2019

BA (JMC) – 304 [Global Media: An Overview]

Dr. GOPAL THAKUR

Associate Professor and HOD
Department of Journalism &
Mass Communication
KASTURI RAM COLLEGE
OF HIGHER EDUCATION
(Affiliated to GGSIP University, New Delhi)
NARELA, DELHI-110040
2|Page
 Unit I: [Global Communication: Struggle for Balance of Information Flow]
1. Global Communication: North-South Divide
2. Domination of Transnational News Agencies: BBC, AP, AFP, Reuters, ITTAR-TASS & UPI
3. Barriers to the flow of News and Information
4. MacBride Commission: Recommendations for NWICO

Global Media: Global media gives us information about current affairs. It’s basically a media
that has been spread all around the world.

GLOBAL COMMUNICATION

Definition: Global communication is the ability to provide and access information across
cultures through speaking, listening, or reading and writing. Global communication skills are
particularly vital in a business environment, where language and cultural barriers can impact
efficiency.

History: The role of global communication changed in the 20th century. This was particularly
evident after the Cold War when technological advances were on the rise and the importance
of communication and international relations was just being recognized.

Psychology War: In 1930’s -40’s the tools of communication were n/p’s, magazine, radio,
pamphlet, made for the distribution of information with the help of helicopters. The
information was actually done for the public with lots of manipulations about the opposing
parties. They were dropped in huge quantity along with that the leaflets were also distributed
by the same medium and leaflets were given the name of flyers. At that time poster with mixed
slogans pictures with the main motive to hit the psychology of the people was done & that’s
why Second World War was also named as psychology war.

Cold War: Cold war began after Second World War. The main enemies were USO (United
Service Organization and USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). The cold war got its name
because both the sides were afraid of fighting each other directly. After First World War, US
was named as strongest power in the world and even after Second World War, its power had
grown more powerful with other countries & finally started dominating the world. This was
both in the grounds of economy and military strength after acquiring nuclear weapons and
atom Bombs. US declared itself as powerful country. Later on when USSR came into the power
the war started & entered into Cold War.

Now days the growth of wireless communication networks for mobile phones and the Internet
is the latest evolutionary step in global communications, with WiFi, mobile broadband Internet,
and cellular phones now common place in modern industrialized society. With so many
developments happening so fast around the technology that surrounds international

3|Page
communications, it is hard to predict exactly what will occur in the future. However, current
trends are leading us towards a faster, smaller and more wireless communications future.

1. GLOBAL COMMUNICATION: NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE

The north–south divide is a socio-economic and political division that exists between the
wealthy developed countries, known as "the North" or "Global North," and the poorer
developing countries /least developed countries, known as "the South" or "Global South." The
expression "north–south divide" is still in common use, but the terms "North" and "South" are
already outdated. 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 global digital divide is
often characterized as corresponding to the north–south divide.

Development: The Dictionary of Human Geography defines development as “processes of

social change to class and state projects to transform national economies". It entails an
understanding of economic development which is imperative when trying to understand the
north–south divide.

Socioeconomics: It is the studies of how economic activity affects social processes. It analyzes
how societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local or regional economy, or the
global economy. Social economics refer to the use of economics in the study of society.

The goal of socioeconomic study is generally to bring about socioeconomic development,

usually in terms of improvements in metrics such as GDP (Gross domestic product), life
expectancy, literacy, levels of employment, etc.

Economies have three sectors:

1. The business private sector, which is privately owned and profit motivated;
2. The public sector which is owned by the state on behalf of the people of the state;
3. The social economy that embraces a wide range of community, voluntary and not-for-
profit activities.

Sometimes there is also reference to a fourth sector, the informal sector, where informal
exchanges take place between family and friends.

The third sector can be broken down into three sub-sectors; the community sector, the
voluntary sector and the social enterprise sector:

 The community sector includes those organizations active on a local or community level.

4|Page
  The voluntary sector is including those organizations that are: formal, independent of
government and self-governing; not-for-profit and operate with a meaningful degree of
volunteer involvement. Examples include housing associations, large charities, large
community associations etc.
 The social economy spans economic activity in the community, voluntary and social
enterprise sectors. The economic activity, like any other economic sector, includes:
employment, financial transactions, the occupation of property, pensions, trading, etc.

Successful social economy organizations can play an important role in helping deliver many key
governmental policy objectives by:

 Helping to drive up productivity and competitiveness;

 Contributing to socially inclusive wealth creation;
 Enabling individuals and communities to work towards regenerating their local
neighbourhoods;
 Showing new ways to deliver public services; and
 Helping to develop an inclusive society and active citizenship.

An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital, and
land resources; and the manufacturing, production, trade, distribution, and consumption of
goods and services of that area.

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 Internet has been integral to the globalization of a range of goods and production, from
intellectual property and scientific research to political discourse and cultural symbols. Yet the
ease with which it allows information to flow at a global level presents enormous regulatory
challenges. Understanding if, when, and how the law should regulate online, international flows
of information requires a firm grasp of past, present, and future patterns of information flow,
and their political, economic, social, and cultural consequences.

In The Global Flow of Information, specialists from law, economics, public policy, international
studies, and other disciplines probe the issues that lie at the intersection of globalization, law,
and technology, and pay particular attention to the wider contextual question of Internet
regulation in a globalized world. While individual essays examine everything from the
pharmaceutical industry to television to “information warfare” against suspected enemies of
the state, all contributors address the fundamental question of whether or not the flow of

5|Page
information across national borders can be controlled, and what role the law should play in
regulating global information flows.

2. DOMINATION OF TRANSNATIONAL NEWS AGENCIES: BBC, AP, AFP,

REUTERS, ITTAR-TASS & UPI
Domination of transnational news agencies in the world Domination or hegemony is exercised
by following largest transnational news agencies. These transnational news agencies aimed at
serving their people settled in other countries and also to propagate the policies of the
respective countries. These are mainly regional news agencies focusing on the information
related to their regions covering the imp…. issues like education, trade, culture and other daily
life issues were taken care, these trans-national news agencies were limited only to their own
particular region using their regional language mainly all information was disseminated in their
own local language & while exchanging with other countries the information was translated in
the common language, which was acceptable by all other countries.

The major transnational news agencies continue to be ‘the big four’: 1. Reuters of Britain, 2. AP
(associated Press) of the United States of America 3.AFP (Agence France Press). 4. UPI (United
Press International) of the United States.

Other large transitional news agencies include DPA (Deutsche Press Agentur) of Germany, Itar
– Tass of Russia, and MENA (Middle East new agency) of Egypt.

The major financial and business news agencies are Reuters, Dow Jones, Bollomberg
Information Service and Bridege Information Systems.

Regional ‘news exchanges’ have been started to counter the dominance of the ‘big four’. These
include 1.OPECNA the news agency of the OPEC countries. 2. Non-Aligned News Agency Pool
(NANAP); 3. Deterrin, the transnational news agency founded by both developed and
developing countries IPS and operated by all participating Countries.

There are now more than a hundred news agencies in the world. Around 90 countries have
their own national news agencies while 40 countries do not have any agency at all. News
agencies in 50 out of the 90 countries are directly under the control of the State, while the
remaining 40 are owned and run jointly by newspapers and the media. Yet few of them are
really autonomous, and totally free from Government and commercial influences.

1. IPS (Inter-Press Service): Headquarters are located in Rome has a bureau in New
Delhi. It has a third world approach to social problem & issues mainly in on the spot
reporting and coverage of people oriented news, mainly concentrating on analytical
features.

6|Page
 Its major interest is in placing issues in their context, to offer discussions on the “why” of
issues rather than the “what”, “when”, “Where”, “or”, “Who”, takes a deliberate ‘third
world’ approach to social processes and issues.

2. India Abroad News Service (IANS): it has its headquarters in Newyork. It is a link
between the news agencies of India and the sources of information of the USA. If
primarily cater to the news for the NRI’s who have settled in USA and Canada.

3. CANA (Carrabin News agencies): it is a non-profit news agency that was

established under the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization) in 1976. It was a direct response to the call for new world information
order (NWIO). Its objective was to reduce imbalance of the news flow within the
Carrabin’s and rationalize such flows of information between these nations & rest of the
world.

4. OPEC news agency: The OPEC news agency is a regional news agency with a motive
of disseminative impossible issues of their own regions & highlighted the weather
sections of the regions, so that they can have up-liftment by using media for their own
benefit.

5. PANA (Pan-African News Agency: it is the regional news agency covers the news of
Africans continent. It has exchange arrangements with several news agencies of the
world.

6. MENA (Middle East News Agency): It is a news agency of Egypt & has links with
major news agencies of the world.

7. Pacific news Agency (PAC NEWS): Pacnews is a regional news agency and
international wire service headquartered in Suva, Fiji. Pacnews is operated as a service of
the Pacific Island News Association (PINA), a regional organization composed of
journalists and news organizations in the Pacific Islands region. Pacnews is sometimes
written as PACNEWS.

8. DETERRIN: A news agency jointly started by the developed & developing nations. it is a
regional news agency with the key points of raising important Issues of both developed &
developing nation, so that there can be proper balanced between the developed &
developing nations & also with the most important objective i.e. the up-liftment of the
developing nations.

7|Page
ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF NEWS AGENCIES
- Agency France-Press
- Associated Press
- Reuters
- United Press International
- ITAR-TASS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCIES TODAY

- Associated Press
- United Press International
- Reuters
- Agency France-Press
- ITAR-TASS

SUPPLEMENTAL NEWS AGENCIES

- Broadcast News Services
- Global Newspapers, Magazines, and Broadcasters
- News Flow Patterns: Offline and Online

BROADCAST NEWS SERVICES

- New television stations
- Online access technology
- Impact on business and society over all
- Global Newspapers, Magazines, and Broadcasters
- News Flow Patterns: Offline and Online

I. ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF NEWS AGENCIES

At the beginning of the 19th century, newspaper didn't have the technical and financial means
to "gather and transmit news from far-flung areas to satisfy readers' growing demand for
news", therefore, the emergence of news agencies appeared as a very effective alternative.
News agencies could sell their stories to newspapers and supply a large amount of news, which
wouldn't be possible to do for simple newspapers.

Agency France-Press (AFP): Created in 1835 during the emergence of the "cheap press" in
France by Charles-Louis Havas, the AFP is the oldest news agency, and is part of today's four
major Western international news agencies.

8|Page
  Known at its beginning as the Havas Agency, this news agency expanded by hiring more
and more correspondents across Europe and by using the "newly invented telegraph for
faster delivery news"
 As a result, in 1860, the AFP was reporting news from all over Europe, and most
European newspapers had a subscription to this agency
 Purchased by the French government in 1940 to set up a propaganda office, and taken
by Nazi Germany in 1944, it became officially independent in 1957, date when it got its
current name, Agency France-Press.

Associated Press (AP): The AP is the result of the initiative of 10 men representing six New
York City newspapers in 1848 that wanted to collect international news

 The AP expanded very rapidly: by the mid 1890's, 700 newspapers had subscribed to it.

Reuters: In 1851, Paul Julius Reuters, a German-born immigrant opened an office in London
that started by transmitting "stock quotations between London and Paris using the first
undersea cable"

 Reuters grew until it had reporters located in Asia, South Africa, and Australia by 1861.

 In 1874, the Reuters news agency established its presence in the Far East and in South
America.

 The agency that developed as a family concern became a private company in 1915.

United Press International (UPI): Established in 1907 as the United Press Association
because its founder, Scripps, believed that there should be no restriction on who could by news
from a news agency.

