

From the previous paragraph can be assumed that size/wealth of the market have a
very strong relation to the diversity of supplier. If the first is not given (wealthy
market) then it is difficult to achieve fragmented supplier system. Diversity of
suppliers refers to those heterogeneous independent organizations that are
involved in media production and to the common ownership as well. The more
various suppliers there are, the better for pluralism is. However, the more powerful
individual suppliers become, the greater the potential threat to pluralism. [19]
[verification needed]

Consolidation of resources

The consolidation of cost functions and cost-sharing. Cost-sharing is a common

practice in monomedia and cross media. For example, for multi-product television
or radio broadcasters, the more homogeneity possible between different services

held in common ownership (or the more elements within a programme schedule
which can be shared between different stations), the greater the opportunity to
reap economies. [20][verification needed] Though the main concern of pluralism is
that different organization under different ownership may buy the same e.g. news
stories from the same news-supplier agency. In the UK, the biggest news-supplier is
The Press Association (PA). Here is a quoted text from PA web site: The Press
Association supplies services to every national and regional daily newspaper, major
broadcasters, online publishers and a wide range of commercial organisations.
Overall, in a system where all different media organizations gather their stories from
the same source, then we cant really call that system pluralist. That is where
diversity of output comes in.[21]
Concentration of media ownership in particular nations
Australia
Controls over media ownership in Australia are laid down in the Broadcasting
Services Act 1992,[22] administered by the Australian Communications and Media
Authority (ACMA). Even with laws in place Australia has a high concentration of
media ownership. Ownership of national and the newspapers of each capital city are
dominated by two corporations, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, (which was
founded in Adelaide) and John Fairfax Holdings.These two corporations along with
West Australian Newspapers and the Harris Group work together to create
Australian Associated Press which distributes the news and then sells it on to other
outlets such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Although much of the
everyday main stream news is drawn from the Australian Associated Press all the
privately owned media outlets still compete with each other for exclusive Pop
culture news. Rural and regional media is dominated by Rural Press Limited which is
owned also by John Fairfax Holdings, with significant holdings in all states and
territories. Daily Mail and General Trust operate the DMG Radio Australia
commercial radio networks in metropolitan and regional areas of Australia. Formed
in 1996, it has since become one of the largest radio media companies in the
country. The company currently own more than 60 radio stations across New South
Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
There are rules governing foreign ownership of Australian media and these rules
were loosend by the former Howard Government.
According to Reporters Without Borders in 2004, Australia is in 41st position on a list
of countries ranked by Press Freedom; well behind New Zealand (9th) and United
Kingdom (28th). This ranking is primarily due to the limited diversity in media
ownership. The problem has even created a show in itself - Media Watch on a
government funded station Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) which is one
of two government administered channels the other being Special Broadcasting
Service (SBS).

In late 2011, the Finkelstein Inquiry into media regulation was launched, and
reported its findings back to the federal government in early 2012.
New Zealand
Print
Independent Newspapers Limited (INL) formerly published the Wellington-based
newspapers The Dominion and The Evening Post, in addition to purchasing a large
shareholding in pay TV broadcaster Sky Media Limited in 1997. These two
newspapers merged to form the Dominion Post in 2002, and in 2003, sold its entire
print media division to Fairfax New Zealand. The remainder of the company officially
merged with Sky Media Limited in 2005 to form Sky Network Television Limited.
When INL ceased publishing the Auckland Star in 1991, the New Zealand Herald
became the Auckland region's sole daily newspaper. The New Zealand Herald and
the New Zealand Listener, formerly privately held by the Wilson & Horton families,
was sold to APN News & Media in 1996. As of April 2011, Fairfax New Zealand and
APN News & Media have a near duopoly on newspapers and magazines in New
Zealand, with Fairfax announcing the closure of the long-running news agency
NZPA.
Radio and television
Commercial radio stations are largely divided up between MediaWorks New Zealand
and the APN/Clear Channel-owned The Radio Network, with* MediaWorks also
owning TV3 and C4. Television New Zealand, although 100% state-owned, has been
run on an almost entirely commercial basis since the late 1980s, in spite of previous
attempts to steer it towards a more public service-oriented role. Its primary publicservice outlet, TVNZ7, is to cease broadcasting in 2012 due to funding cuts, and the
youth-oriented TVNZ6 has been rebranded as the commercial channel TVNZ U. In
addition, the TVNZ channels Kidzone and Heartland are only available through Sky
Network Television and not on the Freeview platform.
Sky Network Television has had an effective monopoly on pay TV in New Zealand
since its nearest rival Saturn Communications (now part of TelstraClear) began
wholesaling Sky content in 2002. However, in 2011, TelstraClear CEO Allan Freeth
warned it would review its wholesale agreement with Sky unless it allowed
TelstraClear to purchase non-Sky content.
Canada
Broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada are regulated by the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), an independent
governing agency that aims to serve the needs and interests of citizens, industries,

