Zakya Daoud
In the author’s day held at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Ms. Zakya Daoud came to give a presentation about her book Lamalif that talks about the 30 years of journalism in Morocco between 1958 and 1988. In this book is a narrative-descriptive book because the author described Morocco at that time based on her experience and the experience of people who knows. Ms. Daoud said that it is very important for people to know the history of present time because it shapes our present. In her book she criticizes Morocco for various things. She said that Morocco is not really an agriculture force as it is said. Concerning the industrialization, she said that we have to question ourselves if textile is industrialization, and she continues, we do not have the industrialization basics in Morocco.
She said that one of the differences between that time and now, people talked about the Maghreb Arab Union (Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya), but nowadays, no one talks about it, and the new generation is forgetting it. She said also that in this period of 30 years, they witnessed the decline and fall down of the Arabs.
At that time, she said, the there was not as much entertaining tools as today. In Music, there were Jil Jilala and Nas Lghiwane, movies were very rare and most of them were short ones, but they were very expressive and talk about the reality. She stated that at that time people started to talk about tradition versus modernization.
When she talked about politics, she mentioned a very interesting quote: “the more the political space is closed, the more the cultural space is open.”
Finally, she spoke about the relationship between media and government. She said that there are always red lines to stay within. She affirmed that those lines exist because media and government are two different powers with different goals.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Assignment 3
Assignment 3
Depending in the information provided by Craig Barrett, education is a very important aspect that should be encountered in African countries. However, in my point of view, there are other more crucial aspects that should be improved in Africa such as food, civil wars and health conditions. Most south Saharan African countries are underdeveloped and internet should not be there main concern. Internet and wireless connection are significant for developing countries in order to improve the quality of their services and to open new opportunities for people, nevertheless, to get this kind of technological tools it is not easier also for developing countries, and the example is India which is a leader in software production. I think that the idea that can be gotten from reading both articles is that there are two projects that should be accompanied and worked together which are communication and development. The joining of the two concepts leads to what is called communication for development which could be the starting point for progress.
Depending in the information provided by Craig Barrett, education is a very important aspect that should be encountered in African countries. However, in my point of view, there are other more crucial aspects that should be improved in Africa such as food, civil wars and health conditions. Most south Saharan African countries are underdeveloped and internet should not be there main concern. Internet and wireless connection are significant for developing countries in order to improve the quality of their services and to open new opportunities for people, nevertheless, to get this kind of technological tools it is not easier also for developing countries, and the example is India which is a leader in software production. I think that the idea that can be gotten from reading both articles is that there are two projects that should be accompanied and worked together which are communication and development. The joining of the two concepts leads to what is called communication for development which could be the starting point for progress.
Assignment 3
Assignment 3
Depending in the information provided by Craig Barrett, education is a very important aspect that should be encountered in African countries. However, in my point of view, there are other more crucial aspects that should be improved in Africa such as food, civil wars and health conditions. Most south Saharan African countries are underdeveloped and internet should not be there main concern. Internet and wireless connection are significant for developing countries in order to improve the quality of their services and to open new opportunities for people, nevertheless, to get this kind of technological tools it is not easier also for developing countries, and the example is India which is a leader in software production. I think that the idea that can be gotten from reading both articles is that there are two projects that should be accompanied and worked together which are communication and development. The joining of the two concepts leads to what is called communication for development which could be the starting point for progress.
Depending in the information provided by Craig Barrett, education is a very important aspect that should be encountered in African countries. However, in my point of view, there are other more crucial aspects that should be improved in Africa such as food, civil wars and health conditions. Most south Saharan African countries are underdeveloped and internet should not be there main concern. Internet and wireless connection are significant for developing countries in order to improve the quality of their services and to open new opportunities for people, nevertheless, to get this kind of technological tools it is not easier also for developing countries, and the example is India which is a leader in software production. I think that the idea that can be gotten from reading both articles is that there are two projects that should be accompanied and worked together which are communication and development. The joining of the two concepts leads to what is called communication for development which could be the starting point for progress.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Global Communication Law
Global Communication Law
- A global approach to the implementation of international law and policy administered by an agency such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was reserved for areas such as broadcasting.
- A global approach has also been embraced when mutual cooperation furthered social goals such as the protection of intellectual property rights.
The traditional role of freedom of expression
Conditions accompanying freedom
- Emerson saw freedom of expression in a modern democratic society as a set of rights. Among these were the right of citizens to think and believe whatever they wanted and the right to communicate those thoughts and beliefs in any medium.
- These freedoms will be extended not only to political discourse but also to the infinite range of artistic, scientific, religious and philosophical inquiries that capture and cajole the human imagination.
- Four resultant conditions that are essential to a true democracy and that are present in a society only when freedom of expression is present: human dignity and self fulfillment, progression toward truth through an unfettered “marketplace of ideas,” the provision of the instrument, or means of democratic decision making and conflict can take place without any necessary resource to violence.
International and national limitations on freedom of expression
The United States
- Although freedom of expression is a foundational value in a modern democracy, other societal values at specific times and in specific circumstances are equally important or of great importance to democratic nation-states.
- No nation-state is willing to allow highly classified national security materials to be passed without penalty to an enemy, nor to allow a conspiracy to murder a group of innocent citizens.
- Modern democracies differ as to both the critical societal values that must be balanced against freedom of expression and the formulas that are to be used in the balancing process.
- Punishment for expression that causes real injuries usually occurs in the United States after the expression has taken place.
- The United States allows much expression that is punished or banned in some modern democracies.
- Expression that engenders emotional distress or disgust; expression that causes embarrassment; expression that might be perceived as insulting, blasphemous, sexist, racist, vulgar or indecent-all are protected and tolerated as free speech in American society.
International covenants
- The right of free speech stands as a general norm of customary international law.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
National Limitations
- Democratic nation-states diverge in significant ways in their respective limitations on freedom of expression.
- Groups and individuals who openly engage in speech disparaging people of particular races, creeds or colors can do so freely.
- The laissez-faire attitude of the United States in the areas of hate expression can be contrasted with that of Great Britain, Canada, India and Nigeria, for example.
- Similar divergences by democratic nation-states in assigning the parameters of freedom of expression are readily apparent in areas such as prior restraint and censorship for national security purposes.
- There could have been no damage award, because any civil privacy concerns would have been outweighed by the fact that the matter was of public concerns.
- The areas of censorship for national security purposes and censorship for moral and religious reasons are especially worthy of further examination.
Censorship and national security
The U.S. situation
- As mentioned previously, the general concept of censorship –that is, the concept of the government’s taking overt action to prevent its people from having access to particular facts, ideals, and opinions- is constitutionally repugnant in the United States.