 The name of the agency changed to United Press International in May 1958, when the
agency merged with the International News Service and the International News Photos.
 The UPI was different from the other news agencies by challenging the arrangements
and exclusivenesses that existed among the other news agencies.
 First sold in 1982, the UPI had to overcome two bankruptcies and had five different
owners.

ITAR-TASS: The Information Telegraph Agency of Russia is another of the world's largest news
agencies, and is the successor of the Soviet TASS agency that was born in 1904.

 The agency has the status of "state central information agency" in Russia.

9|Page
II. INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCIES TODAY
News agencies today have the possibility to transmit up to 10000 words per minute (contrary to
the 60 words per minute in the 1950's) thanks to the development of communication
technologies such as: telephone, radio, cable, satellite phone, and the Internet among others

Associated Press (AP):

 The stated mission of this non-profit-cooperative is to "provide factual coverage of news
to all parts of the globe"
 The AP serves: 1700 US daily, weekly, non-English, and college newspapers; 5000 radio
and television stations in the US, and 8500 newspapers, radio and television subscribers
in other 121 countries.
 It sends about 20 million words and 1000 photos per day to its worldwide subscribers.
 It serves as a source of news, photos, graphics, audio and video for more than 1 billion
people every day.
 AP's information can be available in English, French, Spanish, German and Dutch.
 To respond to its online consumers need in specific fields, the AP added to its staff
reporters specialized in: business, technology, sports, entertainment, health, and
science; and created a new web-based unit called AP Digital.
 The agency also offers audio and video services, and short message services (SMS).

United Press International (UPI):

 The UPI presents itself as a "leading supplier in knowledge-based" information products
on the Internet.
 Its "products" are "designed to meet the appetite of today's Internet clients for on-
demand news, analysis, expert advisories and guidance, investigative pieces, and
practical intelligence".
 UPI provides up-to-date information for readers who want concise formats (100 to 200
words).
 "UPI Perspectives" provides readers with issue-focused reports required to make
informed business or policy decisions.
 "UPI Science Reports" provides readers with daily updates on topics related to science,
technology, and health.
 "UPI News pictures" permits to purchase pictures related to news, entertainment,
sports, Washington (speeches, meetings...), lifestyle, and culture.
 Clients of the UPI include: print publications, websites, multimedia companies,
corporations, governments, and academic and policy institutions.
 They offer information in English, Arabic and Spanish.

10 | P a g e
Reuters:
 Reuters focuses more on providing global financial markets with financial information
(real-time financial data; collective investment data; numerical, textual, historical, and
graphical databases).
 Reuters claims to be the world's largest international multimedia news agency.
 News organizations in 157 countries subscribed directly or indirectly to Reuters.
 Its news are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and widely uses the Internet
to deliver information.

Agency France Press (AFP):

 The AFP is the third largest news agency, and its headquarters are in Paris.
 The AFP provides general, economic, and sports news in English, French, German,
Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic (2 million words per day).
 Its subscribers include: the new and traditional media, businesses, universities,
embassies, institutions, and public offices.
 It has a much appreciated photo service and it offers a variety of online services.

ITAR-TASS and Interfax:

 - The ITAR-TASS news agency always struggled to be viewed as an independent,
objective and reliable source of information because of its heritage, and faces a stiff
competition with another Russian news agency, Interfax
 - Interfax is generally considered as most reliable and credible than ITAR-TASS.

III. SUPPLEMENTAL NEWS AGENCIES

 Supplemental news agencies emerged with the willingness of some reporters to write
investigative stories with is impossible to their minds with the already established
traditional services who produce mass marketed news.
 Major supplemental services in the US: New York Times News Services, Los Angeles
Times-Washington Post News Service, and Dow Jones Newswires.

IV. BROADCAST NEWS SERVICES

 The two dominant video news agencies today are: Reuters and Associated Press
Television News (APTN).

11 | P a g e
V. BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC)
Authors interested in broadcasting suggest that the British were adept in using, international
radio. Broadcasting in the United Kingdom has undergone phenomenal changes since then. Yet,
the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) occupies a central place in terms of its international
reach and influence. The ‘BBC World Service’ has, always fascinated us in India, and now
through satellites, we have the benefit of watching the BBC TV. BBC is a central institution in
the broadcasting system of the United Kingdom. In 1922, several radio manufacturers
established the British Broadcasting Company. In 1926, it became a public corporation. It
currently operates two national color television networks (BBC-I and BBC-II) and four national
radio networks. BBC draws international news from its correspondents. BBC’s international
character is based on the fact that it is in the forefront of the United Kingdom’s international
broadcasting operations. The operations are not commercial, and finance is provided in the
form of a special grant approved by the British Parliament. Consequently, the government is
directly involved in the international broadcasting system. The scope, nature and character of
BBC External Services were affected during the Falkland crisis. It was also the target of criticism
during the Iranian Revolution and he recent Gulf War. However, contemporary developments
indicate that international broadcasting is here to stay.

3. BARRIERS TO THE FLOW OF NEWS AND INFORMATION

Personal barriers includes personal choice towards anything any issue or a person which can
create a barrier in the flow of information.

1. Personal Perception: One of the most important effective barriers mainly used at
the time of war was to set at a particular issue with different perception.
2. Semantic Barrier: Semantic means word interpretation language translation which
may occur while disseminating information from one person to another, while
disseminating information manipulations can be done & this comes as a barrier in
information.
- In a organization different working style can also create wrong information within
the organization these different rules and regulations can be a barrier in an
organization even fear factor of loosing job can also be barrier in-disseminating the
real information.

12 | P a g e
 3. Socio-Cultural Factor: These include caste, color & religion which may also occur as
the barrier in the flow of information, while exchanging information by public many
manipulations can be seen due to different caste, color or religion & this may effects
public opinion towards a particular issue.
4. Free Flow of Information: Free flows of information also act as the barrier while
disseminating information by news agencies; these news agencies are owned by free
members so manipulations can be done easily & Public opinion can be changed by
wrong information.
5. Lack of Resources: In developing countries due to low economic development,
proper information is not disseminated and only impossible are highlighted.
In the global scenario one flow of information is also the barrier, the supremacy of
developed & strong countries towards the developing countries also act as a barrier
because whatever information is given is according to the interest of these developed
countries which creates imbalance in the flow of information & thus, lack of
professionalism.

GLOBAL NEWS AND INFORMATION FLOW: THE FLIP SIDE

The concept of globalisation proves to be highly contentious, both to define and to

operationalise. This is partly because the concept evolves with social evolution and as the world
changes. This means that various ‘stages of globalisation’ are identifiable, as ‘early,’
‘intermediary,’ and ‘late’ globalization. In other words, ‘intermediary globalisation’ is a
transitional stage of post-Cold War development. For globalists, this transitory stage through
which globalisation passes is significant to re-orientating the world, and processes and
structures.
At the end of the Cold War, and as the 1990s approached the new millennium, new conditions
for global social relations came to the foreground. These conditions presented qualitatively
different socio-economic and political and framed the world in an advanced development stage
of “neo-liberal capitalism.” Neo-liberalism and liberalism are related philosophical positions
that seek to promote a free enterprise, capitalist developmental path to overcome such social
problems as underdevelopment in the Third World.

13 | P a g e
 THERE ARE SOME FLIP SIDE OF GLOBAL NEWS AND INFORMATION FLOW

1. Contextualising and conceptualising globalisation and information flows:

Globalisation is a multi-dimensional process that relates to the dependency of societies on
information-driven networks. From these various theoretical points of view, one encounters
terms such as “the network society,” the “information revolution,” a “global village,” and the
“information super-highway.” Information flows are of central importance and related to
‘globalisation’.

Information flows and news, in particular, are implicated in these theoretical debates about the
current world order such that news and information flows, and the organisations involved in
news flows, must be understood in relation to the concept of globalization.

News agencies are identified as important media organisations involved in the trans-border
exchanges of news (as an economic and a cultural product) and in information flows and
therefore contribute to globalisation. Information flows is a term describing the opening up and
fluidity of communication and information across borders. News is defined as a socially
constructed discourse about world events.

McGrew identifies three broad categories of theorists who define and describe globalisation.
They each focus on an aspect of the social, political, or economic conditions relevant to the
concept.

According to Hoogvelt, the transformation list position looks at globalisation primarily as a

social phenomenon. Transformation lists focus on, for instance, the cross-border exchange of
goods and services and the relations between nations. They talk about issues such as “time-
space compression, brought about the fusion of telecommunications and information
technology,” about the use of technologies in instantaneous communication, relations of
exchange, and facilitating the speed of business transactions). Transformation lists accept
globalisation as “a central driving force behind the rapid social, political, and economic changes
that are reshaping modern societies and ‘world order’”, but they do not deny the importance
and relevance of the nation-state.

In the emerging 21st century, globalisation is described at the “cultural level” as the
compression of the world and the subsequent intensification of “global consciousness”. With
regard to “global news flows,” “compression” refers to the wider accessibility of information
across the globe, which 38 brings people together in virtual space through the intervention of
modern technologies. This in turn creates a “global consciousness” where many describe the
world as growing smaller or as a “global village.

14 | P a g e
The global exchange of information and news flows facilitates the compression of the world
and, in so doing, stimulates the development of global consciousness. Global consciousness is
the ‘basis’ for the emerging global public sphere. For example, various global social movements,
such as environmentalist groups, women’s groups, and other social lobbyist groups, rely on the
global exchange of information to address their concerns and to stimulate support everywhere
for their causes.

2. The influence of globalisation and market capitalism in the flow of news and on news
agencies:

The end of the Cold War, the ensuing consolidation of a neo-liberal global market economy,
socio-economic integration and political participation of nations, and the apparent decline of
the nation-state within its geo-territory suggest a new phase of globalisation. These events also
have influenced global information flows. Therefore, the relationships among news agencies
become important in addressing news flows. Change in global society is said to be influencing
news agency operations and structure.

The global market has become the global centre or the “new Empire” in which networks of
economic, social, cultural, and political relations are interconnected. All nations are now
involved in a struggle to remain “connected” to this “Empire” of global capitalism.

It considers news and information flows to be central to informing local ‘public spheres’
globally. However, information flows also preserve the socio-economic system of capitalism.
This system relies on the free flow of information as explained above, in business transactions,
for instance, but capitalism has an uneven impact on the development of nations. Therefore, a
free flow of information inadvertently supports the inequalities of this system. Some theorists
argue that information free flow is itself an uneven process in relation to capitalism. Not all
nations participate in or have access to information flows. Under global market capitalism,
news is transformed into a commodity; it is “commercialised” and it further more enables the
process of Globalization. As a commodity, news is directly or indirectly relevant to the process
of market-driven production and to economic activities around the world. News is information
that drives the flow of capital within and between nations.

News is itself a cultural, economic, and political construction of the modern mass media, and
under this system, it is increasingly serving the needs of a commercialised and information-
driven world on the one hand and the interests of nationalist governments on the other hand.
The compression of the world and the experience of global interdependencies among nations
include the creation of a global socio-economic, political, and cultural.

To compound matters in relation to news flows, in a globalised world, information is not readily
accessible to all social groups in a society. This is particularly evident in developing social
contexts where disparities between the rich and poor are the highest in the world, high levels
of illiteracy continue, and despite independence, these disparities influence the ability of most
people in these societies to gain access to or to participate in information flows.

15 | P a g e
3. News agencies and “global imbalances” in news flows:

News agencies around the world are said to be organisations located at the heart of social,
political, and cultural communication because their main reasons is news and information
production and distribution on a daily basis. News agencies are of considerable significance
among the first of the world’s transnational or multi-national, or indeed, global media
organisations.” They are important in having established and in maintaining global and local
relations of news production, distribution, and exchange traditional role of news agencies has
been to collect and distribute news copy among its member newspapers.