interest groups and the government. The CRTC does not regulate newspapers or
magazines.
Apart from a relatively small number of community broadcasters, media in Canada
are primarily owned by a small number of companies, including Bell Canada, Rogers
Communications, Shaw Communications, Astral Media, Quebecor, and the
government-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (Radio-Canada). Each of
these companies holds a diverse mix of television, cable television, radio,
newspaper, magazine and/or internet operations. In 2007, CTVglobemedia, Rogers
Media and Quebecor all expanded significantly through the acquisitions of CHUM
Limited, CityTV and Osprey Media, respectively. In 2010, Canwest Global
Communications, having filed for bankruptcy, sold its television assets to Shaw
(through a new subsidiary, Shaw Media) and spun off its newspaper holdings into
Postmedia Network, a new company founded by the National Post's CEO Paul
Godfrey.[27] Later that year, Bell also announced that it would acquire the
remaining shares of CTVglobemedia (which was originally majority owned by Bell
when it was formed in 2001; Bell had reduced its stake in the following years),
forming Bell Media.
Between 1990 and 2005 there were a number of media corporate mergers and
takeovers in Canada. For example, in 1990, 17.3% of daily newspapers were
independently owned; whereas in 2005, 1% were. These changes, among others,
caused the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communications to launch
a study of Canadian news media in March 2003. (This topic had been examined
twice in the past, by the Davey Commission (1970) and the Kent Commission
(1981), both of which produced recommendations that were never implemented in
any meaningful way.)
The Senate Committees final report, released in June 2006, expressed concern
about the effects of the current levels of news media ownership in Canada.
Specifically, the Committee discussed their concerns regarding the following trends:
the potential of media ownership concentration to limit news diversity and reduce
news quality; the CRTC and Competition Bureaus ineffectiveness at stopping media
ownership concentration; the lack of federal funding for the CBC and the
broadcasters uncertain mandate and role; diminishing employment standards for
journalists (including less job security, less journalistic freedom, and new
contractual threats to intellectual property); a lack of Canadian training and
research institutes; and difficulties with the federal governments support for print
media and the absence of funding for the internet-based news media.
The report provided 40 recommendations and 10 suggestions (for areas outside of
federal government jurisdiction), including legislation amendments that would
trigger automatic reviews of a proposed media merger if certain thresholds are
reached, and CRTC regulation revisions to ensure that access to the broadcasting

system is encouraged and that a diversity of news and information programming is

available through these services.
European Union
European institutions
While the European Union enforces a common regulations for environmental
protection, consumer protection and human rights, it has none for media pluralism.
After concerns raised in the European Parliament and by NGOs about concentration
of media ownership in Europe, and its repercussion on pluralism and freedom of
expression, in 2007 the European Commission released a three phase plan. The
plan is supposed to produce an official communication to state members by the end
of 2010.
In October 2009, a European Union Directive was proposed to set for all member
states common and higher standards for media pluralism, right to information and
freedom of expression. The proposal was put to a vote in the European Parliament
and rejected by just three votes. The directive was supported by the liberalcentrists, the progressives and the green party, and was opposed by the European
People's Party.[32] Unexpectedly, the Irish liberals made exception by voting against
the directive, and later revealed that they had been pressured by the Irish rightwing government to do so.
Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic about 80% of the newspapers and magazines are owned by
German and Swiss corporations. The two main press groups (Vltava-Labe-Press and
Mafra) are (completely or partly) controlled by the German group RheinischBergische Druckerei- und Verlagsgesellschaft (Mediengruppe Rheinische Post).
Vltava-Labe-Press (that owns the tabloids P and P EXTRA, 73 regional dailies
Denk and other 26 weeklies and that is major shareholder of publishing houses
Astrosat, Melinor and 100% owner of Metropol and also partly controls the
distribution of all the prints through PNS, a.s. is part of the German Verlagsgruppe
Passau (de) (that controls also the German Neue Presse Verlags, the Polish
Polskapresse and the Slovak Petit Press).
Mafra (that owns the centre-right dailies Dnes, Lidov noviny, the local edition of
the freesheet Metro, the periodical 14dn, the weekly music magazine Filter, several
monthly magazines, the TV music channel ko, the radio stations Expresradio and
Rdio Classic FM, several web portals and partly controls, together with VltavaLabe-Press, the distribution company PNS, a.s.) is owned by the German RheinischBergische Drckerei- und Verlagsgesellschaft. This, in turn, owns 20% of the
Verlagsgruppe Passau's shares, creating in this way a sort of cartel within the two

