1) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience?
One way in which increased globalisation of news has improved audience experience is through the wider availability of international channels on Television. For example, we can view live footage in other countries such as China or India while sitting in the convenience of our own home in the UK. Our multi-ethnic society pays more of an interest in news around the world. We have greater access to international news online also, as international newspapers such as India Times are available to view and most are free.
On the other hand, it can be argued that news companies only show audiences news that is interesting instead of what is important. Alain de Botton argues that news corporations only show us a snapshot of footage of natural disasters in other countries for example. Audiences are only shown dramatic images and are not given much information. This then means that we do not have much sympathy towards those who are being affected and do nothing about it. It can therefore be argued of whether news institutions are to blame for this.
2) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What example can you think of?
On one hand, it can be argued that news focuses on American culture widely in the UK. An example is celebrity news/gossip. A majority of American celebrity news is released in the UK. This could be because American celebrity news is more interesting and consists of more scandals, which gives British institutions more viewers and audiences.
On the other hand, British news is said to be less bias then American news. Therefore, British news is more likely to focus on the values it currently holds as it is admired by audiences. If they took on too many traits on American news then British institutions may find themselves losing viewers.
3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions?
It can be argued that globalisation has benefited major news institutions as companies have greater access to content around the world. For example, news institutions do not need to rely on citizen journalism if there is a disaster in America and their company is based in the UK. Instead they can spread out journalists and reporters from their company around the world so footage can be gathered and reported by the institution.
On the other hand institutions can be challenged due to globalisation. One example is the Ferguson case in America. The shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer broke out into protests in Ferguson and across the US. The protesters used social media to organise their demonstrations.They used Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to spread the word about planned protest locations, sending text messages with announcements and collecting donations and supplies. Two of the main organisers prepared for the protests by sending out tweets with information and calls to action. The two reached more than 20,000 followers each with their Ferguson updates.
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