An International relations perspective: News agencies are categorised according to their level
of importance given their influence in the flow of news in production and distribution processes
and their economic and technological capabilities and control over news flows. The continental
or regional news agencies did not play as prominent a role in the directional flow of news as
national and global agencies.

Continental news agencies supply news to their continents or regions, but, in most
relationships of news exchange, they rely on the participation of their member national news
agencies to collate and exchange their news and then redistribute this news continent-wide or
regionally to subscribers.

In above Figure, the directional flows of news represented by the solid arrowhead lines in the
diagram, news flowing predominantly between the global and national news agencies is what
finally reaches the national retail media, which then supply their publics.

16 | P a g e
The global news agencies enjoying a monopoly over news flows and in their exchange
relationships with national and to some regional news agencies because they ultimately
determine the global news schedule or what nations around the world will receive as global
news. In this representational flow (above Figure), there has never been direct contact between
the public and the news agencies. In the late 1990s, this situation began to change through the
intervention of new media technologies, especially the Internet.

The relationships of news exchange among news agencies, the related processes of news
selection, production, and distribution come to the foreground. The process of news exchange
among news agencies is based on contractual agreements and is identified, amongst other
things, as central in defining the relationships between them. These relationships also influence
global information flows.

The solid double-arrowed lines indicate a form of bi-directional, but uneven or imbalanced,
exchange of news between the “core”/global agencies and non-core/peripheral (national or
continental/regional) news agencies. The broken-arrow lines joining the “peripheral-regional”
agencies with the “peripheral-national” agencies indicate that some form of exchange
agreement exists between national and regional agencies, particularly around the time of the
independence of Third World nations and the associated development of their national news
agencies.

17 | P a g e
4. MACBRIDE COMMISSION: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NWICO
(New World Information & Communication Order): When developing countries started
struggling for their news then finally they opted for New World Information Communication
Order (NWICO) the objective behind this was coverage of balanced news keeping in mind the
main issues related to the developing countries.

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 term was widely used by the MacBride Commission, a UNESCO panel chaired by Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Sean MacBride, which was charged with creation of a set of
recommendations to make global media representation more equitable.

The NWICO debate: Concerns and demands

The debate was generated by the developing ‘non-aligned’ nations in an attempt to shed off
some light on the negative image crystallized by the Western, media-stronghold nations. This
they argued, according to Professor Daya Thussu’s enlightening book, International
communication: Continuity and change, “had created a model of dependence, with negative
effects on the polity, economy and society of developing countries.”

Topping their list was the lopsided stream of mass media content from the media-powerful
developed countries, to the less-developed media-weak countries. From watching the
American television series, movies and talk shows, to rock and roll music and the advertising
pop-outs that encouraged consumerism and commercialism, Western media had its hefty
impact in the living rooms back in the developing countries.

Another problem put on the table was that some Western media transmissions were
broadcasting into other countries without appropriate permission. This according to some
critics violated the spirit, if not the word of the 1982 International Telecommunications
Convention that determined “that a country’s air space, like its land, was part of its domestic
property and hence, these boundaries must not be violated.”

This distress was well captured in Tunisia’s Minister of Information Mustapha Masmoudi’s pre-
text plan, in which he wrote, that there was a “flagrant quantitative imbalance between North
and South created by the volume of news and information emanating from the developed

18 | P a g e
world and intended for the developing countries and the volume of the flow in the opposite
direction.” Besides, other subject matters that radiated from this debate were the ability to
utilize new technologies such as satellites with important developmental uses that were now
monopolized by the stranglehold countries, and also more paramount the unfair division of the
radio spectrum where frequency allocations were controlled by few companies with the
necessary and adequate capital and equipments.

In words of one syllable, the demands of the South countries were based on the declaration
of ‘seeking a more just and equitable balance in the flow and content of information; a right
to national self-determination of domestic communication policies; and at the international
level, a two-way information flow reflecting more accurately the aspirations and activities of
less-developed countries.’

Those issues described above, laid the basis for the set up of an international commission under
the United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1979, in order to
critically analyze and look into the “new order” plans that the countries in South were
drumming up support for and ‘to study the totality of communication problems in human
societies.’

The International Commission for the study of Communication Problems, or the MacBride
Commission (taking the name from its head MacBride) as it was famously to be known,
contained of 16 members, who represented both the South and North countries.

MacBride Commission: The MacBride Commission produced a report titled "Many Voices, One
World", which outlined the main philosophical points of the New World Information
Communication Order.

Many Voices One World, also known as the MacBride report, was a 1980 UNESCO publication
written by the International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems, chaired
by Irish Nobel laureate Sean MacBride.

The International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems was set up in 1977
by the director of UNESCO under suggestion by the USA delegation. It was agreed that the
commission would be chaired by Sean MacBride from Ireland and representatives from 15
other countries, invited due to their roles in national and international communication activities
and picked among media activists, journalists, scholars, and media executives.

The members of the MacBride Commission were:

1. Alie Abel (USA)

2. Hubert Beuve-Mery (France)
3. Elebe Ma Ekonzo (Zaire)
4. Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia)
5. Sergei Losev (Soviet Union)

19 | P a g e
 6. Mochtar Lubis Indonesia)
7. Mustapha Masmoudi Tunisia)
8. Michio Nagai (Japan)
9. Fred Isaac Akporuaro Omu (Nigeria)
10. Bogdan Osolnik (Yugoslavia)
11. Gamal El Oteifi Egypt)
12. Johannes Pieter Pronk (Netherlands)
13. Juan Somavia (Chile)
14. Boobli George Verghese (India)
15. Betty Zimmerman (Canada), in substitution of Marshal
McLuhan

The commission presented a preliminary report in October 1978 at the 20th General
Conference of UNESCO in Paris. The Commission's seminal session on new technologies to
address the identified problems, was hosted by India at New Delhi in March 1979. The final
report was delivered in April 1980 and was approved by consensus in the 21st General
Conference of UNESCO in Belgrade. The commission dissolved after presenting the report.

Because of controversy surrounding the report and the withdrawal of support by the UNESCO
leadership in the 1980s for its ideas, the book went out of print and was difficult to obtain. A
book on the history of the United States and UNESCO was even threatened with legal action
and forced to include a disclaimer that UNESCO was in no way involved with it. The MacBride
report was eventually reprinted by Rowman and Littlefield in the US.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF MACBRIDE COMMISSION & NWICO

In 1970′s and 1980′s there were concerns from many people about how the
then broadcast media was dominated by the very few developed countries.
Most channels carried American Movies and serials.

These concerns about unbalanced media coverage around the world were
coined as New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO).

Some of the main concerns of NWICO were:

 Broadcast mass media was dominated by few developed countries America, England
and France mainly. There was almost a one-sided flow of information from developed
countries to poorer countries. Very little news flowed the other way, and often news
about developing countries was distorted or rejected by media houses. Thus these
countries were not represented in the media broadcasts.

20 | P a g e
  These poor populations saw mostly American channels and were influenced by it. Their
culture was not reflected in the media thus there were culture shocks, disparities and
trends in developing countries started aping the ‘west’.
 Most of the radio frequency almost 90% of the band was taken by the US! It was mainly
used for military purposes.
 The developed countries were quickly sending satellites in space, and taking up the few
positions in space where it is cheap and easy to keep satellites. In a few years when
developing countries would need to send satellites these places would be filled up
making it even more difficult for them to bridge the gap.
 Many of these satellites sent up had military, commercial and analytic abilities which
allowed the developed nation to figure out natural resources of poorer countries.

The UNESCO acknowledged these concerns and set up a commission under Sean MacBride. This
was known as MacBride Commission, they came out with a report “Many Voices, One World”.
Also part of this commission was acclaimed author Gabriel Garcia Marquez
They came up with a really long report with approx 80 points stating how the media should
evolve so as to make it fair and peaceful for the world.

US and UK felt this was restricting free press and saw no need to curb their gains. They left the
UNESCO over this matter and rejoined it only in 2003 and 1997 respectively.

ROLE OF UN & UNESCO IN BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH

ROLE OF UN IN BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH

1. The United Nations plays a key role in overcoming one of the major challenges and
harnessing one of the greatest opportunities facing humankind today - bridging the gap
both among and within countries.
2. The importance of open, accessible, and relevant communications for fostering national
development, social fulfillment, and human dignity, is undeniable.
3. The more communicated a society is, the more opportunities it will generate.
4. Any platform and any media are relevant for this task. However, the key of the contemporary
equation lies in widespread digital connectivity, which means upgrading information and
communication technologies (ICTs) in the developing world to the level already enjoyed by
most developed countries.
5. This is the real meaning of bridging the gap. The task is not just an issue of resources and
technologies, nor of hardware and software. It is also a matter of wise priorities, good
policies, intelligent leadership, transparent decision, and population involvement.
6. The good news is that the United Nations is already working hard towards bridging the gap,
and is willing and capable of doing more. The bad news is that the challenge is immense, and final
success depends on a variety of actors and factors which include national and local
governments, public organizations and private enterprises, technical improvements, as well
as political will and freedom.

21 | P a g e
7. In order to expand its role and making greater in roads, the United Nations needs to
work on two tracks - maximizing its direct impact, and leveraging the power of all relevant
stakeholders, from both the supply and demand ends of the communication continuum
8. It is clear that bridging the gap is not only a matter of more resources, but of how they
are used and under what conditions.
9. The United Nations is working on raising political awareness and commitment among states, improving
resource availability, and providing technical guidance and training
10. In November 2005, the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis, and preceded
by regional conferences, adopted an ambitious agenda for promoting ICT for
development
11. In 2006, 17 May was declared World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, thus
bringing to the fore the relevance of the new media and technologies, and the urgency of
bridging the gap between the “have” and “have nots”.
12.The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)and other UN agencies and
programmes have provided technical assistance and expertise to Member States on ICT-related
areas, including good regulation. Also, training has been provided for both the
public and private sectors in the use of new media and social networks.
13.The UN plays a major role in helping countries overcome the challenges and in
leveraging the opportunities that lie ahead for ICT development.

ROLE OF UNESCO IN BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH

1. UNESCO reaffirms its commitment to the “free flow information” in order encourage
the free flow of ideas byword and image and a wider and a better balance,
dissemination of all forms of information contributing to the advancement of societies
without any obstacle to freedom of expression, both through the traditional media and
new electronic media system.
2. UNESCO has also endeavored, in recent years, to promote the educational and cultural
dimensions in the media.
3. The establishment in 1993 of the “World Radio and Television Council” was an
important landmark in the direction.
4. UNESCO’s constitution states that is necessary to foster “ the free exchange of ideas and
5. knowledge to develop and increase the means of communication between peoples and
to employ”
6. In the World Press Freedom Day to be celebrated on 3 rd May, 1998 UNESCO’s Guillermo
Cano World Press Freedom Prize will be awarded.
7. UNESCO’s sub-programme on “Media and freedom of expression” during 1998-99
focused on the following lines of action –
- freedom of expression and freedom of the press
- Promoting independent and pluralistic media

22 | P a g e
 - The educational and cultural mission of public service broadcasting, violence on the
screen and
- To enhance the role of women in the media To have “access to information and
new technologies” a project on Ethical and Socio cultural Challenges of the New
Information Society is planned and implemented jointly by sectors of
Communication, information and informatics, Culture and Education.
8. This inter-sectoral project is aimed at strengthening UNESCO’s role as a forum of
reflection and clearing house on the impact of new information and technologies.
9. UNESCO is also committed to capacity building in Communication, information and
informatics to help member states, particularly the developing countries and
disadvantaged communities world-wide to strengthen their capacities in
communication, information and informatics.
10. UNESCO also continues to support the development of library and information service
at the national and regional levels.