corporations Vltava-Labe-Press and Mafra, controlling more than 50% of Czech print
distribution through PNS, a.s. (26% by Mafra, 26,1% by Vltava-Labe-Press).
Ringier the Swiss group, controls in Czech Republic 16 daily tabloids and weeklies
(such as 24 hodin, Abc, Aha!, Blesk, Blesk TV Magazin, Blesk pro eny, Blesk Hobby,
Blesk Zdravi, Nedln Blesk, Nedln Sport, Reflex, Sport, Sport Magazin) as well as 7
web portals, reaching approximately 3.2 million readers.
Czech governments, anxious not to be seen as placing any obstacles in the way of
the country's path to EU membership, have defended foreign newspaper ownership
as a manifestation of the principle of the free movement of capital.
The centre-left newspaper Prvo is currently the only non-foreign owned Czech
newspaper.
The weekly Respekt is published by R-Presse, the majority of whose shares are
owned by former Czech Minister of foreign affairs Karel Schwarzenberg.
The national television market is dominated by 4 terrestrial stations, two public
(Czech TV1 and Czech TV2) and two private (NOVA TV and Prima TV), which draw
95% of audience share.
Concerning the diversity of output, this is limited by a series of factors: the average
low level of professional education among Czech journalists is compensated by
"informal professionalization", leading to a degree of conformity in approaches;[49]
political parties hold strong ties in Czech media, especially print, where more than
50% of Czech journalists identify with the Right, while only 16% express sympathy
for the Left; the process of commercialization and "tabloidization" has increased,
lowering differentiation of contents in Czech print media.
Germany
Axel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe,
claiming to have over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries in
Europe. In the 1960s and 1970s the company's media followed an aggressive
conservative policy (see Springerpresse). It publishes Germany's only nationwide
tabloid, Bild and one of Germany's most important broadsheets, Die Welt. Axel
Springer also owns a number of regional newspapers, especially in Saxony and in
the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, giving the company a de facto monopoly in the
latter case. An attempt to buy one of Germany's two major private TV Groups,
ProSiebenSat.1 in 2006 was withdrawn due to large concerns by regulation
authorities as well as by parts of the public. The company is also active in Hungary,
where it is the biggest publisher of regional newspapers, and in Poland, where it
owns the best-selling tabloid Fakt, one of the nation's most important broadsheets,
Dziennik, and is one of the biggest shareholder in #2 private TV company, Polsat.