- In the United States, most recent charges of governmental censorship in the national security arena have centered on the treatment of the press during military operations.
- A 1977 agreement between representatives of the press and the government was mutually accepted as balancing national security needs with the duty of the press to inform American citizens.
- During the war in Iraq, however, U.S. and British forces placed restrictive regulations on the media through an interim media counsel.
- The culture of a “right to information” has permeated American society since the original adoption of the FOIA in 1966.
The world situation
- Great Britain provides a good example of a country that does not hesitate to curtail expression for what it claims are national security reasons.
- In 2000, Britain incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into its own domestic law, providing Britons with at least the opportunity to have a right of freedom of expression of expression that can be enforced in the British courts.
- The British government has blocked publication of information in Britain that had already been published in other countries.
- Germany provides another example of a democratic society that does not hesitate to censor in the same of national security. The German constitutional system, or Basic Law, establishes numerous individual rights, including the right to free speech.
- Some forms of political speech are viewed as dangerous expression that potentially could do great harm to the internal security of the nation.
- Britain, Germany, Japan, Ireland and France represent relatively long-established democracies. If similar scrutiny were applied to more recently emerged democracies in various parts of the world, the tendency of nations to censor for perceived national security reasons would become even more apparent.
Censorship for moral and religious reasons
American censorship
- The American position with regard to obscenity is somewhat at odds with its general posture as the world’s leading defender of freedom of expression.
- No definition of obscenity could command a majority of the Court during the 1960s and early 1970s.
- At the federal level, under political pressure after almost a decade of little enforcement activity the Justice Department began an aggressive program of obscenity prosecutions.
Moral-religious censorship around the world
- The American predilection to single out obscenity as an area of expression is not
necessarily shared around the globe.
- In Germany, for example, obscenity is not “as central as policy concern”
- England takes a more permissive legal stance on obscenity than the United States, defining obscenity according to the type of person who may obtain the material.
- The law is primarily aimed at the protection of children, and graphic sexual materials that are restricted to the adult population are not necessarily considered obscene.
- Sweden and Holland have virtually no laws restricting obscenity, and both of these countries have large pornography industries.
- However, some countries, like Ireland, engage in even more intense censorship of obscenity than the U.S.
- A global look at the reaction of nation-states to pornographic and obscene materials thus reveals the same divergences in policy and law that affect all other areas of expression.
- In Saudi Arabia and Iran concepts like individualism, liberty, democracy, free markets, and the separation of church and state are out of place in an Islamic civilization.
- In Islam, the claim to a unique and valid alternative position on human rights, can give rise to censorship activities that seem quite foreign from a Western democratic perspective.
- What is obvious from the foregoing example is that some nation-states deny the universality of the Western democratic conception of human rights and the subsequent importance of freedom of expression.
- On a global scale of freedom of expression ranging from total censorship to absolute freedom, nation-states can be found that occupy almost all available positions.
Existing international regulatory bodies
International Telecommunication Union
- The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was formed in 1932, growing out of the International Telegraph Union.
- In 1947, the ITU became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
- In various forms, it has played a dominant role in international cooperation and standard setting throughout the history of telecommunications.
- It now functions as the ultimate manager of the world’s telecommunications resources.
- The ITU has its own convention, constitution, and operating regulations, all of which have the status of international treaties.
- Two major criticisms currently threaten the continued dominance of the ITU in its role as global overseer of telecommunications: voting power and financial contributions.
- Yet another problem facing the ITU is the growing importance of nonstate actors, primarily large commercial telecommunication firms, on the world telecommunications scene.
Intelsat
- The International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (Intelsat) was established by the United States and various European countries in 1964.
- Initially, like the ITU, Intelsat was primarily an organization directed by its member nation-states, although state-designated telecommunications entities also were part of a multilevel governance scheme.
- After nearly 40 years as a treaty-based organization, Intelsat went private in 2001.
- The move to privatize was driven by the need to be competitive in a global communication environment.
- It also operates an integrated group of telecommunications companies.
- A global approach to the implementation of international law and policy administered by an agency such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was reserved for areas such as broadcasting.
- A global approach has also been embraced when mutual cooperation furthered social goals such as the protection of intellectual property rights.
The traditional role of freedom of expression
Conditions accompanying freedom
- Emerson saw freedom of expression in a modern democratic society as a set of rights. Among these were the right of citizens to think and believe whatever they wanted and the right to communicate those thoughts and beliefs in any medium.
- These freedoms will be extended not only to political discourse but also to the infinite range of artistic, scientific, religious and philosophical inquiries that capture and cajole the human imagination.
- Four resultant conditions that are essential to a true democracy and that are present in a society only when freedom of expression is present: human dignity and self fulfillment, progression toward truth through an unfettered “marketplace of ideas,” the provision of the instrument, or means of democratic decision making and conflict can take place without any necessary resource to violence.
International and national limitations on freedom of expression
The United States
- Although freedom of expression is a foundational value in a modern democracy, other societal values at specific times and in specific circumstances are equally important or of great importance to democratic nation-states.
- No nation-state is willing to allow highly classified national security materials to be passed without penalty to an enemy, nor to allow a conspiracy to murder a group of innocent citizens.
- Modern democracies differ as to both the critical societal values that must be balanced against freedom of expression and the formulas that are to be used in the balancing process.
- Punishment for expression that causes real injuries usually occurs in the United States after the expression has taken place.
- The United States allows much expression that is punished or banned in some modern democracies.
- Expression that engenders emotional distress or disgust; expression that causes embarrassment; expression that might be perceived as insulting, blasphemous, sexist, racist, vulgar or indecent-all are protected and tolerated as free speech in American society.
International covenants
- The right of free speech stands as a general norm of customary international law.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
National Limitations
- Democratic nation-states diverge in significant ways in their respective limitations on freedom of expression.
- Groups and individuals who openly engage in speech disparaging people of particular races, creeds or colors can do so freely.
- The laissez-faire attitude of the United States in the areas of hate expression can be contrasted with that of Great Britain, Canada, India and Nigeria, for example.
- Similar divergences by democratic nation-states in assigning the parameters of freedom of expression are readily apparent in areas such as prior restraint and censorship for national security purposes.
- There could have been no damage award, because any civil privacy concerns would have been outweighed by the fact that the matter was of public concerns.
- The areas of censorship for national security purposes and censorship for moral and religious reasons are especially worthy of further examination.
Censorship and national security
The U.S. situation
- As mentioned previously, the general concept of censorship –that is, the concept of the government’s taking overt action to prevent its people from having access to particular facts, ideals, and opinions- is constitutionally repugnant in the United States.