BI-LATERAL, MULTI-LATERAL AND REGIONAL /INFORMATION CO-OPERATION

History: There has been a long debate on the merits of bilateralism versus multilateralism. The
first rejection of bilateralism came after the First World War. After the Second World War, the
West turned to multilateral agreements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT)/ World Trade Organization.

The collective multilateral framework played an important role in maintaining world peace in
the Cold War. Moreover, United Nations peacekeepers stationed around the world became one
of the most visible symbols of multilateralism in recent decades.

Bi-lateral: Bilateralism consists of the political, economic, or cultural relations between two
sovereign states. For example, free trade agreements signed by two states are examples of
bilateral treaties. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which refers to the conduct
of diplomacy by a single state or multiple states, respectively.

Typically when states recognize one another as sovereign states and agree to develop
diplomatic relations, they exchange diplomatic agents such as ambassadors to facilitate
dialogues and cooperation in various fields mentioned above.

Example 1: India and Nepal have a bilateral relationship since ancient times even before the
birth of Buddha in 544 BC. In modern times, this traditional relationship has been confirmed by
written treaties. The latest India-Nepal treaty of friendship was signed in July 1950. Citizens of
both countries can move across the border freely without passport or visa. Gurkhas form a part
of the Indian Army. Millions of Nepalis have been living in India for long periods.

Example 2: Australia and Canada have a bilateral relationship. Both have similar governments
and share similar values. In 1895 the Government of Canada sent John Larke to Sydney to

23 | P a g e
establish a trade commission and in 1935 Canada sent Charles Burchell to formalise ties
between the two countries.

Multi-lateral: Multilateralism is multiple countries working in concern on a given issue. Robert

Keohane defined Multilateralism as “the practice of coordinating national policies in groups of
three or more states.

 International organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade
Organization are multilateral in nature.

 It is the key, for it ensures the participation of all in the management of world affairs. It
is a guarantee of legitimacy and democracy, especially in matters regarding the use of
force or laying down universal norms.

Multilateralism is much more complex and challenging. It involves a number of nations which
makes reaching an agreement difficult. In Multilateralism, there may be no consensus; each
nation has to dedicate to some degree, to make the best outcome for all. The multilateral
system has encountered mounting challenges since the end of the Cold War. The United States
has become increasingly dominant on the world stage in terms of military and economic power,
which has led certain countries such as Iran, China, and India to question the United Nations'
multilateral relevance.

Information co-operation is the process of working or acting together. It can involve something
as complex as the inner workings of a human being or even the social patterns of a nation. It is
also the process by which the components of a system work together to achieve the global
properties.

24 | P a g e
Unit II: [Global Communication Giants]
1. Media Imperialism & Localisation of Global Media
2. International Multimedia Giants: NEWSCORP, DISNEY, AOL-TIMEWARNER, VIACOM, Star
Network
3. Global Television and Cultural Imperialism: CNN and MTV
4. International Practices on Visual Coverage and Regulations in Media Exchange

1. MEDIA IMPERIALISM & LOCALISATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA

Theories related with media, communication and imperialism commenced to materialize in

analogous with the quick and speedy social and economic transformation all over the world
immediately after the Second World War. It reflected the significance of the role of media and
communication in the era of capitalism.

Media imperialism is a theory stating that smaller countries are losing their identity due to
the force-feeding of media from larger nations.

Discuss the different theories related to the concept of media imperialism that helped to
establish the concept, the following theoretical framework of the media imperialism that will
help to contextualize the concept of media Imperialism.

I. POLITICAL – ECONOMY THEORY : In the 20th century, at the time of First World War, a
debate regarding the role of media and communication in spreading the spirited economic and
military goals of capitalist powers, was discussed by the media, scholars like Walter Lippmann in
his book Public Opinion (1922) and later by the Harlod Lasswell on wartime propaganda (1927).
For this they controlled the ownership, production of media materials and communication
industries that increased the inequalities and uneven flow in accessing the different media
technologies.

Developments in the field of media and communication technology that included the invention
of radio in early 20s and television in later years, expanded and increased the role of capitalist
forces that concerned with the underscore structures of economic and political power relation,
in the perspectives of cultural studies that focused on the role of communication and media in
the process of the creation and of sharing values and their meaning.

25 | P a g e
II. FREE FLOW INFORMATION: The theory of free flow of information is the extension of
political economy theory because after acquiring powerful political and economy state of
existence and establishment capitalist forces focused on the expansion of their power and
benefits regarding the trade and commerce that included media and communication industries.
The theory of free flow followed the concept of liberal and free market discourse that stressed
on the availability of media and communication technologies to everyone and provide the right
to the capitalist forces to sell anything they want to sell in the field of communication and
media.

III. DEPENDENCY THEORY: The free flow of information led the world towards the Dependency
theory that was first materialized in Latin America in the late 1960s and 1970s. The innermost
concept of dependency theory was the idea that free flow of information has increased and
established the transnational corporations and their business outside the home markets and
depended the alien countries and viewers towards their media products, dominated markets,
resources, production, distribution and labor. Economic and financial stability of these nations
shaped and strengthened the media markets of these nations and helped them to establish and
conduct their business globally.

In its most extreme form the outcome of such relationship was the financial development of
centre countries and modernization underdeveloped or periphery countries according to the
cultural values of centre that focused on production, distribution and consumption of media
and cultural products.

IV.CULTURAL IMPERIALISM THEORY: The role and impact of media is associated with the
cultural imperialism theory. Further he said that Cultural Imperialism theory postulates that the
Western nations dominate the media around the world which then results in a powerful effect
on Third World Cultures by imposing on them Western views and thus results in the destruction
of their already existing native and indigenous cultures.

Cultural imperialism also refers to the process in which national cultures are overwhelmed by
the importation of news and entertainment from other countries – mainly the United States
and other industrialized nations.

Cultural imperialism theory argued that audiences throughout the globe are closely suffering
from media messages emanating from the Western industrialized nations. Grounded in an
figuring out of media as cultural industries, cultural imperialism is firmly rooted in a political-
economic climate standpoint on global conversation.

26 | P a g e
The importance and role of keywords can be understood through the following operational
definition of the structure of present study.

(Purpose and focus) “In Media imperialism, media used as a tool to control and dominate the
local media houses by the multinational media conglomerates mainly from USA ”.

Globalization – Flow of capital, labor and technology that made media accessibility outside the
home country is globalization. This flow of media includes the convergence of the different
media modes, foreign investment, Technology, content, programming and distribution of
programs through media conglomerates that controls and conducts the business through
ownership.

Media Conglomerates - Media conglomerates are the international media firms that operate
businesses all over the world. These conglomerates enter into home markets through the
privatization, deregulation policies. And after that try to get maximum ownership in different
modes of media through the joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions.

Ownership- ownership means the maximum investment and control over a specific channel
that led to control all decision related to that channel that mostly includes content and
programming.

2. INTERNATIONAL MULTIMEDIA GIANTS: NEWSCORP, DISNEY, AOL-

TIMEWARNER, VIACOM, STAR NETWORK

1. News Corporation: Rupert Murdock news corporation goal is to own every form of
programming related to sports beat films & children shows using satellite or TV stations in U.S.
he always wanted to rule the world and some where he is doing so after, establishing news
corporation, he entered in British market in 1960’s & by 1980’s he started dominating the U.S.
market. News corporation is always is an intensive competition with most of the other media
giants for right to telecast World Cup, Summer Olympic and other important games.

- News Corporation includes more than 130 news papers in Australia, Britain & U.S.
more than 20 U.S. TV stations, 25 magazines, U.S. fox broadcasting network, book
publishing, Asian Star TV, UK Sky Radio.
- India sky broadcasting, Germany VOX channel.

2. Disney: Disney is the closest challengers to News Corporation; its success is also shifted
to theme parks, resorts to its films & TV division. Historical Disney has been strong in
entertainment & animation.

27 | P a g e
 - These two areas are doing well n the global market & to protect from encroachment
upon its global domination of the animation film market. Disney has also started
using various languages.
- Disney channels based in Taiwan & telecasting China’s history in their regional
language has created to great impact on Asian civilization.
- It has spread its wings from Italy by purchasing ESPN (TV Sports Network) made
Disney a global leader.
- Now they are also planning to customize locally Disney includes several major films,
video & TV production Studio, Theme Parks, & resorts, Walt Disney Studio, Book
Publishing, U.S. ABC TV & Radio Network.

3. Viacom: Viacom generate its income from its film studio by producing music videos,
soap operas, reality shows in the field of broadcasting & publishing. It has become the world
Premiere software with two strategies.
a) Implementing a policy of using a company for promotining & improvement of in
sale.
b) Viacom targeted global growth so the second strategy earning out of U.S Viacom
has mainly two weapons i.e. MTV & Nickelodeon this has been a global power
house expanding to every content & mailing it available worldwide.
Viacom includes:
i) 13 U.S TV stations
ii) U.S cable network
iii) Films and TV Studiosz
iv) Book Publishing
v) Theme Parks

4. Time Warner: Time Warner is the largest corporation in the world. It was formed in 1989
through the merger of Time in Corporation in 1992. Time Warner split of its entertainment
groups regained its position as a world largest media firm from Disney. It has become a fully
global corporation. Time Warner is the major force virtually in every medium & on every
continent.

- The latin American Warner shows the classic Bug’s Bunny cartoon, 75% of time & it
generated more than 1.5 million subscribers.
- Time warnbers holdings include
a) 24 magazine
b) Warner music group
c) Warner bros film studio
d) Global leading Motion Picture HBO
e) Warner Bro’s Movie World
28 | P a g e
 f) Cable system in U.S
g) Library of over 5000 films
h) 25000 TV Programmes books and music

6. Bertelsmann: Is the European media firm in the tier of media giants, its stated goal is to
evolve from a media enterprise with international activities into a truly global communication
group. It has no significant film or TV production studios or film library and it has minimal
enrollment in global television. Its strength is in global distribution network for music, its global
books, music clubs, and its facility with languages other than English

- Bertelsmann holdings include:

a) Arista’s & RCT studios
b) German TV channels
c) Dutch TV channels
d) French TV channels
e) 18 European radio stations
f) Book publishing
g) Leading book & record clubs in the world.

7. AOL, formerly called America Online, one of the largest Internet-access subscription
service companies in the United States, providing a range of Web services for users. AOL was
one of the first companies to establish a strong sense of community among its users through
buddy lists and instant messaging services, which transmit billions of messages daily.

Founded in 1989 in Dulles, Virginia, the company initially served only users of Apple Computer’s
Macintosh and Apple II machines, expanding to include personal computers running Microsoft
Corporation’s Windows OS (operating system) in 1993. America Online grew in popularity
throughout the 1990s, becoming the leading Internet service provider in the United States. In
2000 AOL merged with Time Warner Inc., in a deal that subsequently proved disappointing to
both parties. America Online officially changed its name to AOL on April 3, 2006. In December
2009 it was spun off as an independent company.

AOL offers Internet users services that include e-mail (the service’s “You’ve Got Mail” alert to
subscribers became lodged in the popular culture), AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) software, AOL
Video, video search, news, sports, weather, stock quotes, and MapQuest, an online source of
maps and directions. The company also markets IN2TV, where subscribers can watch certain
classic television shows over the Internet at no extra charge, and TMZ.com, a leading celebrity
news site, developed in partnership with Warner Brothers. AOL generates revenue from
running one of the largest Internet subscription services and providing broadband services to
millions of customers around the world. In addition to its revenue from subscriptions, AOL
generates substantial income from its advertising program, which is one of the biggest and

29 | P a g e
most successful of its kind. The main program, Advertising.com, is one of the largest third-party
online advertising-placement networks in the United States.