Bertelsmann is one of the world's largest media companies. It owns RTL Group,
which is one of the two major private TV companies in both Germany and the
Netherlands and also owning assets in Belgium, France, UK, Spain, Czech and
Hungary. Bertelsmann also owns Gruner+Jahr, Germany's biggest popular magazine
publisher, including popular news magazine Stern and a 26% share in investigative
news magazine Der Spiegel. Bertelsmann also owns Random House, a book
publisher, #1 in the English-speaking world and #2 in Germany.
Ireland
In Ireland Independent News & Media (CEO: Tony O'Reilly) owns many national
newspapers: the Evening Herald, Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Sunday
World and Irish Daily Star. It also owns 29.9% of the Sunday Tribune.
Italy
Silvio Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, is the major shareholder of - by
far - Italy's biggest (and de facto only) private free TV company, Mediaset, Italy's
biggest publisher, Mondadori, and Italy's biggest advertising company Publitalia (it).
One of Italy's nationwide dailies, Il Giornale, is owned by his brother, and another, Il
Foglio by his wife. Berlusconi has often been criticized for using the media assets he
owns to advance his political career.
United Kingdom
In Britain and Ireland, Rupert Murdoch owns best-selling tabloid The Sun as well as
the broadsheet The Times and Sunday Times, and 39% of satellite broadcasting
network BSkyB. In March 2011, the United Kingdom provisionally approved Murdoch
to buy the remaining 61% of BSkyB, however, subsequent events (News of the
World hacking scandal and its closure in July 2011) leading to the Leveson Inquiry
have halted this takeover.
Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) own The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday,
Ireland on Sunday, and free London daily Metro, and control a large proportion of
regional media, including through subsidiary Northcliffe Media, in addition to large
shares in ITN and GCap Media.
Richard Desmond owns OK! magazine, Channel 5, the Daily Express and the Daily
Star.
The Evening Standard and The Independent are both owned by Russian
businessman and ex KGB agent Alexander Lebedev.
India
In India a few political parties also own media organizations, for example Kalaignar
TV is owned by Tamil Nadu's former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi

 Israel
In Israel, Arnon Mozes owns the most widespread Hebrew newspaper, Yediot
Aharonot, the most widespread Russian newspaper Vesty, the most popular Hebrew
news website Ynet, and 17% of the cable TV firm HOT. Moreover, Mozes owns the
Reshet TV firm, which is one of the two operators of the most popular channel in
Israel, Channel 2.
Mexico
In Mexico there are only two national broadcast television service companies,
Televisa and TV Azteca. These two broadcasters together administer 434 of the 461
total commercial television stations in the country (94.14%).
Though concern about the existence of a duopoly had been around for some time, a
press uproar sparked in 2006, when a controversial reform to the Federal Radio and
Television Law, seriously hampered the entry of new competitors, like Cadena Tres.
Televisa also owns subscription TV enterprises Cablevisin and SKY, a publishing
company Editorial Televisa (es), and the Televisa Radio broadcast radio network,
creating a de facto media monopoly in many regions of the country.
United States
In the United States, movie production is known to be dominated by major studios
since the early 20th Century; before that, there was a period in which Edison's Trust
monopolized the industry. The music and television industries recently witnessed
cases of media consolidation, with Sony Music Entertainment's parent company
merging their music division with Bertelsmann AG's BMG to form Sony BMG and
TimeWarner's The WB and CBS Corp.'s UPN merging to form The CW. In the case of
Sony BMG, there existed a "Big Five" (now "Big Four") of major record companies,
while The CW's creation was an attempt to consolidate ratings and stand up to the
"Big Four" of American network (terrestrial) television (this despite the fact that the
CW was, in fact, partially owned by one of the Big Four in CBS). In television, the
vast majority of broadcast and basic cable networks, over a hundred in all, are
controlled by nine corporations: News Corporation (the Fox family of channels), The
Walt Disney Company (which includes the ABC, ESPN and Disney brands), CBS
Corporation, Viacom, Comcast (which includes the NBC brands), Time Warner,
Discovery Communications, E. W. Scripps Company, Cablevision, or some
combination thereof (examples including the aforementioned The CW as well as
A&E Networks, which is a consortium of Comcast and Disney).
There may also be some large-scale owners in an industry that are not the causes of
monopoly or oligopoly. Clear Channel Communications, especially since the
Telecommunications Act of 1996, acquired many radio stations across the United
States, and came to own more than 1,200 stations. However, the radio broadcasting

industry in the United States and elsewhere can be regarded as oligopolistic

regardless of the existence of such a player. Because radio stations are local in
reach, each licensed a specific part of spectrum by the FCC in a specific local area,
any local market is served by a limited number of stations. In most countries, this
system of licensing makes many markets local oligopolies. The similar market
structure exists for television broadcasting, cable systems and newspaper
industries, all of which are characterized by the existence of large-scale owners.
Concentration of ownership is often found in these industries.
In the United States, data on ownership and market share of media companies is
not held in the public domain. Academics, for example at MIT Media Lab and NYU,
have struggled to find data that show reliably the concentration of media
ownership.
Recent media merges
Over the years there have been many Merger attempts, some successful, others
not. Over time the amount of media merging has increased and the amount of
media outlets have increased. That translates to fewer companies owning more
media sources, increasing the concentration of ownership.
Viacom buys out CBS
In 1999, Viacom made CBS an offer of $37 billion to buy them out. This buyout
caused a lot of hype around the time and many did not believe the merger would be
for the better. People anticipated that this merger would decrease diversity and the
quality of journalism because of the increased political influence. Viacom eventually
split itself into two companies at the end of 2005, but both remain under majority
ownership by National Amusements.

