Understanding News Agenda - Essay Example

…………………………………………………………………………..xxxxxx ……………………………………………………………………….xxxxx …………………………………………………………………………….xxxx ……………………………………………………………………………xxxxx @2013 News Agenda Introduction Journalism varies across the globe and different factors are responsible for these differences. This variance has its own share of social impacts to the societies represented. News reports and media houses in UK construct a sense of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ between different nations. The ‘us’ is for the protection of their own securities and the securities of those they hold dear while ‘them’ is for those countries which are distant in culture or space. News usually construct ‘them’ to show a fairer representation of those who are far in terms of culture or space and they include the neighbors abroad and the strangers living amongst them (Ginneken 1998). The news reports usually produce meanings which construct ideological representations of the different groups of people from different countries. Media usually report distant suffering in their news which brings about the construction of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. The language used in the news reports brings different meanings within the social context as to some the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ brings about negative values (Kamalipour and Snow 2004). Unprecedented censorship is also evident with how news is constructed. In most cases, the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ is created whenever there is suffering in the country or culture to be aired. The media creates ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in order to create specific subject position for both the spectators and suffers. The spectators ‘us’ may take the position of activists, philanthropists or even voyeurs while suffers ‘them’ take the position of a human being or abstract number. Theoretical perspectives will be used in the analysis and evaluation of how the news constructs a sense of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ between different nations. Agenda setting theory Agenda setting theory shows how the media highly affects the order of presentation in the news reports about events and issues in the minds of the public (Dearing and Roger 1996). Global news agenda is based on the construction of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. This theory also shows how the media had a high influence on the public by their ability to tell us on the important issues. The main aim of this theory is to create a public awareness and to show the salient issues created by the news media. Different aspects of the media are encompassed in this theory which shows different ways on how news is constructed. 1. Freedom of press and expression world wide Freedom of press helps the media in constructing ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Freedom of speech in Middle East is enshrined in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and political Rights (ICCPR). It is also based on the UN treaty which is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Magee 2002). Social solidarity is part of cosmopolitanism and it includes the bonds of mutual commitments based on more than similarities of pre-established identities. Social solidarity puts it clearly that all citizens are engaged in the making of a better future for everyone. Cosmopolitan explains how global media institutions have the power to create publics around the world as non-communitarian publics. Cosmopolitan is the willingness to relate with other people. The way media constructs news about distant suffering rarely does it cultivate a cosmopolitan sensibility or a global public (Ginneken 1998). For example, airing news on how people are being maimed killed or burned or even tortured is the creation of cosmopolitan through the TV news where it creates a spectatorship of suffering to ‘us’ the viewers. Global news does not also overcome the distance in communication which includes moral and geographical distance and this clearly brings about the ‘us’ versus ‘them’. The news on distant suffering from our neighboring countries will only bring out the ‘us’ versus ‘them’. Though we may feel them, get indifferent, get angry or even cry, this would not help ‘them’. The news texts used by media acts as an agency which represents the peoples ‘us’ actions on the misfortunes of the sufferers, ‘them’ (Magee 2002). Freedom of expression to the media includes the rights to seek, receive and impact ideas and information which are subject to the necessary restrictions which are necessary in the protection of public order and security. It also includes the respect for the reputations and rights of others. When ever, the freedom of press and expression and democracy is exercised fully, media is able to bring about a clear line between their culture, regimes and challenges to state control of media which they are facing as compared to others. Media use different suffering genres in the construction of ‘us’ and ‘them’ as discusses below: a. Ecstatic news This is the kind of news which brings together the globe in acts of simultaneous watching. The spectators of this news act as if they were within the scene of suffering and as though they were speaking out their own views on the suffering in public. A good example is the media in the Middle East (Burton 2010). In constructing news, media will bring about the difference in the political structure and media taboos between the different Arab countries in Middle East. An example of news constructed to show ‘us’ versus ‘them’ is the reporting by Aljazeera on Syria uprising where they showed a heightened violence in Homs. Though in Middle East, Aljazeera is in Qatar. The distant suffering in Homs, Syria is aimed at helping ‘us’ the people of Qatar to determine what to do with the level of suffering in their neighboring country (Kamalipour and Snow 2004). Power is evident in the way different TV stations constructs their news. The news constructed brings about the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in a way that brings safety to the spectators or the ‘us’ and distant suffers for the people being reported or ‘them’. It also brings the relationship of pity between the spectators ‘us’ and the sufferers ‘them’. In most cases, the news construct by media to bring about ‘us’ versus ‘them’ uses a language and images which constructs the suffering. The construction of news by media takes both the pessimistic and optimistic account as their ethical roles (Burton 2010). The ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in this news reporting was aimed at showing how Qatar can forge new forms of social cohesion, a lesson learned from ‘them’ the experiences in Homs, Syria which is an optimistic account. The lessons learned from ‘them’ and their