In a move to generate more original content, AOL acquired the Web site The Huffington
Post for $315 million in March 2011. As part of the deal, The Huffington Post Media Group was
formed, with Arianna Huffington as its president and editor in chief. The new venture included
all of AOL’s media properties and The Huffington Post. In 2015 Verizon
Communications acquired AOL for $4.4 billion.

AOL’s global coverage spans Europe (France, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria), Asia-
Pacific (Japan, Australia, India), and the Americas (Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico). AOL
has received numerous awards for philanthropic initiatives.

8. Star Network: for the television broadcaster in Hong Kong previously known as Star TV
Network, see Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific. For other uses, see Star TV.

Star Television Network was an attempt at a fifth broadcasting network based in Orlando,
Florida. The network was notable as the first television network to have featured
exclusively direct response commercials and infomercials among standard programming.
The network featured classic, though cheaper and lesser-known, 1950s and 1960s
programming, movies and game shows under the TV Heaven banner, with direct response
infomercials rounding out the schedule. Star expected to buy newer programs and originate
their own programming once on a firm operating status.
The network was facing competition from the Home Shopping Network and Fox, which went
after the bigger markets. In light of this, Star explained that its key advantage is in terms of
operating costs for the station, in which a station affiliating with the network could save about
90% on their programming costs, and a national advertiser advertising on Star could pay about
68% of the major network rates.

The network was introduced under the Starcast name in October 1987 as needing $15 million
to launch and had just started contacting potential affiliates. The network expected to sign up
30 stations by the April 1989 launch date and have 18 hours of broadcasting a day. After
the Black Monday stock market crash in October 1987, Starcast's investors pulled out. By
January 1988, the company had 70 stations willing to sign on to the network, since
renamed Star Television Network.
By April 1989 the projected launch date, Star pushed back their launch to July due to
programming negotiations and financing hold ups. 64 stations had provisionally signed on as
affiliates in markets like Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Jacksonville, Florida and
Orlando to an estimated reach of 40 million households. The network was then in talks with an
additional 33 stations. At this time, an affiliation fee ranging from $2,750 to $60,000 annually
would be paid by the stations based on their market size instead of the standard network

30 | P a g e
payments to affiliates. 36 minutes a day would be allocated for advertising sold by the network,
with the remainder given to its affiliates.
The Star Television Network ceased operations on Monday January 14, 1991 at 4:00 a.m. EST.
All 25 staffers working for the network were laid off.

As with other networks, affiliates fill the rest of the time with their own local and syndicated
programming, as well as sports, which would preempt Star programming.

3. GLOBAL TELEVISION AND CULTURAL IMPERIALISM: CNN AND MTV

Global television, which includes satellite transmission of programs from one country to many
other countries, is the most vibrant instrument of cultural imperialism. Global television
transmits programs with one or two of the following three characteristics namely: information,
education and entertainment. New categories of programs include edutainment and
infotainment. These are postmodern coinages that involve education, entertainment, and
information qualities in a piece of media programs. Famous among the programs under these
categories include news, drama, adverts, musicals and sports. On global television, these
programs are transmitted mostly from western countries in Europe including Germany,
England, Italy and United States of America, and also recently from Asian countries like Indian,
Japan and China.

Television, radio, newspaper and other mass media channels of communication are the most
influential agents of socialization between the developed and the developing nations.

Global television refers to international channels of communication that transmit sound,

images and motion simultaneously to countries across the globe. Global television programs
are transmitted through satellite or the internet and the audiences at the receiving end access
the programs through various forms of subscription - using receptive apparatus like the
television monitors, computer monitors and mobile phones.

As a global medium, global television transmits programs beyond national boundaries and this
is done by different countries with the aim of serving their people settled in other countries and
also to propagate the policies of the respective countries.

The impact of global television on viewers is significantly strong due to the channels‟ ability to
use sound, visual and motion as a means of transmitting new developments, new
entertainment activities and knowledge enriching programs from developed countries where
the messages are generated and transmitted. Thus, global television allows a lot of creativity,
variety and flexibility through a combination of sight, sound, motion, color, drama and
persuasiveness. Television has tremendous dramatic capacity to turn ordinary products into
something important, exciting and interesting and helps in creating a positive association.

31 | P a g e
 Cultural imperialism, in anthropology, sociology, and ethics, the imposition by one usually
politically or economically dominant community of various aspects of its own culture onto
another, non-dominant community. It is cultural in that the customs, traditions, religion,
language, social and moral norms, and other aspects of the imposing community are distinct
from, though often closely related to, the economic and political systems that shape the other
community. It is a form of imperialism in that the imposing community forcefully extends the
authority of its way of life over the other population by either transforming or replacing aspects
of the non-dominant community’s culture.

Cable News Network (CNN) is an American news-based pay television channel owned by
Warner Media News & Sports, a division of AT&T's Warne rMedia. CNN was founded in 1980 by
American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel.

CNN Worldwide is the most honored brand in cable news, reaching more individuals on
television, the web and mobile devices than any other cable news organization in the United
States. Globally, CNN International is the most widely distributed news channel, reaching over
378 million households. CNN Digital is the #1 online news destinations across all platforms, with
more unique visitors and video starts than any other competitor. CNN’s award winning
portfolio also includes CNN Original Series, which develops non-scripted programming for
television via commissioned projects, acquisitions and in-house production. CNN Films
produces commissions and acquires documentary feature and short films for theatrical and
festival exhibition, as well as for broadcast and other distribution across CNN’s multiple
platforms. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service
partnering with over 1,000 local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is
a division of Turner, a WarnerMedia Company.

 CNN’s two dozen branded networks and services are available to more than 2 billion people in
more than 200 countries and territories.
 CNN has 36 editorial operations around the world and around 3,000 employees worldwide.
 CNN’s coverage is supplemented and carried by more than 1,000 affiliates worldwide.
 CNN reaches 90 million households in the U.S.
 CNN Digital is the number one online news destination, routinely registering nearly 200 million
unique visitors globally each month.
 CNN International reaches more than 378 million households worldwide.

Cultural moments: History has taught us that challenging times can often breed good culture.
Art, music, film and fashion are all forms of storytelling, and the best stories often require a little
tension. This year certainly didn't come up short on that front. Read on for a reminder of the most
significant cultural moments of 2018.

1. Time's Up at the Golden Globes

2. "Black Panther" -- The movie, and the movement
3. The Obamas unveiled their official portraits

32 | P a g e
4. Balkrishna Doshi took home India's first Pritzker Prize
5. Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer
6. Beyoncé made Coachella history
7. K-pop went truly global
8. Heavenly Bodies' turned up to The Met
9. Childish Gambino's released 'This is America'
10. Millions watched the Royal Wedding
11. Crazy Rich Asians became a box-office hit
12. Michael Kors bought Versace for $2 billion
13. Banksy's work sold for $1.4M, then promptly self-destructed
14. Dolce and Gabbana's had a big China disaster
15. London Fashion Week went fur-free
16. New York Fashion Week woke up
18. David Hockney made art history

MTV (originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American pay

television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks (a division of Viacom) and headquartered
in New York City. The channel was launched on August 1, 1981, and originally aired music
videos as guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys" (VJs). At first, MTV's main
target demographic was young adults, but today it is primarily teenagers, particularly high
school and college students.

In April 2016, then-appointed MTV president Sean Atkins announced plans to restore music
programming to the channel. Under current MTV president Chris McCarthy, reality
programming has once again become prominent.
MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the U.S. and affiliated channels internationally,
some of which have gone independent, with approximately 90.6 million American households
in the United States receiving the channel as of January 2016.

MTV Culture: The cable network Music Television launched in America 1981 by
(appropriately) playing the music video for “Video Killed the Radio Star” by British new wavers
The Buggles. Since its inception, MTV has been the deciding media force of popular youth
culture, pretty much dictating what will be hip for the masses. Through a steady stream of
music videos and calculated wackiness, the network has captured the hearts (and wallets) of
millions of youngsters and has quickly built their tiny American cable channel into a global
youth culture empire.

While globalization can unify countries and create common ties between them, it can also
homogenize the world, trading any semblance of cultural heritage/identity for a shared
interest. In studying globalization of popular culture, the expansion of MTV intrigues me
because of what I notice as a regular viewer of MTV in the US. I see it homogenizing America,
halting the number of bands on the popular radar to a minimum, giving airplay only to the
select few that are perfectly willing /able to be manipulated for the highest profit margin. This

33 | P a g e
gives kids the impression that there are only so many groups in existence, and that’s all they
can listen to.

While America is more than willing to push its product on the world market, it won’t accept
anything but homegrown - whereas other countries like Germany, France, and Brazil are
embracing an aggressively multi-cultural approach. Whereas MTV Asia is strictly Anglo-pop,
MTV India sticks mainly to their Indian entertainment heritage. The only really congruent trends
in MTV’s global marketplace are American pop stars, live celebrity/video countdown shows,
Bon Jovi, and an incredibly small range of music is being offered to the world by MTV, and it’s
really a shame. Here’s for aggressive competition in the very near future.

4. INTERNATIONAL PRACTICES ON VISUAL COVERAGE & REGULATION IN MEDIA

EXCHANGE

With the end of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States of America, there
seems to be a new, more relaxed and more cooperative environment prevailing in the world
politics. But this situation is very deceptive. Developments in the US on the domestic front, and
their balance of payment positions, and in Russia, on the political and economic front, have
dampened the dominant outlook presented at the beginning of the current decade. The fight to
influence the developing countries has ended. Most of the communist countries are now
desperately trying to get aid and cooperation possible for restructuring their own countries.

In India, the new economic policy has been formulated and is being implemented now. The
economy is opening up for the participation of the foreign companies. But this is not shaping up
as planned, and already there are misgivings, internally, and fears expressed about the stability
of the country by the foreign investors. Ironically, in such a fluid situation, the experts from
both the West and Third world Countries, like India, are discussing such issues –like
environment protection, AIDS, NPT, etc, to salvage mankind from being wiped off from the face
of the earth. This contradiction needs to be resolved before any meaningful effort could be
made to reverse the trend in the Third World.

All these issues are reflected in the television and radio programmes. Satellite communication
has wired the whole earth. People sitting in any town in any country can hook their TV sets to
the satellite and watch programmes of their choice. Due to the speed with which things are
happening, decades or even centuries could be compressed in a few years time.

In the Third world, there is a sharp decline in autocratic and dictatorial rules. The military-let
regimes in South American, African and Asian countries have gone back to the barracks. The
popular governments are taking over the reins of running their countries. There is a marked
visibility of people at the grassroots level participating in government. What we are witnessing
is a phase of maturity in the former colonies of the imperialist powers.

The media of the Third World does realize this change in the national and international political
and economical spheres. Exchanges of the TV programmes, especially educational programmes,

34 | P a g e
are quite frequent, though the flow is still imbalanced, because more western programmes are
seen on the TV screens of the Third World countries. In the recently concluded International
Film Festival in New Delhi, the quality of the movies from the West left much to be desired. This
revealed the status the West still gives to such an important country like India.

Thus, despite the large-scale changes brought about by technology, imbalance persists in the
media and coverage of the developed West vis-à-vis the developing countries of the Third
World.