MURDOCHISATION' OF THE INDIAN MEDIA

THE last two decades have witnessed a dramatic transformation of India's
mediascape' a term first used by Arjun Appadurai, an academic of Indian origin
based in the United States, to describe how visual imagery impacts the world and to
describe and situate the role of the mass media in global cultural flows. While there
is much that is praiseworthy about the manner in which large sections of the media
have strengthened the world's largest democracy, there are also a lot of disquieting
features that have come to characterise the current working of certain newspapers,
television channels and Internet websites in the country including the
phenomenon of paid news and other crass forms of commercialisation.
From the early 1990s, when the working of the Indian economy was liberalised, the
media has expanded as never before with the advent of new communication
technologies and the burgeoning of the urban middle classes, whose consumerist
aspirations made them targets for advertisers.
India has the largest number of newspapers/publications in comparison with any
country in the world. There are over 60,000 publications currently registered with
the Registrar of Newspapers of India. According to The Economist (July 7, 2011),
India is now the fastest growing and biggest newspaper market in the world, having
overtaken China to become the leader in paid-for daily circulation with 110 million
copies sold each day.
The growth in the number of television channels has been exponential. In 1991,
there was one public broadcaster, Doordarshan. At present, over 600 TV channels
have been permitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to uplink or
downlink from the country. The number of radio stations using the frequency
modulation (FM) broadcasting mode, too, has zoomed and will go up further from
over 250 now to around 1,200 in the next five years. And no one really has an
estimate of the number of Internet websites catering to Indian users.
But quantity has not translated into quality. Defying conventional norms of
capitalism, the intensification of competition in the media has been accompanied by
a discernible lowering of ethical standards. The race to grab eyeballs has seen a
simultaneous dumbing down' of content as TV channels have become prisoners of
a highly inadequate and flawed system of ascertaining audience sizes through TRPs
(television rating points). With rules getting changed to attract foreign capital, it
was hardly surprising that one of the first transnational media corporations to enter

India in 1991 after lasciviously eying its market potential for years was the Rupert
Murdoch-controlled STAR (Satellite Television Asia Region) group.
Murdoch clearly read the writing on the wall. His Indian empire now spans TV
content production and distribution to news, publishing and cinema. The STAR India
group is one of the biggest (in terms of turnover) media conglomerates in the
country. It claims it has the largest number of viewers (around 170 million every
week) for its 32 channels in eight languages, including STAR Plus, STAR One, STAR
Gold, Channel V, STAR Jalsha, STAR Pravah, STAR World, STAR Movies, STAR Utsav
and joint venture channels such as Asianet, Sky News, FX, Fox Crime, STAR Vijay,
STAR News, ESPN and STAR Sports, among others. The STAR group has also
partnered the Tata group for its direct-to-home (DTH) TV distribution operations.
Indian operations
Murdoch himself described News Corp's Indian operation as a next generation
prospect. The success of Murdoch's Indian ventures has relied on his smart blending
of commercial and Western methods with a localised approach. He was one of the
first to introduce a music TV channel in India (Channel [V]); a 247 news network
(STAR News); and a successful adaptation of an international game show (Kaun
Banega Crorepati, an Indian version of the British Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire?). Daya Kishan Thussu, professor of international communication at the
University of Westminster, has characterised the Murdochisation of the Indian
media as a process which involves the shift of media power from the public to
privately owned, transnational, multimedia corporations controlling both delivery
systems and the content of global information networks.
The concentration of media ownership in the hands of large corporate groups; the
increasing reliance on advertising revenue leading to a frenzied quest for everhigher ratings; an exaggerated focus on what is often dubiously defined as
breaking news, so-called exclusive stories and the use of anything goes
tactics; a restriction of topics to those that will interest the affluent middle class (the
most profitable targets for advertisers); a sexing-up of news content and catering to
the lowest common denominator; an increasingly uncomfortable closeness
between marketing and editorial departments; and the transformation of news into
a commodity. These are all facets of Murdochisation that can be seen across large
sections of the media in India.
James Bennett, who in the early 19th century founded The Herald, one of the first
American tabloids, said that newspapers ought not to instruct, but to startle.
According to Thussu and others, the channels in the STAR group led the way in
developing content that is sensationalist and emphasises urban, Westernised,
consumerist concerns, with a particular emphasis on sex and celebrity culture as
well as the three Cs that Indians are supposed to be obsessed with: crime, cricket
and cinema. Furthermore, many of India's newspapers are now openly partisan,