- In the United States, most recent charges of governmental censorship in the national security arena have centered on the treatment of the press during military operations.
- A 1977 agreement between representatives of the press and the government was mutually accepted as balancing national security needs with the duty of the press to inform American citizens.
- During the war in Iraq, however, U.S. and British forces placed restrictive regulations on the media through an interim media counsel.
- The culture of a “right to information” has permeated American society since the original adoption of the FOIA in 1966.
The world situation
- Great Britain provides a good example of a country that does not hesitate to curtail expression for what it claims are national security reasons.
- In 2000, Britain incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into its own domestic law, providing Britons with at least the opportunity to have a right of freedom of expression of expression that can be enforced in the British courts.
- The British government has blocked publication of information in Britain that had already been published in other countries.
- Germany provides another example of a democratic society that does not hesitate to censor in the same of national security. The German constitutional system, or Basic Law, establishes numerous individual rights, including the right to free speech.
- Some forms of political speech are viewed as dangerous expression that potentially could do great harm to the internal security of the nation.
- Britain, Germany, Japan, Ireland and France represent relatively long-established democracies. If similar scrutiny were applied to more recently emerged democracies in various parts of the world, the tendency of nations to censor for perceived national security reasons would become even more apparent.
Censorship for moral and religious reasons
American censorship
- The American position with regard to obscenity is somewhat at odds with its general posture as the world’s leading defender of freedom of expression.
- No definition of obscenity could command a majority of the Court during the 1960s and early 1970s.
- At the federal level, under political pressure after almost a decade of little enforcement activity the Justice Department began an aggressive program of obscenity prosecutions.
Moral-religious censorship around the world
- The American predilection to single out obscenity as an area of expression is not
necessarily shared around the globe.
- In Germany, for example, obscenity is not “as central as policy concern”
- England takes a more permissive legal stance on obscenity than the United States, defining obscenity according to the type of person who may obtain the material.
- The law is primarily aimed at the protection of children, and graphic sexual materials that are restricted to the adult population are not necessarily considered obscene.
- Sweden and Holland have virtually no laws restricting obscenity, and both of these countries have large pornography industries.
- However, some countries, like Ireland, engage in even more intense censorship of obscenity than the U.S.
- A global look at the reaction of nation-states to pornographic and obscene materials thus reveals the same divergences in policy and law that affect all other areas of expression.
- In Saudi Arabia and Iran concepts like individualism, liberty, democracy, free markets, and the separation of church and state are out of place in an Islamic civilization.
- In Islam, the claim to a unique and valid alternative position on human rights, can give rise to censorship activities that seem quite foreign from a Western democratic perspective.
- What is obvious from the foregoing example is that some nation-states deny the universality of the Western democratic conception of human rights and the subsequent importance of freedom of expression.
- On a global scale of freedom of expression ranging from total censorship to absolute freedom, nation-states can be found that occupy almost all available positions.
Existing international regulatory bodies
International Telecommunication Union
- The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was formed in 1932, growing out of the International Telegraph Union.
- In 1947, the ITU became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
- In various forms, it has played a dominant role in international cooperation and standard setting throughout the history of telecommunications.
- It now functions as the ultimate manager of the world’s telecommunications resources.
- The ITU has its own convention, constitution, and operating regulations, all of which have the status of international treaties.
- Two major criticisms currently threaten the continued dominance of the ITU in its role as global overseer of telecommunications: voting power and financial contributions.
- Yet another problem facing the ITU is the growing importance of nonstate actors, primarily large commercial telecommunication firms, on the world telecommunications scene.
Intelsat
- The International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (Intelsat) was established by the United States and various European countries in 1964.
- Initially, like the ITU, Intelsat was primarily an organization directed by its member nation-states, although state-designated telecommunications entities also were part of a multilevel governance scheme.
- After nearly 40 years as a treaty-based organization, Intelsat went private in 2001.
- The move to privatize was driven by the need to be competitive in a global communication environment.
- It also operates an integrated group of telecommunications companies.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Milestones in Communication and National Development
Milestones in Communication and National Development
- Several terms are used to describe the deliberate use of a social system’s communication resources to promote, support and sustain planned social change. Among the terms are communication and national development, development communication, communication and development and communication for development.
- Communication for development is the use of communication processes, techniques and media to help people toward a full awareness of their situation and their options for change, to resolve conflicts, to work toward consensus, to help people plan actions for change and sustainable development, to help people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to improve their condition and that society, and to improve the effectiveness of institutions.
- Public awareness and information campaigns, community mobilization, folk media, social marketing, entertainment-education and advocacy are among the dominant strategies being used to promote, support and sustain projects aimed at agriculture, education, the environment, family planning and reproductive health, gender equality, nutrition and public health.
- Practitioners of communication for development are engaged in projects aimed in improving the economic, political and cultural conditions of people all over the world.
- Purposive communication: the deliberate use of social system’s communication resources to encourage individual and collective movement in a preferred direction.
- Humans can speak and have languages influenced their social organization.
- Through speech and language, they could coordinate efforts to achieve common goals of the group.
- Today, the mass media, especially print, broadcasting and the internet, play important roles in the delivery of formal and informal education in many societies.
- Several terms are used to describe the deliberate use of a social system’s communication resources to promote, support and sustain planned social change. Among the terms are communication and national development, development communication, communication and development and communication for development.
- Communication for development is the use of communication processes, techniques and media to help people toward a full awareness of their situation and their options for change, to resolve conflicts, to work toward consensus, to help people plan actions for change and sustainable development, to help people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to improve their condition and that society, and to improve the effectiveness of institutions.
- Public awareness and information campaigns, community mobilization, folk media, social marketing, entertainment-education and advocacy are among the dominant strategies being used to promote, support and sustain projects aimed at agriculture, education, the environment, family planning and reproductive health, gender equality, nutrition and public health.
- Practitioners of communication for development are engaged in projects aimed in improving the economic, political and cultural conditions of people all over the world.
- Purposive communication: the deliberate use of social system’s communication resources to encourage individual and collective movement in a preferred direction.
- Humans can speak and have languages influenced their social organization.
- Through speech and language, they could coordinate efforts to achieve common goals of the group.
- Today, the mass media, especially print, broadcasting and the internet, play important roles in the delivery of formal and informal education in many societies.
Post-World War II realities
- At the end of World War II, the human condition was bleak.
- The devastation caused by the war and the consequences of colonialism challenged the international community to do something about the unacceptable state of the human condition.