THE GLOBAL MEDIA GIANTS

35 | P a g e
Unit III: [Indian Media]
1. News Agencies: PTI, UNI, IANS, ANI, Hindustan Samachar
2. Government & Private Sector Media Conglomerates
3. Entertainment: Local, Global and Hybrid
4. Global Satellite System: Cable & Satellite TV (C&S), Direct-To- Home (DTH), Internet Protocol TV
(IPTV) CAS

INDIAN MEDIA
Indian Media consist of several different types of Indian communications media:
 Television,
 Cinema,
 Newspapers,
 Magazines
 Internet-based Web sites Conglomerates

Many of the media are controlled by large, for-profit corporations which reap
revenue from advertising, , and sale of material.
India also has a strong music and film industry. India has more than 70,000
newspapers and over 1600 satellite channels (more than 400 are news channels)
and is the biggest newspaper market in the world - over 100 million copies sold
each day.

1. NEWS AGENCIES: PTI, UNI, IANS, ANI, HINDUSTAN SAMACHAR

Press Trust of India (PTI):

 PTI is India’s premier news agency, headquartered in New Delhi and is

a nonprofit cooperative of more than 500 Indian newspapers. It employs more than 400
journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.
Collectively, they put out more than 2,000 stories and 200 photographs a day. Its Hindi
service is called Bhasha.
 PTI correspondents are based in all important news centers around the world. It also has
tie-up with several foreign news agencies. Currently, PTI commands 90% of new agency
market share in India.
 PTI was registered in 1947 and started functioning in 1949. PTI is run by a Board of
Directors with the Chairmanship going by rotation at the Annual General Meeting. The
day-to-day administration and management of PTI is headed by the CEO, who is also the
Editor-in-Chief. Its board of directors includes owner/editor of most of the leading
publications in India like, Vineet Jain, Aveek Sarkar, Viveck Goenka, N Ravi etc.

36 | P a g e
United News of India (UNI):

 UNI started its commercial operations on March 21, 1961. It has News Bureaus in all
state capitals and other major cities. The agency also has representatives in key world
capitals.
 UNI was the first to start a multi-language news service UNIVARTA on May 1, 1982 that
provides news services to Hindi newspapers.
 UNI remains the first and only news agency in the world to supply news in Urdu since
June 5, 1992.
 The agency’s subscribers include newspapers published in 14 languages, AIR,
Doordarshan, the Central and State governments, corporate and commercial houses
besides electronic and web based media.

Indo-Asian News Service (IANS):

 IANS was established in 1986, initially to serve as an information bridge between India
and its Diaspora in North America. Today it is a full-fledged, 24X7 agency based in Delhi-
NCR (Noida), putting out the real-time news from India, South Asia and news of this
region around the world.
 IANS is divided into six strategic business units: IANS English, IANS Hindi, IANS Publishing,
IANS Business Consultancy, IANS Solutions, and IANS Mobile.
 Its client list includes a range of print publications, television news channels, websites,
ethnic publications abroad, government ministries, foreign missions, private sector
players, and multilateral institutions.
 Tarun Basuis the Chief Editor and Director of the IANS.

Asian News International (ANI):

 ANI is South Asia‘s leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South
Asia and across the globe.
 ANI has established itself as a ‘complete content house’ providing text, video and picture
content for TV, print, mobile and online media.
 ANI also provides a range of facilities for foreign and domestic channels to package their
reports in India and uplink via satellite. These include provision of professional crews,
editing and post production facilities, access to archives, uplinking facilities, coordinators,
producers and correspondents, as per requirement.
 ANI services includes loosely edited news feeds and customized programmes for
television channels, audio bytes for radio stations, live web casting and streamed
multimedia / text content for websites and mobile carriers, and news wire services for
newspapers, magazines and websites.

37 | P a g e
Hindustan Samachar:

 The Hindusthan Samacharwas formed on 1st Dec. 1948, and provide news in 14 Indian
languages. Its subscribers include AIR, Doordarshan, various State Governments, Nepal
Radio and a number of regional papers.
 Presently the service is being provided in Hindi, Marathi, Gujrati, Nepali, Oriya, Asamiya,
Kannad, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Sindhi, Sanskrit, Punjabi and Bangla. The service is
fully based on the web internet technology. The subscriber can either downloaded the
next or convert it into E-mail format.
 In India this agency has offices in all the states. The news circulated in all the Indian
languages by Hindusthan Samachar could be checked on the Website
www.hindusthansamachar.com

2. GOVERNMENT & PRIVATE SECTOR MEDIA CONGLOMERATES

Media Conglomerates - Media conglomerates are the international media firms that operate
businesses all over the world. These conglomerates enter into home markets through the
privatization, deregulation policies. And after that try to get maximum ownership in different
modes of media through the joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions.

Ownership- ownership means the maximum investment and control over a specific channel
that led to control all decision related to that channel that mostly includes content and
programming.

a) Private Ownership: A privately owned company is a business company owned either by

non-governmental organisations or by a small number of shareholders or company members
which does not offer or trade its company stock to the general public on the stock market.
Instead the company's stock is owned and traded privately. A good example of a privately
owned media company is ZEE.

Advantage: An advantage to private ownership is that because the company is owned by you
entirely, you receive all the money that is earned.

Disadvantage: A disadvantage of private ownership for a company is that it won’t be funded

as well as a public service company.

b) Public Service: In the United Kingdom, the term "public service broadcasting" refers to
broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests. An
example of a Public Service media organization is the BBC.

38 | P a g e
Advantage: An advantage to public service is that the public are funding the company
meaning that there will be money for the company to fall back on.

Disadvantage: A disadvantage of public service is that there is a responsibility to please the

public by having what they want, meaning the company won’t have all of the say.

c) Multinational: A multinational corporation (MNC) has facilities and other assets in at least
one country other than i Apple is a very good example of a Multinational.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Access to consumers is one of the primary advantages of

a multinational company. Increasing accessibility to wider geographical regions allows them to
have a larger amount of potential customers and help them in expanding, growing at a faster
pace as compared to others. One of the major disadvantages to multinational companies is the
strict laws that vary in different countries. Multinationals are subject to more laws and
regulations than other companies.

d) Independent: An independent business is a business that is free from outside control.

Advantages and Disadvantages: An advantage to an Independent company is that there

are no restrictions on who, how or where an entrepreneur should run their business. It usually
means a privately owned establishment, as opposed to a public limited company. However
independent companies need a lot of money to set up in the first place and to continue their
business. An example of an Independent media company would be Film Four.

e) Conglomerate: A media conglomerate is a large company that owns several companies

that provide products/services in the media industry. Media includes TV networks, movie
studios, theme parks, online digital companies, news papers, record labels, publishing
companies, magazines and radio stations.

Media conglomerates are basically massive vertically integrated companies that control the
entertainment industry. The five major media conglomerates are News Corporation, Walt
Disney Company, Comcast, Viacom and Time Warner.

Advantages and Disadvantages: One disadvantage of a conglomerate is that the company

is taking over another company without having any experience about the industry and so
therefore chances of mismanagement increases. The main advantage of conglomerate is that it
helps the company in diversification therefore a company is less vulnerable to losses.

f) Horizontal Integration: Horizontal Integration is a Media Company’s Ownership of

several businesses of the same value. A Media Company can own a Magazine, Radio,
Newspaper, Television and Books. Almost all Media companies have horizontal integration. It
helps to create more money and makes the company more popular.

39 | P a g e
Advantages and Disadvantages: Horizontal Integration helps companies to reach a much
wider audience. Disney's acquisition of Pixar is a great example of horizontal integration - two
companies of similar size and operation, operating in the same industry, combined to form a
stronger company. One disadvantage is that the company could have a reduction in flexibility
due to the fact that it is now a larger organisation.

g) Vertical Integration: Vertical Integration is when a Media Company owns different

businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.

A good example of vertical integrated company is Apple.

Advantages and Disadvantages: Vertical integration gives a company one hundred

percent control of all aspects of their business. They have the ability to dictate exactly the
quality and types of materials that they want to be used, how they want them to be produced,
and how much they are sold for. This gives the company one hundred percent of the profits the
company makes. In order to integrate vertically, a company must have a very large amount of
money to invest in the first place. They have to purchase factories, hire mass amounts of staff,
and control all of their new facilities. This makes vertical integration nearly impossible for
smaller companies.

h) Cross Media: Cross Media Divergence is when a company produces two or more types of
media.

A good example of cross media divergence is when music artists work with film companies to
produce soundtracks for a film.

Sometimes when a conglomerate becomes so big and powerful they are forced to split up by
the government. An example of this is Microsoft. This is a huge disadvantage to cross media
divergence.

The advantages of cross media divergence are that they receive much wider distribution of the
media.

i) Synergy: Synergy is the simultaneous release of different products to boost both. Synergy
can be used most often by bigger companies as the different elements work together to
promote linked products across different media.

A good example of synergy is Disney. As well as releasing a film, Disney also release games,
clothing, DVDs, CDs etc to boost sales.

40 | P a g e
3. ENTERTAINMENT: LOCAL, GLOBAL AND HYBRID

Glocalization: A concept that indicates a dynamic relationship between what is the global and
the local. This dynamic relationship between the global and the local will be analysed through
the lens of hybridization, a concept that reiterates the fluid nature of the globalisation
phenomenon by negating concepts of homogeneity and heterogeneity. This theoretical
framework will then be used to analyse the case study meant to outline and explain the global
– local nexus. The report is of the liberalization of the Indian economy and television
broadcasting within the country, in the 1990s. The report will briefly look at the effects of
liberalization on the economy, focusing largely at the effects on the broadcasting industry
within the country which were brought about due to the nationwide liberalization policies. The
specific cultural form that emerged due to the changes brought about by liberalization was the
adoption and indigenization of global television programme formats by a local television
broadcaster, Zee TV and its quick rise to local as well as global popularity, while competing with
the age old national broadcaster Doordarshan, as well as Rupert Murdoch’s then newly
acquired, Hong Kong based, Star TV.

A hybrid approach towards global local nexus suggests, much like Pieterse wrote, that the
concept of globalization is not really a corollary to modernity, but, in its essence, it really is just
an exchange of flows, it represents interconnectedness.

The example of Zee TV, to a great extent, is quite clearly evident of how blurred the boundaries
of the global and the local area.

The global local nexus really is just an example of the relationship between the centre and the
periphery, and that centre does not necessarily have to be the West.

Furthermore, the example of television broadcasting itself shows the role played by a media
and / or communications technology to further the global local nexus, and subsequently
creating a cultural form – a glocal/ translocal/ transnational television broadcasting service in
the form of Zee TV. The emergence of Zee TV as a cultural form of the global – local nexus thus
proves that glocalization as a concept is not only limited to concepts like McDonaldization or
simply Indigenization; its scope goes way beyond these limits.

4. GLOBAL SATELLITE SYSTEM: CABLE & SATELLITE TV (C&S), DIRECT-TO-

HOME (DTH), INTERNET PROTOCOL TV (IPTV) CAS

Global Satellite System: It is a satellite system that is used to pinpoint the geographic
location of a user's receiver anywhere in the world.

41 | P a g e
Two GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) systems are currently in operation: the United
States' Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Federation's Global Orbiting Navigation
Satellite System (GLONASS).

A third, Europe's Galileo, is slated to reach full operational capacity in 2008. Each of the GNSS
systems employs a constellation of orbiting satellites working in conjunction with a network of
ground stations.

a) Cable and satellite TV (C&S) are different in more ways than just how they deliver
television programming. Cable TV is less likely to be affected by the weather, but is typically
more expensive than satellite TV service. Cable may be more suitable for renters and people
who do not want to commit to a long-term contract.

