Communication Policy in China and Belize - Essay Example

Media/ Communication Policy in China and Belize Name Institution Date Media/ Communication Policy in China and Belize Introduction Media has realized tremendous growth in recent years, globally. Media influence in most countries can be felt on culture and even political status of the country. This type of influence can be analyzed from both aspects, positive or negative. According to Burton (2005), the existence of media comes with a harsh relationship with their audience and state institutions. However, this relationship is dynamic because it keeps changing. Despite this kind of relationship, most countries seek to accord freedom to the media. Belize, for example, developed an open policy for the media where state owned radio and television stations were transferred to public-private corporations and competing broadcasters were given licenses. China on the other hand, despite its advancements in technology and business, has continued to use a unique approach towards its media. The Chinese government has maintained old policies which are communistic while adopting new capitalistic policies to other industries. Burton (2005) further states that the behaviors and motives of some powerful media institutions can lead to a lot of skepticism. Regulatory control could therefore be deployed to the media. This paper seeks to explore media and communication policies in China and in Belize. It will look into the concepts that have shaped the media policy in the countries, the changes effected owing to evolution of politics, culture, technologies and the ethical considerations. In addition, the outcomes of the media policy in these countries together with the challenges posed and any future trajectories will also be discussed in this paper. Generally, a policy involves a plan set up to achieve a certain goal and a proposal on how the goal will be achieved and a time schedule set for the achievement. Cuilenburg and McQuail (2003) argued that in setting up this policy, the basis is on national interest and the interest of commercial operations. A mutual advantage is usually set up between the government and the commercial enterprise in terms of the privileges enjoyed and the regulations set. The key elements in a media policy will therefore include the goals that should be pursued, the criteria for recognition of these goals, the communication services that the policy will apply to, how distribution of the services will be carried out and how the policy will be implemented. Cuilenburg and McQuail (2003) also assert that despite the transition in the twentieth century towards democratic governments and towards globalization, not so many changes have been noted. They go ahead to claim that the media has benefited significantly from changing technologies and the increasing significance of communicating in industrial societies. China’s approach to restriction in terms of media freedom has been used since the neo colonial times. In fact, a survey once carried out in 2007, ranked China at position 163 out of 169 countries in terms of media freedom. Wetherbee (2010) purports that when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was being formed under Mao Zedong, the main agenda was to drive China from being war-ton to an economic and politically stable nation. Since he was adopting the Soviet Union’s way in doing this, he tolerated very minimal government transparency and little freedom was given to the press so as to keep the PRC citizens obedient. Every other succeeding leader of China maintained this stunt of limited media freedom and even those who tried to give some freedom limited the extent of this freedom. During Mao Zedong’s reign, the role of the media was to propagate the Communist Party policies, give education to the masses, organize and mobilize the masses. The government was also the main source of funds. Presently, modern Chinese media support themselves and have some little power in trying to challenge the government. The structure of the media in China has therefore not been well reformed despite the capitalistic reforms made in the socialist economy. This could be evidenced by a lack of coverage of the demonstration held by young citizens of China in 1989 famously known as the Tiananmen Square Student Movement, where the demonstrations ended in a violent attack by the Chinese military and there was no footage on what happened. In the present day China, a number of government agencies have control over media. This is in accordance with Congressional-Executive Commission on China (2006). Any print material has to be screened by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and publishers have to attain a license from the GAPP. Besides this, there is one newspaper that is allowed to serve as the Chinese Populist Party’s (CPP’s) news outlet. It is this newspaper that serves as a guide to other media sources and determines what is to be covered. According to Yin (2006), this restriction is a way of cultivating an elite consumer class in Urban China through the construction of a commercial culture. It is this class that will then supply a profitable market for global corporations and Chinese businesses. Through this culture, only the economic agenda is covered while issues pertaining environmental and social justice are ignored. With the increasing use of the internet, it has not been that easy for the government to control internet media. The CPP government, however, has deployed many citizens to work as monitors. In China, all internet providers are either owned or supported by the government and this has made it easier in monitoring. Were it not for the role of internet in globalization, China had even intended to ban it as early as it started spreading in the 1990s. Use of media in cultural diversity According to UNESCO Convention (2005), the media should be protected and promoted so as to encourage transmission of traditional knowledge, like that of the indigenous people. This can be done through religion, language, customs, songs, folks