- Infant mortality rates were almost five times higher in Africa, Asia and Latin America than in Europe and the United States.
- The Marshall Plan has demonstrated the effectiveness of management in economic and social reconstruction.
- Development aid became an important item on the international relations agenda, and the development project became the primary vehicle for connecting aid with the beneficiaries.
- Industrialization was generally accepted as the engine driving progress.
- The United States and the Soviet Union sought to use its economic, military and cultural power to achieve its national interests.
- Sphere of influence refers to the ability of powerful states to impose their will on other states through economic, cultural and military means.
- The United Nations was created as a mechanism to prevent war and to coordinate the international community’s response to the global pervasiveness of poverty, want, fear, ignorance and disease in vast regions of the world.
- The UN has played a major role in the development of the field of communication for development.
- The devastation caused by the war and the consequences of colonialism challenged the international community to do something about the unacceptable state of the human condition.
- Infant mortality rates were almost five times higher in Africa, Asia and Latin America than in Europe and the United States.
- The Marshall Plan has demonstrated the effectiveness of management in economic and social reconstruction.
- Development aid became an important item on the international relations agenda, and the development project became the primary vehicle for connecting aid with the beneficiaries.
- Industrialization was generally accepted as the engine driving progress.
- The United States and the Soviet Union sought to use its economic, military and cultural power to achieve its national interests.
- Sphere of influence refers to the ability of powerful states to impose their will on other states through economic, cultural and military means.
- The United Nations was created as a mechanism to prevent war and to coordinate the international community’s response to the global pervasiveness of poverty, want, fear, ignorance and disease in vast regions of the world.
- The UN has played a major role in the development of the field of communication for development.
What is development?
- Development is recognized as a complex, integrated, participatory process, involving stakeholders and beneficiaries and aimed at improving the overall quality of human life through improvements in a range of social sectors in an environmentally responsible manner.
- Among the challenges are the reduction and the elimination of poverty, provision of adequate housing, access to health care and lifelong education, food and nutritional sufficiency, adequate and functioning physical infrastructure, reliable transportation systems, respect of human dignity and rights.
- Development is a profound form of social change.
- An unintended consequence of the increased use of chemical fertilizers has been the pollution of water sources.
- Urban groups appeared to have benefited more than rural poor.
- Fifty years of engagement in the development arena by a number of players has led to the acceptance that development was complex, multidimensional and dialectic process that had no universal recipe.
- Among the challenges are the reduction and the elimination of poverty, provision of adequate housing, access to health care and lifelong education, food and nutritional sufficiency, adequate and functioning physical infrastructure, reliable transportation systems, respect of human dignity and rights.
- Development is a profound form of social change.
- An unintended consequence of the increased use of chemical fertilizers has been the pollution of water sources.
- Urban groups appeared to have benefited more than rural poor.
- Fifty years of engagement in the development arena by a number of players has led to the acceptance that development was complex, multidimensional and dialectic process that had no universal recipe.
Communication for development
- Several forces have influenced the evolution of the field of communication for development. Among these are the growth of capitalism, advances in communication technology, and the ideology rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
- Of equal importance in the evolution of the field of communication for development were the influences of changing development paradigms and advances in communication theory, especially theories of mass media effect.
- Theory in the field of communication for development has been influential in mapping the scope and nature of development challenges, guiding research methods, and supporting transformative practice.
- A paradigm is defined as an overarching body of thoughts whose core assumptions are subscribed to by all who work under its rubric.
- During the Cold War, the modernization paradigm not only guided the generation of communication theory but also influenced the foreign aid decisions of the United States and its allies.
- Of equal importance in the evolution of the field of communication for development were the influences of changing development paradigms and advances in communication theory, especially theories of mass media effect.
- Theory in the field of communication for development has been influential in mapping the scope and nature of development challenges, guiding research methods, and supporting transformative practice.
- A paradigm is defined as an overarching body of thoughts whose core assumptions are subscribed to by all who work under its rubric.
- During the Cold War, the modernization paradigm not only guided the generation of communication theory but also influenced the foreign aid decisions of the United States and its allies.
Southern Ohio, USA
- Southern Ohio is an example of maldevelopment and the process of underdevelopment.
- In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coal mining, mining, and logging industries fueled economic development in Southern Ohio.
- By the 1960s, most of these industries were closed, leaving in their wake unemployment, polluted watershed areas, and other manifestations of environmental degradation.
- The concepts participatory and sustainable are central to contemporary communication for development practices.
- Participation refers to the involvement of citizens/beneficiaries in defining, designing, implementing, and evaluating development interventions.
- The term sustainable development is used to describe an intervention whose outcomes are environmentally and culturally sound and can be continued by the community after the end of any resources that may have been provided by external agencies.
- In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, coal mining, mining, and logging industries fueled economic development in Southern Ohio.
- By the 1960s, most of these industries were closed, leaving in their wake unemployment, polluted watershed areas, and other manifestations of environmental degradation.
- The concepts participatory and sustainable are central to contemporary communication for development practices.
- Participation refers to the involvement of citizens/beneficiaries in defining, designing, implementing, and evaluating development interventions.
- The term sustainable development is used to describe an intervention whose outcomes are environmentally and culturally sound and can be continued by the community after the end of any resources that may have been provided by external agencies.
Turkmenistan
- Communication for development interventions is also evident in the transitional societies that have emerged since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Eritrea
- Modern communication technologies are being used to create distance education systems aimed at improving access to formal education and the management of the economy.
The Caribbean Community
- Dengue and malaria are diseases induce high morbidity rates that undermine worker productivity and can make the Caribbean lass attractive as a tourist destination. Tourism is a major source of income for Caribbean nations.
The modernization model
- The literature of communication for development identifies three development paradigms that have exerted substantial influence on the field since the end of WW II: dominant paradigm (modernization model), the dependency paradigm (dependency critique), and the alternative paradigm (another participatory, or development, model)
Modernization through capitalism
- At the end of World War II, two ideas contended for dominance in the discourse on development and human progress: modernization through capitalism and communism.
- The modernization perspective held that human society progresses in a linear fashion from traditional societies to modern systems of social organization and that they will continue to do so in an evolutionary manner.
- Fatalism, or lack of self-efficacy, has also been identified as an attribute of traditional societies.
- A modern society, on the other hand, is characterized by “materialism, the dominance of capital as a form of wealth, consumerism, rational-legal authority, sub-cultural diversity, and positive evaluation of change.
- Walt Rostow and David McClelland subscribed to the idea that the cause of underdevelopment was to be found exclusively in internal factors.