Satellite TV signal can be disrupted by bad weather, but is usually cheaper. The availability for
cable and satellite TV services also varies; cable TV is only available in areas where providers
offer service (which sometimes excludes rural areas or new communities in the suburbs), while
satellite TV is available anywhere that a dish can be installed to face south.

Cable TV Satellite TV
Introduction Cable television delivers Satellite television delivers
television programs to programming via communications
subscribers via radio frequency satellites and is received by an
signals transmitted through outdoor antenna, usually a
coaxial cables or light pulses parabolic reflector called a
through fiber-optic cables. satellite dish.

Equipment Cable box and remote Dish and box

Installation Visit from technician to install Visit from technician to install a
the junction box into your dish on the roof.
home.
Availability Only in areas close to network Anywhere in the World
providers (usually unavailable in
remote or rural areas)
Contract Month to month Usually a year
Providers Comcast, Time Warner Cable, DISH Network, DirecTV
Sudden Link, Cablevision, Cox,
Charter
Bundle services Readily available Available sometimes

42 | P a g e
b) DTH (Direct to Home) stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the
reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home. Direct-to-
Home (DTH) television is a method of receiving satellite television by means of signals
transmitted from direct-broadcast satellites.

DTH does away with the need for the local cable operator and puts the broadcaster directly in
touch with the consumer. Only cable operators can receive satellite programmes and they then
distribute them to individual homes.

A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites, encoders, multiplexers, modulators

and DTH receivers.

A DTH service provider has to lease Ku-band transponders from the satellite. The encoder
converts the audio, video and data signals into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes
these signals. At the user end, there will be a small dish antenna and set-top boxes to decode
and view numerous channels. On the user's end, receiving dishes can be as small as 45 cm in
diameter.

DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer directly through a satellite. DTH
transmission is received directly by the consumer at his end through the small dish antenna. A
set-top box, unlike the regular cable connection, decodes the encrypted transmission.

DTH in India: DTH services were first proposed in India in 1996. But they did not pass
approval because there were concerns over national security and a cultural invasion. In 1997,
the government even imposed a ban when the Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky Broadcasting
(ISkyB) was about to launch its DTH services in India.

Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed. The new policy requires all operators to set up earth stations
in India within 12 months of getting a license. DTH licenses in India will cost $2.14 million and
will be valid for 10 years. The companies offering DTH service will have to have an Indian chief
and foreign equity has been capped at 49 per cent. There is no limit on the number of
companies that can apply for the DTH license.

DTH will definitely cut into the existing cable user base. It will make the local cable operator less
important and take business away from him. It will give consumers greater choice.

43 | P a g e
 LIST OF DTH PROVIDERS
S. Service Launch date Subscribers Ownership
No. Provider May 2018
1  Dish TV October 2003 15.6 million Essel Group
 d2h June 2009 12.5 million
 Zing Digital January 2015
2 Tata Sky August 2006 14.3 million Tata Sons (60%)
21st Century Fox (30%)
Temasek Holdings (10%)
3 Airtel digital TV October 2008 12.5 million Bharti Airtel Limited (80%)
Warburg Pincus (20%)[
4 Sun Direct 2007 5.2 million Sun Network (80%)
Astro Group (20%)
5 DD Free Dish December 2004 35 Prasar Bharati
million[40]
6 Independent March 2018 15.50 Pantel Technologies Pvt Ltd. (50%)
TV million Veecon Media & Television
Limited (VMTL) (50%)

Total 110 million

Subscribers

Satellites: The Department of

Space (DoS) requires all DTH
operators in India to only use
satellites commissioned by
the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).

DTH operators may use capacity leased by ISRO from foreign satellites only if sufficient capacity
is not available on ISRO satellites. The following 8 satellites are currently in use by Indian DTH
service providers:

44 | P a g e
C) INTERNET PROTOCOL TV (IPTV) CAS(Conditional Access System) : IPTV (Internet
Protocol television) is a service that provides television programming and other video content
using the TCP/IP protocol suite as opposed to traditional cable or satellite signals.

An IPTV service, typically distributed by a service provider, delivers live TV programs or on-
demand video content. An IPTV system may be used to provide video content over a private
network in an enterprise, although such implementations are far less common than subscriber-
based models due to complexity and scaling issues.

How IPTV Works: IPTV content is often delivered over a managed or dedicated network.
Compared to the public internet, a private network gives network operators more control over
the video traffic and, by extension, the ability to ensure quality of service (QoS), uptime and
reliability.

In traditional television delivery, all programming is broadcast simultaneously. The available

program signals flow downstream, and the viewer selects a program by changing the channel.

An IPTV service, by contrast, sends only one program at a time. Content remains on the service
provider's network, and only the program the customer selects is sent to the residence. When a
viewer changes the channel, a new stream is transmitted from the provider's server directly to
the viewer. Like cable TV, IPTV requires a set-top box or other customer-premises device.

IPTV primarily uses IP multicasting with Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) for live
television broadcasts and Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) for on-demand programs. Other
common protocols include Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) and Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP).

Types of IPTV: Because IPTV uses a packet-based delivery system, it can be bundled with
other IP-based services, such as voice over IP (VoIP) and high-speed internet.

The use of IP also enables providers to support various other services and applications, such
as video on demand, in-program messaging and time shifting, a broad term for services that
allow viewers to consume content other ways besides live broadcasts (e.g., digital recording,
on-demand video and the ability to rewind or restart a live program already in progress).

45 | P a g e
IPTV competes with another delivery model known as Internet TV, which refers to television
content distributed through a website.

IPTV providers: IPTV providers include a wide range of companies from large network
operators like Verizon with its FiOS services and massive companies like Google, Apple and
Microsoft, to vendors that include Sony, and a wide variety of smaller or niche companies
sometimes specializing in certain types of content delivered over a broadband IP connection.

FiOS (Fiber Optic Service): is a fiber to the premises (FTTP) telecommunications service
offered by Verizon to consumers in the United States. The word "fios" is Irish for "knowledge"
and the FiOS acronym is a trademark of Verizon. FTTP, also called "fiber to the home" (FTTH), is
the installation and use of optical fiber from a central point directly to individual buildings.

D) CAS CONDITIONAL ACCESS OR CONDITIONAL ACCESS SYSTEM is the protection

of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to the content.

Conditional access (CA) is a technology used to control access to digital television (DTV)
services to authorized users by encrypting the transmitted programming. CA has been used for
years for pay-TV services. There are numerous ATSC and DVB-compliant CA systems available
for a broadcaster to choose from. The CA system provider provides the equipment and
software to the broadcaster who then integrates the CA system into his equipment. CA is not
designed solely for DTV. It can be used for digital radio broadcasts, digital data broadcasts, and
non-broadcast information and interactive services.

A CA system consists of several basic components:

 Subscriber Management System (SMS)

 Subscriber Authorization System (SAS)
 Security module
 Set-top box

46 | P a g e
Unit IV: [Global Media & Market Forces]
1. Reporting International Issues and Conflicts
2. Media Conglomerates and Monopolies
3. Democratizing Communication; Vertical to Horizontal Communication through Internet
Journalism
4. Global Challenges in the New Information Age

GLOBAL MEDIA MARKET: It covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation,
regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies
for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It
places the market within the context of the wider media market, and compares it with other
markets.

• The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.

• The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the
market and forecasting the future. Drivers and restraints looks at the external factors
supporting and controlling the growth of the market.

• Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.

• The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each
geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast
growth. It covers all the regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets. It draws
comparisons with country populations and economies to understand the importance of the
market by country and how this is changing.

• Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market
shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the
market in recent years are identified.

• The trends and strategies section highlights the likely future developments in the market and
suggests approaches companies can take to exploit this.

• The media market section of the report gives context. It compares the media market with
other segments of the media market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP
proportion, expenditure per capita, media indicators comparison.

SCOPE

MARKETS COVERED: TV And Radio Broadcasting, Film And Music, Information Services, Web
Content, Search Portals And Social Media, Print Media, Cable and Other Subscription

47 | P a g e
Programming , Radio Broadcasting, Television Broadcasting , Music Recording, Film And Video ,
News Syndicates, Libraries And Archives, All Other Information Services , Social Media, Internet
Search Portals, Digital Publishing And Content Streaming, Search Engine Optimization Services,
Directory, Mailing List, And Other Publishers, Book Publishers, Newspaper & Magazines
Publishers

Companies Mentioned: Google, Walt Disney, Time Warner Inc., Facebook, Comcast
Corporation

Metrics Covered: Number of Enterprises, Number of Employees

Countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland,
Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South
Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam

Regions: Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle
East, Africa

Time series: Five years historic and forecast.

Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets, GDP proportions, expenditure per
capita, media indicators comparison.

Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data, market share of
competitors, market segments.

1. REPORTING INTERNATIONAL ISSUES AND CONFLICTS

As the world’s only truly universal global organization, the United Nations has become the
foremost forum to address issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved
by any one country acting alone.

To its initial goals of safeguarding peace, protecting human rights, establishing the framework
for international justice and promoting economic and social progress, in the seven decades
since its creation the United Nations has added on new challenges, such as climate change,
refugees and AIDS.

While conflict resolution and peacekeeping continue to be among its most visible efforts, the
UN, along with its specialized agencies, is also engaged in a wide array of activities to improve

48 | P a g e
 people’s lives around the world – from disaster relief, through education and advancement of
women, to peaceful uses of atomic energy.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES & CONFLICTS

1. Africa
The UN system plays a crucial role in coordinating assistance of all kinds — to help Africa help
itself. From promoting the development of democratic institutions, to the establishment of peace
between warring nations, the UN is present on the ground supporting economic and social
development and the promotion and protection of human rights.

2. Ageing
The world’s population is ageing: virtually every country in the world is experiencing growth in the
number and proportion of older persons in their population. The number of older persons, those
aged 60 years or over has increased substantially in recent years in most countries and regions,
and that growth is projected to accelerate in the coming decades.

3. AIDS
New HIV infections have fallen by 35% since 2000 (by 58% among children) and AIDS-related
deaths have fallen by 42% since the peak in 2004. The global response to HIV has averted 30
million new HIV infections and nearly 8 million AIDS-related deaths since 2000. The UN family has
been in the vanguard of this progress.

4. Atomic Energy
More than 30 countries worldwide are operating 444 nuclear reactors for electricity generation
and 66 new nuclear plants are under construction. In 2014, 13 countries relied on nuclear energy
to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity.

5. Big Data for the SDGs

The volume of data in the world is increasing exponentially. New sources of data, new
technologies, and new analytical approaches, if applied responsibly, can allow bettering
monitoring progress toward achievement of the SDGs in a way that is both inclusive and fair.

6. Children
Every child has the right to health, education and protection, and every society has a stake in
expanding children’s opportunities in life. Yet, around the world, millions of children are denied a
fair chance for no reason other than the country, gender or circumstances into which they are
born.

49 | P a g e
7. Climate Change
Climate change is one of the major challenges of our time. From shifting weather patterns that
threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the
impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale.

8. Decolonization
The wave of decolonization, which changed the face of the planet, was born with the UN and
represents the world body’s first great success. As a result of decolonization many countries
became independent and joined the UN.

9. Democracy
Democracy is a universally recognized ideal and is one of the core values and principles of the
United Nations. Democracy provides an environment for the protection and effective realization of
human rights

10. Ending Poverty

While global poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 2000, one in ten people in
developing regions still lives on less than US$1.90 a day - the internationally agreed poverty line,
and millions of others live on slightly more than this daily amount.

