News in a Globalized Society

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News in a Globalized Society

• Stig HjarvardUniversity of Copenhagen

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Globalization Two definitions

• Accordingly, the concept of globalization
  implies, first and foremost, a stretching of
  social, political and economic activities across
  frontiers such that events, decisions and
  activities in one region of the world can come to
  have significance for individuals and communities
  in distant regions of the globe. In this sense,
  it embodies transregional interconnectedness, the
  widening reach of networks of social activity and
  power, and the possibility of action at a
  distance.
• David Held et al. Global Transformations.
  Politics, Economics and Culture.
• We can thereby define globalization as A social
  process in which the constraints of geography on
  social and cultural arrangements recede and i
  which people come increasingly aware that they
  are receding.
• Malcolm Water Globalization.

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Three roles of media in globalization

• Channels - create the conditions for
  globalization makes coordination across time and
  space possible
• Messengers of a globalized world cultural
  reflexivity
• Infrastructure - forms social and cultural
  interaction in new ways disembedding -
  reembedding

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Changes in international news broadcasting - I

• From international to (quasi-) global actors
• Vertical integration fuzzy lines between news
  agency-broadcasting-service providers
• Horisontal integration several different (news)
  media as part of a unified strategy
• Commercialization from public service to
  commercial actors (fx. BBC and Euronews)
• Diversification of output from general news to
  business, entertainment and special interest
  information services

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Changes in international news broadcasting -II

• Regionalization as the general strategy quasi-
  domestication
• Content
• Languages
• Alliances with local actors
• Regional perspectives

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Wholesale news business Reuters, Eurovision,
Associated Press etc.

• Merging of print and electronic news providers
• From shortage to abundancy of visuals
• Specialization of output
• Business-news vs. political news
• Regionalization of news
• Special interest (entertainment, medical, sports,
  breakfast, nature etc.) audience segmentation
• Complete news programming for small stations
• Live facilities Online news in domestic clothes
• Strategic alliances between national and global
  broadcasters, and wholesale news business

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The Internet challenge to the international news
broadcasters

• The problem of global reach becomes a question of
  language and content - not a technical problem
• Responsiveness dialogue with users becomes a
  real possibility. The advantage of national
  broadcasters is weakened
• An opportunity for broadcast news to become both
  fast, historical and analytical
• Integration of services embedding different
  actors and media in the same medium

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Integration of media

• CNN

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Audiences want to response
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Multilanguage edition and regionalization

• BBC Integration of imperial radio service and
  Internet news provider

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Local-global alliances

• CNN Berlingske Tidende

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A regional outlook

• Euronews common European issues and perspectives

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Use of BBC World CNN International

• Average share in August in 2001, Denmark

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Use of BBC World CNN International

• Share 11. September 2001, Denmark

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Transnationalization of national broadcasting?

• Trans-border presence satellite Internet
• From shortwave radio to digital visual media
  broader range of national representations
• Linguistic communities and extended national
  communities
• Nationalization of content foreign news are not
  competitive apart from special events

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Globalization of national news?

• Hans Henrik Holm et al. Verden på tilbud
  investigates globalization of news at three
  levels
• Media structure and media policies increased
  competition, audience orientation in news etc.
• Editorial structure some changes in relation to
  foreign news desk and other news desks
• News values journalistic selection and framing
  least affected by globalization

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The declining independence of the foreign news
desk

• Foreign dimension of issues spread to other topic
  areas
• Cooperation between business news and foreign
  news, environmental news and foreign news
• Foreign news is placed in many parts of the
  newspaper
• EU reporting has become both domestic and foreign

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Reporting on EU

• Tore Slaatta Europeanisation and the Norwegian
  News Media
• National politics frames reporting on EU
• A double domestication content and sources
• Mark Ørsten Transnational politisk
  journalistik
• National conflicts dominates reporting on EU,
  e.g. clash between national policy on
  environmental issues and EU regulations
• Framing of EU as bureaucratic, remote etc.
• No systematic coverage of EU matters and
  institutions no systematic coverage of European
  Parliament

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Different public spheres at a European level

• Erik Oddvar Eriksen An Emergent Public Sphere
• Overarching general publics - however not
  integrated but predominantly national
• Transnational segmented publics
• Strong institutionalized - publics

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Globalization of the public sphere and the role
of news media
Stig Hjarvard News in a Globalized Society
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Transnational integration of news

• Time
• Syncronization between broadcasters
• Live
• Newsrooms take decisions in sync with other
  newsrooms
• Increased speed of decision making and production
  cycles up-dates, on-line availability
• Space
• Both newsrooms and audiences have access to
  different socio-geographic levels local,
  national, transnational - increased transparency
• Communicative space not congruent with social or
  public political space

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Characteristics of theglobal news system

• Not a unified system, but a multilayered,
  differentiated and only partly interconnected
  system
• Global or transnational news services have
  extensive reach, a certain reputation (brand
  name) and occasional political influence
• National media continue to play the most
  important role in public political discourse
• Both business and technical developments tend to
  integrate actors and services across borders
• Promotes both outward and inward looking

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Two questions - exercises

• Go to BBC news on the internet (news.bbc.co.uk)
  and look at the discussion forum Have your say
• How is this discussion forum organized and to
  what extent can it be said to constitute a kind
  of transnational or global public sphere for
  public deliberation?
• Go to Al Jazeeras English website
  (english.aljazeera.net) and look at their section
  on global news. To what extent is their global
  news different from other international news
  providers (for instance BBC or CNN) if at all?

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News in a Globalized Society

• Stig HjarvardUniversity of Copenhagen