and other forms. Books and cultural sites can also be used. Media can therefore be used as a cultural expression or as a tool for cultural expression. In the initial context, issues such as diversity in ethnic languages and fairness in ethnic representations are brought about. In China, most tribal minorities live in mountainous areas or along borderlines, except the HUI and Machu who have been assimilated and are so scattered. This gives little opportunities to the Han people in communicating with each other. Instead, they get to learn about tribal minorities via books, films and television. In the other instance where media is used as a tool for cultural diversity, new technologies could be used such as emerging audio-visual technologies like use of visual anthropology and this is then used to pass information thus promoting social cohesion. The UNESCO (2005) further states that to preserve and promote cultural expressions, linguistic diversity and education play a very important role. Parekh (2006) proposed that culture is usually reflected in language. The media can therefore be used as a tool for cultural expression. Some regulations have been set aside to promote media services in all regions including those with minor tribes and underdeveloped areas. From the Administrative Regulations on Radio and Television, (1997), the state is required to give financial support in the development of television and radio activities to the region with minor tribes and to the rural and less developed areas. In China, a project was started by Xinjiang-Tibet in September 2000 which constituted the policy of development of Western region and its aim was to promote broadcasting infrastructure and construction of traditional ideology. In addition, more motivation was obtained from September directions administered by president Jiang who directed that concern for broadcasting in Xinjiang and Tibet had to be shown in order to change the status where the enemy was considered to be strong while the Chinese themselves were weak. This was meant to safeguard unification of the nation and its unity and to promote social construction. A notable move by the government in promoting media is the transformation of Xinjiang media from being a local media service to a transnational media. This was favored by its links in linguistics with other neighboring countries. This made China’s voice be heard worldwide and came as a response to challenges from some separatists. This prosperity of the media among the minor tribes greatly promoted cultural diversity. The democratization of the media has turned to be a show of democracy to the society. According to Yuezhi (1998), media freedom should be expanded and besides that, access to media services should be provided to social groups including the minor ethnic communities. She also supports the three basic principles of mass communication that were proposed by McQuail, (2003). These include freedom, equality and order. Inequality in media service access has been prevalent and due to efforts to curb this, it is vital that infrastructure also be developed to enhance accessibility to some areas that might be hard done by in terms of media service. This freedom of information gives each society the power to maintain their traditional culture and at the same time provides the exposure to other cultures for diversity. According to Wilk (1995), the media in Belize has been focused on the national character and the cultural differences. It has also played a part in realignment of political alliances. The media has also influenced the way people perceive time. This has been hugely due to satellite broadcast which has brought about access to the metropole. Wilk argues that time is linked to the geography and power colonial and also neo-colonial setting. However, TV times have broken this link between the distance in geography and the lag in culture. Belizeans no longer see themselves as being backward and they instead understand the cultural and political differences between them and the metropoles. In effect, the elite in Belize no longer determine fashion transmission. The Belizean government has also offered its support to the media, although it came as a result of pressure from the USA. Prior to this, the government had tried to regulate this industry. This move to regulate was further spurred on by the approaching 1984 elections where the government wanted to raise caution on effects of media, especially television on its culture. One minister, the Minister for Education, even went ahead and stated that television was more dangerous compared to an invasion by a ten thousand troop of army. This however turned out to haunt the ruling party as it lost in the elections because of this notion. Belize has even been portrayed by some scholars as being a victim of imperialism of culture or world information order of neo colonial times. The use of imported mass media, especially through the television, has brought about a global context in Belize. It has resulted in the categorization of culture and way of doing things into “our way” for the youth and the traditional “Belizean way”. In spite of this, Belize is still a multi tribal and multi lingual country, disparities still being existent in education and wealth. However, due to the free access to media, information is shared and all Belizeans can converse at the same level about programs. The Belizeans have also been able to distinguish between the local and global. Despite the political, class and ethnical differences, the media has brought about some changes in these social divisions and factions’ alignment. Wilk (1995) argues that people who had some differences before now have something common to share in terms of the effects brought about by foreign television. This media has also brought about changes in the debates on local and foreign. The debate is now carried out in cultural terms and not on political and economic self-rule from Britain. This shows that the rate of media influence in Belize has been so rapid. Effects