taking on the aggressive style and tone of the Murdoch-controlled and strongly
conservative Fox News and other media vehicles in the News Corp group.
The STAR News programme Sansani (meaning sensation' in Hindi) focusses on
metropolitan crime, rape and murder. Similarly, the programme Red Alert, which
is about police efforts to deal with crime, uses a tabloid tone and is often thin on
factual information. The aim is to dramatise and sensationalise stories, often using
inspired representations of crime depicted in Hollywood and Hindi films. Lamenting
recent changes in journalistic practices, N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu, has
stated: This is a disturbing trend. Investigative journalism has been given a bad
name by the invasive spy camera.
It is not just STAR News that gives wide coverage to celebrities and their sex lives.
As the media critic Sevanti Ninan has remarked: Thanks to Mr M, we watch more
TV than ever before. That his product is neither elevating nor edifying is beside the
point. Nobody else's is, either.

AFP
A FRAME GRAB from Star News of the scene of one of the three bomb blasts in
Mumbai on July 13. In the Murdoch media, there is an exaggerated focus on what is
often dubiously defined as "breaking news" and so-called "exclusive" stories and the
use of "anything goes" tactics.
For example, Aaj Tak of the TV Today group launched a channel called Tez (meaning
fast) with the tag line Khabarein Phataphat (snappy news). The channel will not
indulge in long-winded discussions or unnecessary analysis, promised Aroon Purie,
its chief executive. If the business model of a media company is solely based on
ways to increase circulation/viewership, the shock value of news content indeed
becomes paramount. The kind of cut-throat tactics used by sections of the media in
India to be the first with the news is reminiscent of former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair's description of the media in the United Kingdom as a feral beast he
compared journalists to an unruly pack of hungry animals, in a speech delivered in
June 2007.
The coverage of the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai brought to light
many of these issues. In a scramble for the most startling images and sound bites,
extremely insensitive methods were used, and in many cases unverified information
was purveyed as fact. Another striking example of the way in which a section of the
Indian media acted unethically was in the manner in which 14-year-old Aarushi
Talwar's murder in May 2008 was covered and even sought to be fictionalised'. With
the rising clout of advertisers in the working of media companies, one sees a
breaking down of the Chinese wall that once existed between marketing and
editorial departments. In 2003, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (BCCL, which publishes,

among other newspapers, The Times of India, Economic Times and Maharashtra
Times all market leaders in their categories) started a paid content service
called Medianet, which sent journalists to cover product launches or celebrityrelated events for a fee. Its competitors pointed out that this practice blatantly
violated journalistic ethics, but the BCCL management claimed that it was
acceptable given that such advertorials appeared in the city-specific colour
supplement on society trivia rather than in the main newspaper itself.