- Walt Rostow identified four stages he considered necessary for progressing from a traditional to a modern society: the pre-takeoff stage, the takeoff stage, the road to maturity and the mass consumption society.
- Modernization scholars emphasized the importance of broadcasting in the development process.
- The modernization perspective held that human society progresses in a linear fashion from traditional societies to modern systems of social organization and that they will continue to do so in an evolutionary manner.
- Fatalism, or lack of self-efficacy, has also been identified as an attribute of traditional societies.
- A modern society, on the other hand, is characterized by “materialism, the dominance of capital as a form of wealth, consumerism, rational-legal authority, sub-cultural diversity, and positive evaluation of change.
- Walt Rostow and David McClelland subscribed to the idea that the cause of underdevelopment was to be found exclusively in internal factors.
- Walt Rostow identified four stages he considered necessary for progressing from a traditional to a modern society: the pre-takeoff stage, the takeoff stage, the road to maturity and the mass consumption society.
- Modernization scholars emphasized the importance of broadcasting in the development process.
Communism
- The Soviet Union and its allies promoted and supported efforts to achieve progress to revolutionary socialism.
- Information and communication had a special role in revolutionary socialist practice.
- The tensions between these two approaches influenced practices of communication for development within the international development community.
- Information and communication had a special role in revolutionary socialist practice.
- The tensions between these two approaches influenced practices of communication for development within the international development community.
The 1980s: development support communication and project support communication
- The work done by United Nations organizations has contributed much to the field of communication.
- Communication’s role in this formulation was to accelerate the installation of the engines of modernization, especially the industrial infrastructure to facilitate economic growth.
- The development support communication (DSC) approach arose out of dissatisfaction with the ineffectiveness of many of the UN-sponsored development projects in Asia and other parts of the developing world.
- These modernization-oriented projects also failed to take into account culture and context. As a result, there was waste, dissatisfaction, and underutilization.
- UNICEF staff were actively assisting governments around the world is designing communication plans to support development.
- Development support communication interventions by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) demonstrated the essential role of communication I its projects aimed at improving food security and the empowerment of citizens, especially women and farmers.
- Communication’s role in this formulation was to accelerate the installation of the engines of modernization, especially the industrial infrastructure to facilitate economic growth.
- The development support communication (DSC) approach arose out of dissatisfaction with the ineffectiveness of many of the UN-sponsored development projects in Asia and other parts of the developing world.
- These modernization-oriented projects also failed to take into account culture and context. As a result, there was waste, dissatisfaction, and underutilization.
- UNICEF staff were actively assisting governments around the world is designing communication plans to support development.
- Development support communication interventions by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) demonstrated the essential role of communication I its projects aimed at improving food security and the empowerment of citizens, especially women and farmers.
Broadcasting
- In the 1930s, radio in the United States and Europe was used to persuade citizens to become more educated and to consume more goods and services.
- The Voice of America in the Middle East was associated with the United States’ Soviet containment strategy.
- According to Lerner, broadcasting would serve as a psychic mobilizer, facilitating the modernizing process and preventing the adoption of Soviet ideology and practices.
- Broadcasting was key in constructing national identity and national unity.
- Broadcasting played an essential role in diffusion theory, by making the influential early adopters aware of innovation.
- The increased dependency creates the conditions that facilitate individual and collective behavioral change.
- As indicated earlier, socialists held similar ideas about human progress. They contended, however, that capitalism had deformed and derailed human progress, resulting in human exploitation.
- Developing nations that had followed the modernization route had demonstrated marginal improvements in meeting the basic needs of their citizens.
The dependency critique
- The critique of modernization emerged from two intellectual sources: “one rooted in neo-Marxism, or structuralism; the other, in the extensive Latin American debate on development associated with the U.N’ Economic Commission for Latin America”
- Dependency theorists demonstrated that the existing pattern of global economic relations, one dominated by the industrialized north, was contributing the underdevelopment of the developing regions of the world.
- There are encouraging demands for lifestyles that could not be provided by economy.
- The broadcasting systems were undermining development, a phenomenon that Howard Frederick has termed development sabotage communication.
- The dependency critique of the modernization sharpened two essential ideas for communication and development practitioners: the importance of the programming of broadcasting in development; and the importance of participation, not only for achieving a development project goal but also as a crucial element in nurturing democratic practices.
- Dependency theorists demonstrated that the existing pattern of global economic relations, one dominated by the industrialized north, was contributing the underdevelopment of the developing regions of the world.
- There are encouraging demands for lifestyles that could not be provided by economy.
- The broadcasting systems were undermining development, a phenomenon that Howard Frederick has termed development sabotage communication.
- The dependency critique of the modernization sharpened two essential ideas for communication and development practitioners: the importance of the programming of broadcasting in development; and the importance of participation, not only for achieving a development project goal but also as a crucial element in nurturing democratic practices.
Another development
- This new perspective on development was initially articulated in Sweden and has three fundamental pillars: development should strive to eradicate poverty and satisfy basic human needs, priority should be given to “self-reliant and endogenous change processes,” and development should be environmentally responsible.
Contemporary strategies in Communication for development
- Exciting new strategies in communication for development have emerged over the past three decades.
- Public awareness campaigns, social marketing, entertainment education, and advocacy have been effective in communication for development projects.
- These theory-driven strategies all subscribe to systematic planning: formative research, project design, pretesting of materials, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Public Awareness campaigns
- Public awareness campaigns systematically draw upon the power of the mass media, especially broadcasting, to create awareness in societies about the development intervention.
Social marketing
- Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing ideas to promote and to deliver pro-social interventions.
Entertainment education
- Entertainment education has been defined as the systematic embedding of pro-social educational messages in popular entertainment formats.
Advocacy
- When stakeholders and beneficiaries in the development process promote the interventions by reporting on their positive experiences and benefits, the credibility of communication increases.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Online Journalism/ The Case of Morocco
Proposal:
The word news is a very important word in all languages because it communicates all the recent happenings in our environment. Every one of us is interested in a specific domain; there are people interested in politics, business or sports. Newspapers and magazines are from the most important tools that provide people with detailed information. In 1990s, the world witnessed the birth of a new technology that changed various aspects of our daily life. The relationship between news and internet, as a fast medium to transfer information, is very clear. Nowadays, in Morocco, newspapers and magazines are moving to online journalism. Therefore, how Moroccan media are using internet?
I am interested in this issue because I am majoring in Communication studies and mass media is the basic of my studies. Moreover, online journalism is becoming a revolution, and Morocco is adapting this new idea. This issue is also crucial because it is mixing two media in one which make it complicated.
