Media and Globalization

Essay by saeed123College, UndergraduateA, December 2009

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IntroductionThrough the process of globalization, the political, economic, and sociocultural activities of one region of the world can have significant effects on people or communities in regions far away (Frith, 2003). Today's globalized world is characterized by extensive connectivity and global consciousness. The paper debates that media play an essential role in globalization and have both positive and negative influences on children and adolescents.

The trend of globalization has led many news organizations to "go global." Global media are usually transnational organizations that generate messages or programs for dissemination to a large number of people around the world, which in turn quickens the globalization process and changes the social environment in which children and adolescents live. Globalization is part of the daily life of youth, affecting their work, leisure, entertainment, language, food, and so forth. In recent decades, technological advancements in cable, satellite, digital media, and the Internet have strengthened the role of the media, particularly the global media, in the globalization process (Sreberny, 2005).

The media's importance to globalization can be described in four dimensions that are related to young people's lives: the social, the political, the economic, and the cultural.

The Social DimensionAccording to Hjarvard (2003) modern media deliver news and messages around the globe, breaking the boundaries of time and place. The global real-time communication system intensifies social interaction over long distances and cultivates the global consciousness of young people. Satellite television and the Internet bring live news and information to young people's doorsteps around the globe. There are few places in the world today where a young person cannot gain access to a continuous flow of information, sound, and pictures from other countries and cultures. The global communication system helps young people reach out to the world and develop multiple understandings about things and issues. Many...