culture would create an illusion of collectivity which would then cultivate individualism, ‘us’. From the freedom of media expression, they are able to show the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Another good example of how news construct ‘us’ versus ‘them’ is the case of Twin bombing in USA in September 2011. The images and the news for this event is reserved for the ‘us’ as it brings the globe together in acts of simultaneous watching. The media also uses its relationship to the exposure to suffering on its television channels. The optimistic account has the celebration of communitarianism in which the media introduces spectator to the broad community of the fellow spectators through the simultaneous viewing. With the increased number of spectators, the media is able to show them how the ‘them’ are suffering (Burton 2010). Optimism also includes the democratization of responsibility where the global flow of the Television messages increased each spectator’s awareness of and concern for and distant ‘others’. The pessimistic account includes domesticity of reception and intervention of technology. Domesticity of reception shows how suffering is met with discomfort or indifference while the intervention of technology shows how technology turns audiences into passive dupes. Media also makes use of multimodality which is the language and images that construct suffering, space time which is the distance to the scene of suffering and agency which represents the people’s action on the misfortunes of the sufferers. b. Emergency news This news usually bring about the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in the reporting of news by media. This news include the news which produces a demand for action from the spectators ‘us’ on the suffering of the people stated ‘them’. The best form of this news help us to identify with ‘them’ the distant sufferers (Burton 2010). A good example of this type of news is the reporting by The National which warned the Syrian National Council to act fast in order to prevent massacre. In this reporting, the international community was urged on March 2, 2012 to act fast in Syria in order to prevent the potential massacre of the thousands of women, children and elderly people in Syria (Kamalipour and Snow 2004). By this emergency news, the media created an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ where the ‘us’ will identify with ‘them’ the sufferers. The presentation and construction of emergency news clearly shows how influences the issues in the mind of the public through the creation of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ hence agenda setting theory. c. Adventure news Adventure news do not attract any pity from ‘us’ as there are no persecutor or benefactors in the scene of suffering. A good example is media repot on mudslides and flooding where a large number of people dies (Burton 2010). A clear distinction between ‘us’ the viewers or the spectators and ‘them’ the sufferers is shown in the reporting. 2. Censorship, internet and resistance The media should be free from any form censorship and resistance though there have been high degrees of censorship by the Arab government to its media. About 37% of the internet users in Saudi Arabia are censored for religious, political and pornographic content. The media in Middle East uses the fact that the world’s press is available to the Arab audience to construct news in a way which creates ‘us’ versus ‘them’. By the year 2003, every major daily in the Arabic countries had their versions online (Burton 2010). Having online versions was aimed at ensuring that their news reached a large number of people locally and internationally. This is a medium used by the news report to shows the public or their spectators about the suffering of their neighbors ‘them’ and the reaction of the spectators ‘us’. The media has also used the increased public discussion in the internet has enhanced freedom of speech. Internet has also lead to increased discussion of politics which has enhanced freedom of speech for the media. The media has therefore used the internet and the increased freedom of speech to create or to construct news in a way which brings about ‘us’ versus ‘them’. The media has also used the internet in challenging undemocratic governments which to them refer to ‘them’. However, this is quite challenging for the media in Middle East due to the increased internet censorship and this is because many Muslim governments are autocratic and lack democratic institutions (Burton 2010). In Saudi Arabia, the internet has been censored in that all the sites which contain violation of the Islamic tradition or the national regulations shall be blocked. Media in Middle East is heavily controlled by authoritarian ruling regimes. The state control of media has historically been limited to the professional, wealthiest elites and educated forming the transnational Arab public sphere. This was made to ensure that the media does not create the ‘us’ versus ‘them. Media uses internet as a convenient tool for traditional strategic political communication activities. The internet also provides the media with new avenues for the existing political actors both in the Middle East and the West. This creates a good avenue for the media to create the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ in the news. 3. Global news environment of 2003 The media uses live news which are 24/7 from west and Middle East to construct news which show ‘us’ versus ‘them’. For example, in 2003, the media from Middle East like AlJazeera, Al Manar, Abu Dhabi TV, Al Arabiya and LBC portrayed the fall of Baghdad as a narrative about subduing Iraq rather than liberating it (Cushion and Lewis 2010). This news constructed the ‘us’ which was the people of Baghdad and ‘them’ the respective media (Malek & Kavoori 2000). Online news environment of 2003 has also been used by the media in diversification where the non-US media discussed on the blame and responsibility while the US media discussed military action, the role of media and human interest. In conclusion, it is therefore evident that media uses its freedom of expression, global news environment, censorship, internet and resistance at different capacities to construct news which bring about the ‘us’ versus ‘them’. References Ginneken J (1998). Understanding Global News: A Critical Introduction. SAGE Malek, A & Kavoori A. (2000). The Global Dynamics of News: Studies in International News Coverage and News Agenda. Greenwood Publishing Group Dearing J and Roger E.M. (1996). Agenda setting. SAGE Carroll C. (2010). Corporate Reputation and the News Media: Agenda-setting within Business News Coverage in Developed, Emerging, and Frontier Markets. Routledge Cushion S and Lewis J. (2010). The Rise of 24-Hour News Television: Global Perspectives. 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