Paid news
Medianet effectively institutionalised the phenomenon of paid news, which involves
paying newspapers and broadcasters for positive coverage. Disguised as news, it is
more effective than simple advertising, as it misleads the reader or viewer into
thinking that the information or views being put out have been independently
obtained by the journalist.
Even as other media companies followed in the footsteps of BCCL, this nefarious
practice spread to the realm of political news and became widespread in the run-up
to the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Rate cards' or packages' were given on plain
sheets of paper that listed rates for publication of editorial content that praised a
particular candidate or criticised his or her political opponents. Candidates who
refused to comply with these conditions were denied coverage.
In its non-institutionalised (and illegal as opposed to purely objectionable) forms,
these practices are extremely difficult to prove because the financial transactions
occur without any official record. This led to some comical situations as was pointed
out by P. Sainath in a series of articles published in The Hindu. Although any
wrongdoing was vehemently denied, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok
Chavan, was unable to explain how identical articles praising his achievements and
qualities were published within days of each other in separate, competing
newspapers.
The Press Council of India entrusted a subcommittee (of which one of the authors of
this article, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, was a member) to write a report on paid news.
The report assembled circumstantial evidence and named leading newspapers that
had apparently received funds for publishing information, sought to be disguised as
news, in favour of particular individuals, including representatives of political parties
who were contesting elections.
Owing to the influence of a powerful lobby of publishers in the Council, a highly
watered-down version of the report was presented to the government after a show
of hands (no formal voting was recorded) at a meeting of the Council on July 31,
2010. However, the subcommittee's full, 71-page report was leaked and is available
on a number of websites. This episode was commented on recently by Vice-

President Mohammed Hamid Ansari. Speaking in Indore on July 15, on the occasion
of the 75th birth anniversary of the late Prabhash Joshi (who had vehemently
opposed paid news), the Vice-President observed that the Press Council's inability
to go public with its report on paid news is a pointer to the problems of selfregulation and the culture of silence' in the entire industry when it comes to selfcriticism.

Private treaties
Another worrying trend in the media has been private treaties scheme, also
pioneered by BCCL, which involves giving advertising space to corporate entities in
exchange for equity shares. The success of this scheme turned BCCL into one of the
largest private equity investors in India. Although BCCL spokespersons argue that
editorial content is not influenced by advertisers and companies in which BCCL has
investments, the potential for conflict of interest is obvious given the porous nature
of the marketing-editorial wall. If favourable news is published about a client and
adverse news is not reported, both the publishing company and the advertising
company stand to gain.
The fall in stock-market indices in recent years and the decision of the income tax
authorities to value the transactions at the old inflated' values at which
transactions had taken place (instead of current prices) and shown as assessable
taxable income robbed the private treaties scheme of some of its sheen. As in the
case of Medianet, the private treaties scheme was started by BCCL, and others were
quick to follow. On August 27, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) issued guidelines that made it mandatory for all media companies to disclose
their interests in companies about whom articles were published or TV programmes
broadcast, but it appears as if these guidelines are not being implemented sincerely.
Advertisers, predictably, target specific sections of the population that have
purchasing power. If editorial content is determined only by what will maximise
readership/viewership, the inevitable effect is a decrease in diversity. So we witness
both a homogenisation of content and a bias towards content that is of relevance
only to urban, affluent or middle-class consumers.
During the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the media were criticised for
demonstrating class bias in their reporting. Undue coverage was given to what had
happened at the five-star Taj and Oberoi Trident hotels over events at the
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, where ordinary people were killed. The problem here
is more insidious than blatant cases of corruption since it has an effect of
disconnecting the media from the concerns of the majority of the population,
thereby resembling what Noam Chomsky has called the manufacturing of
consent, which is the creation of media representations by corporate groups, press
barons, and politicians to serve their interests.

Regulation
Regulation can be the answer to this problem, particularly competition regulation to
prevent cartelisation and anti-competitive behaviour, especially since the Press
Council's writ is confined to the print medium and the quasi-judicial body has no
punitive powers.
In February 2009, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) submitted to the
Information and Broadcasting Ministry a report entitled Recommendations on
Media Ownership. This report, which has not yet been made public (but a copy of
which is available with the writers of this article), has advocated that necessary
safeguards be put in place to ensure plurality and diversity are maintained across
the three media segments of print, television and radio.
The report, prepared with the help of the Administrative Staff College of India,
Hyderabad, has suggested measures to restrict cross-media ownership to some
extent and to maintain a distinction between the broadcaster and the distributor in
order to avoid anti-competitive behaviour and media monopolies. It has also pointed
out that one of the main problems with current media regulations in India is that
these are based on companies, not corporate groups or conglomerates. Many large
corporate groups own different companies and are, therefore, able to bypass
restrictions totally. No action has been taken so far on the TRAI's recommendations.
Important individuals in all governments in the U.K., India and elsewhere like to
cultivate the media even as they have a love-hate relationship with journalists and
their employers. But time alone will answer the question as to whether the phone
hacking scandal relating to News of the World and the manner in which the
Murdochs and senior staffers once employed by companies controlled by them were
publicly interrogated will have a salutary effect on the promoters and editors of
Indian media organizations.