I know that global newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times started online journalism many years ago, and they succeeded to reach a large number of people around the world. I also know that some Moroccan newspapers wanted to follow this wave such as Asabah, but they faced various problems at the beginning especially financial problems. I also know that the website of a newspaper or magazine should have daily supervising. Concerning this issue, I still need to know about the way Moroccan media use internet, and the reasons for which there is a shift to internet. Moreover, I still need to know about all the Moroccan online newspapers and magazines. I also need to know about the perceptions of Moroccans toward online journalism.
Outline:
Introduction:
- The importance of internet.
- Definition of online journalism
- General information about online journalism.
Body:
- First part :
The contribution of internet to the development of online journalism and media.
The effect of online journalism on the flow of information.
The characteristics and types of online journalism.
- Second part :
How Moroccan media are using the internet and why.
The list off all Moroccan online newspapers
Online and offline newspapers in Morocco
Online radio and TV stations in Morocco.
Conclusion:
- An evaluation of the benefits of Moroccan media.
Paper:
Introduction
The Internet is playing a very crucial role in all aspects of our lives. People start to use it in order to shop, look for different information about a variety of topics and as a source of news. Its use facilitates the exchange of information including images, sounds and videos. One of the significant aspects of internet is that people from all over the world are able to see and share the same information. For instance, if a video is published in Germany, I have the same chance to see this video as a German. Therefore, internet limited the physical, political and cultural boundaries. In the book, The Online Journalist: Using Internet and Other Electronic Resources, Elliot King and Randy Reddick define internet in this way “The Internet is not an organization. It is not an institution. It is not a club. You cannot become a member. Nobody owns the Internet; and strictly speaking, no body controls it, governs it, or takes responsibility for it. Internet is a term used to describe the interconnection of many computer networks in a way that allows them to communicate with each other.” (p. 17). From this definition, one can infer that the word “Internet” is a very complicated word. The complexity of internet may also be seen in the various uses and applications of it; for instance, it is used for electronic mailing, chat, World Wide Web and usenet news (King, Reddick; p: 25).
Journalism is a major aspect in all societies throughout history because people are interested in news. Richard Graig, an associate professor who support and believe on online journalism, talks about the technological evolution of journalism in his book Online Journalism; he says that the timeline of journalism moves from newspapers to newsmagazines to radio to television and then to online news (p. 8). Journalism is one of the fields that benefits from internet because different big news organizations believe that they can profit a lot from online journalism. Online journalism is defined as the reporting of facts produced and distributed via the Internet. It is not much different from print journalism in term of content, but it has a great effect on people, organizations and societies as a whole. Morocco adapted online journalism at the beginning of this century. How do Moroccan media adapt to and use online journalism?
Online Journalism is Different
Internet and the Development of Online Journalism
The contribution of internet to journalism is very significant because it facilitates the check of news. Nowadays, people are busier than in the past; they do not have time to buy and read newspapers in coffee shops, or to stop working and read newspapers or watch TV on a daily basis. An example of this statement is the New York Times sales during weekends that are higher than weekdays for a simple reason which is people do not work during the weekend (Dr. Hottel). People today read online versions of newspapers while working, so internet makes it easier and faster for people to know about daily news. In a research conducted in the United States shows that in general Americans are positive to the contribution of Internet to journalism “The results show that 53 per cent of respondents believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the fourth estate.” In my point of view, people favor online journalism because it provides what other technologies cannot provide such as the combination of pictures, sounds, graphs and videos. In addition, internet brings up a new kind of journalism that did not exist in the past which is citizen or amateur journalism. Citizen journalism means that people that are not professional in the field of journalism may also contribute online. The freedom of reporting about any subject is one noteworthy advantage of amateur online journalism, meaning that one can put anything on internet and everyone have the same chance to share it. The best example of citizen journalism is YouTube website which consists mainly of videos.
Online Journalism and the Flow of Information
Online journalism may play a crucial role in the flow of information. Before online journalism, most people believe that there existed only the one-way flow of information in which information move from developed countries in general and the United States in particular to developing countries. However, the appearance of online journalism makes a change by giving developing countries space to express their views about global issues. The launch of Al Jazeera English website that was made to compete with CNN International website is an example of the role of online journalism in balancing the flow of information between developing and developed countries. In this regard, Yahya R. Kamalipour states in his book Global Communication that “the Internet has greater promise in serving as an equalizer in the skewed flow of news and information globally” (p. 126). Online journalism also play a vital role in giving people the freedom to talk about topics that are not allowed or illegal to talk about using other means such as newspapers, radio or television. Kamalipour cites:
“A significant dimension of news flow on the Internet is that people in nondemocratic states are beginning to have access to uncensored news, analysis, and discussions about political developments in their own countries, even though regimes in such countries are jittery about the free flow of information.” (p. 126).
Based on this statement, the free flow of information is not only international, but it is also national. Therefore, online journalism opens the doors for people to talk about their local issues. One example about the national flow of information in Morocco is the “Kanas Targuist” video that shows and proves that Moroccan policemen still take and accept bribery. Some private newspapers already talked about the spread out of bribery within the security system in Morocco, but they never gave concrete proofs because they are not allowed to do it. On the other hand, the Moroccan television never broadcasted a similar video or reportage about this phenomenon. Therefore, online journalism is decreasing the ability of authoritarian regimes from preventing people to access to news and political debates.
Characteristics and Types of Online Journalism
Characteristics
Online journalism, as other news media, has its own characteristics and types. Although there is a number of differences between online journalism and print or broadcast journalism, there are also some points in common. In the same view, Graig says that the objectives of journalism, which are time, proximity and prominence, did not change from the past; nonetheless, technology has set new standards for measuring those objectives (p. 6). In general, writers and editors have to consider three principals concerning journalism which are the medium, the facts and the audience. In online journalism, the medium is known which is Internet. The online journalism facts characteristics are similar to the ones of print and broadcast journalism in addition to two other characteristics stated by Graig “two main characteristics that distinguished online journalism from its counterparts. Online media offered multimedia capabilities and the ability to update stories instantly” (p. 8). In addition to those two characteristics, online journalism also provides links to people in case they want to know more about a specific topic or issue. Audience is a very important aspect of journalism. Graig reports that Howard K. Smith says “the most irresponsible thing in broadcasting is to be dull” (p. 11). Engaging the audience is the main point that Graig gives when analyzing this statement; therefore, audience should be carefully taken into consideration. In online journalism, audiences have their own unique characteristics. According to Graig, there are three main factors that have influence on online journalism audience. The first factor is that “reading news online requires both a computer and Internet access” which means that the users should have stable financial situation and an adequate literacy level. The second factor is “online news requires closer concentration and interest than broadcast news because it is based on readings” meaning that the audience has an active role in selecting the subject. The third factor is “thanks to search engines and customizable news pages, online news viewers can choose to highlight stories and subjects they’re interested in at the expense of other subjects” (p. 12).