11. Food
About 795 million people in the world were undernourished in 2014–16. That means one in nine
people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are
in fact the number one risk to health worldwide — greater than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis
combined.

12. Gender Equality

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential.
Gender equality, besides being a fundamental human right, is essential to achieve peaceful
societies, with full human potential and sustainable development.

13. Health
The United Nations, since its inception, has been actively involved in promoting and protecting
good health worldwide. Leading that effort within the UN system is the World Health Organization
(WHO), whose constitution came into force on 7 April 1948.

14. Human Rights

Promoting respect for human rights is a core purpose of the United Nations and defines its identity
as an organization for people around the world. Member States have mandated the Secretary-
General and the UN System to help them achieve the standards set out in the UN Charter and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

50 | P a g e
15. International Law and Justice
The UN continues to promote justice and international law across its three pillars of work:
international peace and security, economic and social progress and development, and respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms.

16. Migration
Since the earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Today, more people than ever before
live in a country other than the one in which they were born.

17. Oceans and the Law of the Sea

Life itself arose from the oceans. The ocean is vast, some 72 per cent of the earth's surface. Not
only has the oceans always been a prime source of nourishment for the life it helped generate, but
from earliest recorded history it has served for trade and commerce, adventure and discovery.

18. Peace and Security

Saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war was the main motivation for creating the
United Nations, whose founders lived through the devastation of two world wars.

19. Population
In 1950, five years after the founding of the United Nations, world population was estimated at
around 2.6 billion people. It reached 5 billion in 1987 and 6 in 1999. In October 2011, the global
population was estimated to be 7 billion.

20. Refugees
The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. An unprecedented 59.5
million people around the world have been forced from home. Among them are nearly 20 million
refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.

21. Water
Fresh water sustains human life and is vital for human health. There is enough fresh water for
everyone on Earth. However, due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, millions of people
(most of them children) die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and
hygiene.

2. MEDIA CONGLOMERATES AND MONOPOLIES

Global conglomerates can at times have a progressive impact on culture, especially when they
enter nations that had been tightly controlled by corrupt crony media systems (as in much of
Latin America) or nations that had significant state censorship over media (as in parts of Asia).

The global commercial-media system is radical in that it will respect no tradition or custom, on
balance, if it stands in the way of profits. But ultimately it is politically conservative, because the

51 | P a g e
media giants are significant beneficiaries of the current social structure around the world, and
any upheaval in property or social relations—particularly to the extent that it reduces the
power of business—is not in their interest.

There have been a lot of mergers and buyouts of media and entertainment companies since
the 1980s. Mainstream media has since become more concentrated in terms of ownership
and the influences of advertisers and owning companies both have an enormous in how
mainstream media shapes itself and society.

Mother Jones magazine reports that by the end of 2006, there are only 8 giant media
companies dominating the US media, from which most people get their news and information:

 Disney (market value: $72.8 billion)

 AOL-Time Warner (market value: $90.7 billion)
 Viacom (market value: $53.9 billion)
 General Electric (owner of NBC, market value: $390.6 billion)
 News Corporation (market value: $56.7 billion)
 Yahoo! (market value: $40.1 billion)
 Microsoft (market value: $306.8 billion)
 Google (market value: $154.6 billion)

Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google are newer media companies compared to the other traditional 5
players.

Most of these companies are in the global elite of media companies, too.

At the end of the 1990s, there were 9 corporations (mainly US) that dominated the media
world:

 AOL-Time Warner
 Disney
 Bertelsmann
 Viacom
 News Corporation
 TCI
 General Electric (owner of NBC)
 Sony (owner of Columbia and TriStar Pictures and major recording interests), and
 Seagram (owner of Universal film and music interests).

Most citizens get their views and understandings of the world around them from the
mainstream media. It is therefore critical to understand some of these underlying issues. The
rest of this section introduces some of these concerns.

52 | P a g e
The term media monopoly – concentrated control of major mass communications within a
society – took on a new life in the second half of the twentieth century, thanks to global
changes. These included new communications technology; growth of literacy in the population;
demographics that increased the size of potential audiences; increasing democratization in the
less developed world that heightened interest in politics and the media; and high profits and
political influence that stimulated conglomerate ownership of all major means of mass
communications. Since citizens increasingly depended on these media for political information
and entertainment, the concentrated control by a small number of large business concerns
inevitably produced public controversy.

A large company, or corporation, such as News Corp or Walt Disney Company, buys many
shares of a media source (i.e. news, radio, newspaper, billboards. etc.) so that they effectively
own that source. The information broadcasted is then under the corporations discretion. Now
when there is an event that may jeopardize the interests of the company the news source
controlled by them is forbidden from reporting on the event. The control and censorship of
media is rendered more effective through media cartels; whereby different corporations that
own media sources agree to support one another through the content and right-wing slant of
the news they control.

3. DEMOCRATIZING COMMUNICATION; VERTICAL TO HORIZONTAL

COMMUNICATION THROUGH INTERNET JOURNALISM

Democratization of communication is maximizing the value of information. People are

certainly valuable resources, and the information they hold is useful, but far more so if shared
with others.

The information revolution is affecting competition in three vital ways

1. It changes the industry structure and, in so doing, after the rules of competition
2. It creates competitive advantage by giving companies new ways to outperform their rivals.
3. It spawns whole new business, often from within a company’s existing operations.

New innovations in communications have met resistance many times in human history.
Movable types:

1. The typewriter
2. The Telephone
3. Computer
4. Radio
5. Television and many recently
6. The Internet

53 | P a g e
VERTICAL TO HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION THROUGH INTERNET
JOURNALISM

Horizontal communication is the transmission of information between people, divisions,

departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy. You can distinguish it
from vertical communication, which is the transmission of information between different levels
of the organizational hierarchy.

“Horizontal” and “vertical” are potentially quite useful terms for thinking about the functions
and effects of today’s Internet era practices—with one small caveat: that we don’t limit
ourselves by defining these two forms of communication as incompatible or mutually
exclusive.

54 | P a g e
INTERNET JOURNALISM: A slang term used to describe how the Internet has changed
journalism, enabling journalists to cover more stories in different ways. The slang term
"Journalism 2.0" is used to reference the Web technologies such as blogging, audio, video,
social networks, and online reporting tools that journalists use today.

STRENGTH OF ONLINE JOURNALISM

1. Global reach
2. Easy publication
3. Interactivity
4. Multimedia possibility
5. Permanency
6. Timelessness
7. Unlimited space

Digital journalism also known as online journalism is a contemporary form of journalism

where editorial content is distributed via the Internet as opposed to publishing via print or
broadcast.

Online journalism is a process that has been in use for the past years by newspapers industries,
journalist report facts produced and distributed through the INTERNET. It has been noticed that
people no longer buy the printed out newspapers except they want to keep it for reference
purposes but the internet users sees it has a readily available and less costly network.

The internet makes news more interesting because of the interactivity and multimedia like
videos, audios etc. that are used. The online news organization is increasingly gloomy about its
financial future and online journalist is optimistic, reporting expanding newsroom.

The internet has challenged traditional news industries in several ways to say that there is the
fear that it might lose its contents to websites. Digital journalism also known as online
journalism is a contemporary form of journalism where editorial content is distributed via the
Internet as opposed to publishing via print or broadcast. What constitutes 'digital journalism' is
debated by scholars. However the primary product of journalism, which is news and features
on current affairs, is presented solely or in combination as text, audio, video and some
interactive forms, and disseminated through digital media platforms.

Fewer barriers to entry, lowered distribution costs, and diverse computer networking
technologies have led to the widespread practice of digital journalism. It has democratized the
flow of information that was previously controlled by traditional media including newspapers,
magazines, radio, and television.

Some have asserted that greater degree of creativity can be exercised with digital journalism
when compared to traditional journalism and traditional media. The digital aspect may be
central to the journalistic message and remains, to some extent, within the creative control of
the writer, editor, and/or publisher.

55 | P a g e
4. GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN THE NEW INFORMATION AGE
INFORMATION AGE: The Information age is believed to have started in the last decade of twentieth
century. In 1990's the widespread use of computers and the exponential growth of Internet made
information available anytime and anywhere in the world.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INFORMATION AGE INCLUDE:

 Use of information to increase productivity,
 Global use of information,
 Emphasis on innovation
The information age relies on the production and sharing of knowledge and information to achieve
profits.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The major challenges and concern include:
 Information Security : Theft & Misuses
 No Uniform Laws to Curb Crimes
 Digital divide: How to Bridge the gap
 Technological challenge
INFORMATION SECURITY: THEFT & MISUSES
 Due easy access to information, security is the major challenge faced by everyone today.
 As information becomes easily accessible via the Internet, channelizing and controlling the
dissemination of information becomes more and more difficult.
 Everyone is under the threat of information theft and misuse.

NO UNIFORM LAWS TO CURB CRIMES

 Digital and Internet laws Legal systems around the world are not uniform when it comes to
issues concerned with the digital world.
 Global uniform digital law is the urgent need of the hour to curb global digital crimes.

DIGITAL DIVIDE: NEED TO BRIDGE THE GAP

 A social challenge is the pressing need to bridge the digital divide among nations and also within
national borders.
 A formidable challenge, especially for the populous countries like India where the penetration of
internet and basic literacy rate are low.

TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

 It is a major technological challenge to find and deploy cost effective, fast, accurate and smart
technologies to store, secure, verify and share information.
 Technologists and business houses will find it difficult to satisfying the information needs of
the new age.

56 | P a g e
 QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE

1. What is a new information order?

2. Enumerate the barriers to the flow of news.
3. Discuss the regulation in media exchange.
4. Write a short note on news in developing countries.
5. What is the role of developing countries in demanding a new information order?
6. Discuss in detail the barriers to flow of information.
7. Write a critique on the struggle for news between developing and developed countries.
8. Comment on the new media scene in the new information age.
9. Give an account of bilateral, multi-lateral and regional information corporation.
10. Explain International Multimedia Giants: NEWSCORP, DISNEY, AOL-TIMEWARNER, VIACOM, Star
Network
11. Discuss the Global TV and Cultural Imperialism with example.
12. What are the international practices on visual coverage?
13. Elaborate different News Agencies: PTI, UNI, IANS, ANI, Hindustan Samacha
14. What is Media Conglomerates in context of Indian Society?
15. Briefly explain all types of global satellite systems.
16. Define global media market and explain international conflicts and issues.
17. Define Democratization of Communication?
18. Define Global Communication. Point out the difference between global new and information
flow: the flip side and their barriers.
19. Explain the domination of transitional news agency.
20. Explain the role of UN & UNESCO in bridging the gap between north and south.
21. “Apart from media coverage and unbalanced flow of information, other issues related to
computer and satellite use never raised in NWICO” discuss and comment on the success of
NWICO objectives.
22. Critically analyze the Regional Information Co-operation of SAARC countries. Also give reason for
the success or failure of regional cooperation.
23. What is Mass Culture? State your observation about the influence of Global media over the
indigenous culture of your own country.
24. “In post globalization era, Indian films have taken a conspicuous space abroad and Hollywood
has also made a remarkable entry in Indian theaters” comment and examine foreign influence on
Indian films.
25. One of the recommendations of MacBride Commission – Many Voices, One World – is about
democratization of communication. Explain this with particular reference to human rights,
removal of obstacles, diversity and choice, integration and people’s participation?
26. Discuss the present consequences of flow of information by four – AFP, AP, UPI and Reuters –
transnational news agencies for the third world countries.
27. What is democratizing communication? Explain Vertical to Horizontal Communication through
Internet Journalism.

***** Best of Luck *****

57 | P a g e