KEEP MEDIA SPACE OPEN TO ALL

Justice Katju has once again stirred up a hornets nest this time by suggesting a minimum
academic requisite for journalists. Somewhere he fails to understand that the unintended
consequences of a well-meaning prescription may undermine the wellsprings of democratic
entailments.
First let us look at Justice Katjus template for improving journalistic quality as enunciated in a press
release. He says: For quite some time an issue has arisen about the need for a qualification for entry
into the profession of journalism. In the lawyers profession an LLB Degree as well as registration in a
Bar Council is required. Similarly, for entry into the medical profession the necessary qualification is
an MBBS Degree and also registration with the Medical Council. For becoming a teacher a teachers
training certificate/degree is required. Many other professions have the requirement of some

qualification before one can enter that profession. However, at present there is no qualification for
entry into the profession of journalism. Hence very often persons with little or inadequate training in
journalism enter the profession, and this often leads to negative effects, because such untrained
persons often do not maintain high standards of journalism. For quite some time, therefore, it has
been felt that there must be some legal qualification before one can enter the profession of
journalism. There are no doubt many institutions which impart teaching in journalism (some of
which is very unsatisfactory) but there is as yet no legal requirement for having any qualification
before entering the profession.
Conceptually limited
This template is conceptually limited in its understanding of journalism and its societal role.
Journalism as a profession cannot be compared to legal, medical or scientific jobs. Its sibling is
politics. Journalism, like politics, is an arena for a larger democratic engagement. Politics and
journalism have intrinsically inscribed multiple functions that bequeath them the special space in
our societies and there cannot be an entry barrier to these professions. Does it mean we have perfect
systems to make our journalism and politics excel in delivering for the people? We are very far from
any such ideals.
Shun exclusivity
Lets first list out some of the inalienable rights that need to be protected for journalism and politics.
Both should be accessible to every one regardless of ones class, caste, gender, linguistic and
academic station in life. The governing term for these two professions is inclusion and both cannot
have anything that suggests exclusivity or entry barrier. People shall have their choice of how they
are going to be engaged with these democratic practices.
Like our polity, our media too is not a monolith. It operates in multiple levels, with multiple skills
and having the task of simultaneously addressing the general requirements as well as particulars.
The central element in this imagination is that any reader can be a writer articulating his or her view
and any voter can be a potential political candidate representing the desires and aspirations of the
people.
In his eminently readable book, India after Gandhi, historian Ramachandra Guha writes about the
first general elections in detail. He says: Indias first general election was among other things, an act
of faith. A newly independent country chose to move straight into universal adult suffrage, rather
than as had been the case in the West at first reserve the right to vote to men of property, with
the working class and women excluded from the franchise until much later.
Guha also quotes a visiting Turkish journalist Ahmed Emin Yalmans observation about the first
election: The main credit goes to the nation itself; 176,000,000 Indians were left alone with their
conscience in the face of the polling box. It was direct and secret voting. They had their choice
between theocracy, chauvinism, communal separatism and isolationism on the one side; secularism,
national unity, stability, moderation and friendly intercourse with the rest of the world on the other.
They showed their maturity in choosing moderation and progress and disapproving of reaction and
unrest.

Enabling option
This is where we need to draw our lessons for media. It is true that journalism today is facing a crisis.
So is our body polity. But, no corrective attempt should undermine the most enabling option
provided by these two major interfaces between the populace and the instruments of governance.
Having said that, the focus should be on setting high professional standards, good ethical practices
and having a series of refresher programmes for journalists to deal with the new challenges.
Elsewhere I wrote that 30 years ago, LPG meant Liquefied Petroleum Gas and GDR meant German
Democratic Republic. Today, LPG means Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation and GDR is
the abbreviation for Global Depository Receipts. The changes were rapid, and they continue. There
were few resources accessible for journalists to make sense of these major shifts in the policy
framework and its impact on our livelihoods. There is a real need for on-the-job-training for
journalists to keep in pace with the changing reality. And, this comes at the level of mid career and
not at the entry level which may deny media space for the less privileged.