Types
Concerning the types of online journalism, I found that researchers in this domain have different views to the types of online journalism; however, I discovered that most researchers declare that there four types of online journalism. Mark Deuze, who is an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam, believes that the four types of online journalism are “mainstream news sites, search engines and media watchdogs, media discussion groups, and finally share and discussion sites.” Mainstream news sites are news moderated from participatory communication such as CNN and Al Jazeera which are very important sites because of the role they play in providing online news. Search engines are simply sites such as google and yahoo that provides links to mainstream sites and personal weblogs, which are websites run by individuals. However, the problem with personal weblogs is credibility, and to what extent should we rely on news provided in them. Media discussion groups, are another type of online journalism, mainly discuss the media content and to work as a mediawatchdog. Finally, share and discussion sites provide ground for exchanging and discussion of ideas about a specific community or subject. (Deuze, 2004).
The Case of Morocco
Workshops on Online Journalism
Morocco, as most of the world, adapted online journalism because of the global use and need of this new kind of journalism. In this regard, there had been many workshops conducted by Magda Abu-Fadil who is the director of the Institute for Professional Journalists (IPJ). Those workshops were financed by the U.S. State Department’s Speaker’s Program, and they took place in Rabat, Fez, Mekenes and at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. These workshops discussed different issues related to journalism in Morocco, and specifically the topic of online journalism. Those workshops were attended by different journalists, scholars and students; therefore, workshops can play a crucial role in clarifying the characteristics and types of online journalism.
Limits to Online Journalism
Online journalism is a new and fresh field of journalism in Morocco; for this reason, it is not well developed, and it still needs a lot of work concerning the audience, the job of the online journalist and the online writing styles. To first understand online journalism in Morocco, we should know some basic information about Internet. Access to Internet in Morocco is not restricted by the government; people have the ability to access any website they want, yet the government can stop any website in Morocco that can affect the national security. For example, the Moroccan government stopped googleearth because it allowed people to have access to private places such as military camps and the king palaces (Human Rights Watch, 1999). From this information, we can infer that the Moroccan Internet users could access any kind of websites except for the ones that monitor the king’s private life, military and the Sahara.
Media in Morocco started using online journalism in 2000 which might be considered late if we compare it to the United States that started in 1991, and in the year 2001, there were 12,878 records of online newsmedia. Today in Morocco, the number of online newsmedia does not exceed a hundred website which means that we still do not have an online journalism that can satisfy a large number of Moroccans. Online newspapers are the most common online newsmedium in Morocco, but I think that they still do not have a great influence on people because they contain the same information as the print version. In my point of view, Moroccans show a little interest in Moroccan online journalism because there is no additional information.
Moroccan online journalism still faces different difficulties in terms of content and technical development. The content of the online version is definitely the same as the print version, and sometimes the online version does not have all the information provided in the print one. I addition, there is a number of online newspapers that are not daily updated which makes people prefer to rely on the print version. There are also some newspapers websites that cannot be opened fast such as Asabah newspaper. Another problem that stands against the development of online journalism in Morocco is the price of newspapers. The price of newspapers in Morocco is much lower than the prices, for instance, in the United States; for this reason, I think that online journalism is more accepted and consumed in the United States than Morocco.
Online News Sources
After a research in Internet, I found that the first Moroccan online news website launched is menara which belongs to Maroc Telecom, the Internet provider in Morocco. It exists only online, and it does not have any print copy; there is a number of news providers in Morocco that exist only online. Concerning newspapers, the first online newspaper is L’economiste that was launched in 2001. The first TV channel that launched an online website is 2M TV. Citizen journalism also has a role in online journalism, and it is basically related to personal blogs. My conclusion, after checking all the online news resources in Morocco, is that newspapers are the most common source of news.
In Morocco, there are twenty-seven online newspapers that have also a print copy. These newspapers are Al Ahdath Al Maghribya الاØداث المغربية , Al Alam العلم , Al Bayane, Al Ittihad االإتØاد الإشتراكي Ichtiraki, Al Jareeda الجريدة , Al Massae المساء , Al Michaal, Annase, Annoukhba, Al Tajdid التجديد , Assabah Ø§Ù„ØµØ¨Ø§Ø , Asdae أصــداْ , Asahrae Al Maghribiya, Al Watane, Au Fait, Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, Bayane Al Yaoume بياناليوم , L’ Économiste, La Gazette du Maroc, Le Journal du Sport, Libération, Le Matin,La Nouvelle Tribune, L’Opinion, La Vie Éco, Le Journal de Tanger and Minbar Achaab. There also exist about five online news magazines which are la Gachete du Maroc, le Journal Hebdomadaire, Maroc Hebdo, Telquel and la Verité. Concerning the news sources that exist only online I found that there are nine which are Menara, Morocco Today, Morocco Chronicle, Casafree, Marrakech Info, Le Journal d’Oujda city, Al Jamaa, Haspress and Les Nouvelles du Nord. In addition, there are two online radios involved in news reporting, Radio Mediteranee International and Yabiladi. Regarding TV channel, there are two the 2M TV channel and Radio Television Morocco (RTM) that also could be included in Radio. Lastly, weblogs also play a role in providing news by amateur journalists, and there is a number of blogs that are active in this domain, and Rachid Jankari is one of the active people concerning online journalism through blogs in Morocco.
Conclusion
To conclude, online journalism is becoming an essential way to get information in the world. Morocco is one of the countries that its media are enhancing online journalism and encouraging people to adapt it. Online journalism is a different way to present news stories to people from television, newsmagazines or newspapers. Nowadays, those media encourage people to go online to get more information; for example, at the end of the news broadcasting in the CNN, the broadcaster informs people that the channel’s website provides more information to check. Therefore, journalism is witnessing a shift from offline to online journalism. In order to follow this wave, I think that Morocco should start enhancing the quality of online journalism by conducting workshops for existing journalists, teach online journalism in universities and invite researchers such as Richard Graig to give lectures about online journalism and the 21st century journalist.