of Technology According to CEC (1997), a new approach was brought about to communication policy. This was spearheaded by technological convergence where the boundaries between communication networks and information technologies are reduced. It means computers and televisions are almost integrated in to one. Along with this, there is also economic convergence where branches of communication, computing and publishing are joined. In fact, this idea of convergence was the key driving force behind the invention of media policy, according to Cuilenburg and McQuail (2003). For instance, the Ministry of Communication came to existence and new media laws were laid down. Mass media regulation became connected to regulations of telecommunication. In addition to these technological changes, there were also socio-cultural changes. These recent developments led to the fall of communism and ideological decline, an increase in scope and the respect accorded to the free market and the politics took a shift to the right. Policy is now being driven by populism. Further, global advancement in communication and national frontiers’ permeability by multinational media have taken effect. The rising concept of policy in the media is largely motivated by a fiscal and technical logic, though it retains some normal elements. The technical logic covers a broader set of values and is not so much supported by the normal underpinnings of independent theory. Character wise, the relevant norms have become more ‘communicative’ and less ‘political’. This observation is dependent on universal meanings of terms, where ‘cultural’ means the customary art and language, associated with a nation or region, where as ‘political’ refers to the recognized political institution. Challenges faced China’s quest for cultural diversity through use of the media still faces a lot of challenges. This is because it falls subject to other factors which include religious sensitivity, anti-splitting and absence of programmes that are self produced. As an example, Tibetan TV station once repeated a translated 30 times and more in a week. This was attributed to a lack of programmes and funds. There was also a shortage of skilled producers. This was a big hurdle in an effort towards cultural heritage. Yuezhi (1998) predicts that the political system of democracy in China does not really favor the media. The media are not entirely free. The Belizean media on the other has faced a lot of criticism on its influence on the Belizean culture. Debates have constantly been tabled by priests, students, scholars and even the government on the influence of the media on the Belizean culture. According to Wilk (1995), the media has brought about a classification of culture in to “their culture” which refers to the culture being seeped in by the media and their “our culture”, which is the traditional culture of the Belizean people. Future trends According to McQuail (2003), the media has undergone tremendous growth owing to factors such as: Move by the countries towards European integration, Reduced government spending in media, Upcoming technologies, Media globalization which has become unstoppable, A change in labor market. Emerging trends in the media industry in the globalization age can be summarized according to Held et al (1999) as follows: An eventual shift of media ownership from government to private ownership, More concentration in terms of ownership, Corporations develop a transnational nature because of the emergence of subsidiaries which are foreign and their acquisition of local firms, Diversification of corporate across various types of products from the media, Increased merging of cultural producers, computer software and hardware organizations and telecommunications companies. Chu (2008) proposes that the media will continue to show response to the progress in technology and industry as policy makers across the world continue adjusting regulations in communication hence leading to a further shift to industrialization. Conclusion The general shift towards globalization has greatly imposed some changes in the media industry. Governments, like that of China have been forced to relax their stance on the media by making some changes to their policy so as to favor globalization. Media in most countries has achieved the freedom that was most needed and some countries like Belize have even begun to question the extent of media influence on their culture. The developments seen in media are however welcome in most countries as this has become a necessary tool towards enhancing culture diversity, the industrial spirit and globalization. References Burton Graeme, 2005. Media and Society Critical perspectives. McGraw-Hill Education. England. CEC (Commission of the European Communities), 1997. Green Paper on the Convergence of the Telecom, Media and Information Technology Sectors and the Implications for Regulation: Towards an Information Society Approach. Chu Cho-wen, 2008. A Comparative Review of Media Globalization in China and Taiwan. University of Manchester. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CEC) 2006, Agencies Responsible for Censorship in China. Retrieved on October 29, 2012 from . Dr. Zhao Yuezhi, 1998. Democratic Media System’ in China. China. Held, David et al, 1999. Global Transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Cambridge, UK: Polity. Jan van Cuilenburg and Denis McQuail 2003. Paradigm Media Policy Paradigm Shifts: Towards a New Communications Policy. Sage. London. Parekh, B. (2006) Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory, 2nd edition. Palgrave Macmillan. Hampshire and New York. UNESCO, 2005. Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. UNESCO, Paris. Wetherbee J. Rebecca, 2010. Censorship and Evolving Media Policy in China. Elon Unioversity. Wilk R. Richard, 1995. Television, Time and the national Imaginary in Belize. Indiana University. Yin, J., 2006. China’s Second Long March: A Review of Chinese Media Discourse on Globalization. Review of Communication, 6(1/2), 32-51. Read More