References
Deuze, M. (2004). Types of Online Journalism. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Online_Journalism_-_Types
Gonzales, A. (2004). Knowledge Management Systems: Lecture Notes. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://mcs.une.edu.au/~comp292/Lectures/%20HEADER_KM_2004_LEC_NOTES/node93.html
Graig, R. (2005). Online Journalism: Reporting, Writing and Editing for New Media. Belmont, USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Human Rights Watch. (1999). The Internet in Morocco: Free Expression and Censorship. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://hrw.org/advocacy/internet/mena/ morocco.htm
Institute for Professional Journalists. IPJ Scores More Hits in Morocco. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from http://ipj.lau.edu.lb/outreach/2006/04/morocco.php
Natalie, C. (2007). Journalism and the Internet: Friends or Foes. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/240230/Journalism_and_the_%20Internet_Friends_or_Foes_
Reddick, R., King, E. (2001). The Online Journalist: Using the Internet and Other Electronic Resources. Orlando, USA. Earl McPeek.
The word news is a very important word in all languages because it communicates all the recent happenings in our environment. Every one of us is interested in a specific domain; there are people interested in politics, business or sports. Newspapers and magazines are from the most important tools that provide people with detailed information. In 1990s, the world witnessed the birth of a new technology that changed various aspects of our daily life. The relationship between news and internet, as a fast medium to transfer information, is very clear. Nowadays, in Morocco, newspapers and magazines are moving to online journalism. Therefore, how Moroccan media are using internet?
I am interested in this issue because I am majoring in Communication studies and mass media is the basic of my studies. Moreover, online journalism is becoming a revolution, and Morocco is adapting this new idea. This issue is also crucial because it is mixing two media in one which make it complicated.
I know that global newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times started online journalism many years ago, and they succeeded to reach a large number of people around the world. I also know that some Moroccan newspapers wanted to follow this wave such as Asabah, but they faced various problems at the beginning especially financial problems. I also know that the website of a newspaper or magazine should have daily supervising. Concerning this issue, I still need to know about the way Moroccan media use internet, and the reasons for which there is a shift to internet. Moreover, I still need to know about all the Moroccan online newspapers and magazines. I also need to know about the perceptions of Moroccans toward online journalism.
Outline:
Introduction:
- The importance of internet.
- Definition of online journalism
- General information about online journalism.
Body:
- First part :
The contribution of internet to the development of online journalism and media.
The effect of online journalism on the flow of information.
The characteristics and types of online journalism.
- Second part :
How Moroccan media are using the internet and why.
The list off all Moroccan online newspapers
Online and offline newspapers in Morocco
Online radio and TV stations in Morocco.
Conclusion:
- An evaluation of the benefits of Moroccan media.
Paper:
Introduction
The Internet is playing a very crucial role in all aspects of our lives. People start to use it in order to shop, look for different information about a variety of topics and as a source of news. Its use facilitates the exchange of information including images, sounds and videos. One of the significant aspects of internet is that people from all over the world are able to see and share the same information. For instance, if a video is published in Germany, I have the same chance to see this video as a German. Therefore, internet limited the physical, political and cultural boundaries. In the book, The Online Journalist: Using Internet and Other Electronic Resources, Elliot King and Randy Reddick define internet in this way “The Internet is not an organization. It is not an institution. It is not a club. You cannot become a member. Nobody owns the Internet; and strictly speaking, no body controls it, governs it, or takes responsibility for it. Internet is a term used to describe the interconnection of many computer networks in a way that allows them to communicate with each other.” (p. 17). From this definition, one can infer that the word “Internet” is a very complicated word. The complexity of internet may also be seen in the various uses and applications of it; for instance, it is used for electronic mailing, chat, World Wide Web and usenet news (King, Reddick; p: 25).
Journalism is a major aspect in all societies throughout history because people are interested in news. Richard Graig, an associate professor who support and believe on online journalism, talks about the technological evolution of journalism in his book Online Journalism; he says that the timeline of journalism moves from newspapers to newsmagazines to radio to television and then to online news (p. 8). Journalism is one of the fields that benefits from internet because different big news organizations believe that they can profit a lot from online journalism. Online journalism is defined as the reporting of facts produced and distributed via the Internet. It is not much different from print journalism in term of content, but it has a great effect on people, organizations and societies as a whole. Morocco adapted online journalism at the beginning of this century. How do Moroccan media adapt to and use online journalism?
Online Journalism is Different
Internet and the Development of Online Journalism
The contribution of internet to journalism is very significant because it facilitates the check of news. Nowadays, people are busier than in the past; they do not have time to buy and read newspapers in coffee shops, or to stop working and read newspapers or watch TV on a daily basis. An example of this statement is the New York Times sales during weekends that are higher than weekdays for a simple reason which is people do not work during the weekend (Dr. Hottel). People today read online versions of newspapers while working, so internet makes it easier and faster for people to know about daily news. In a research conducted in the United States shows that in general Americans are positive to the contribution of Internet to journalism “The results show that 53 per cent of respondents believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the fourth estate.” In my point of view, people favor online journalism because it provides what other technologies cannot provide such as the combination of pictures, sounds, graphs and videos. In addition, internet brings up a new kind of journalism that did not exist in the past which is citizen or amateur journalism. Citizen journalism means that people that are not professional in the field of journalism may also contribute online. The freedom of reporting about any subject is one noteworthy advantage of amateur online journalism, meaning that one can put anything on internet and everyone have the same chance to share it. The best example of citizen journalism is YouTube website which consists mainly of videos.
Online Journalism and the Flow of Information
Online journalism may play a crucial role in the flow of information. Before online journalism, most people believe that there existed only the one-way flow of information in which information move from developed countries in general and the United States in particular to developing countries. However, the appearance of online journalism makes a change by giving developing countries space to express their views about global issues. The launch of Al Jazeera English website that was made to compete with CNN International website is an example of the role of online journalism in balancing the flow of information between developing and developed countries. In this regard, Yahya R. Kamalipour states in his book Global Communication that “the Internet has greater promise in serving as an equalizer in the skewed flow of news and information globally” (p. 126). Online journalism also play a vital role in giving people the freedom to talk about topics that are not allowed or illegal to talk about using other means such as newspapers, radio or television. Kamalipour cites:
“A significant dimension of news flow on the Internet is that people in nondemocratic states are beginning to have access to uncensored news, analysis, and discussions about political developments in their own countries, even though regimes in such countries are jittery about the free flow of information.” (p. 126).
Based on this statement, the free flow of information is not only international, but it is also national. Therefore, online journalism opens the doors for people to talk about their local issues. One example about the national flow of information in Morocco is the “Kanas Targuist” video that shows and proves that Moroccan policemen still take and accept bribery. Some private newspapers already talked about the spread out of bribery within the security system in Morocco, but they never gave concrete proofs because they are not allowed to do it. On the other hand, the Moroccan television never broadcasted a similar video or reportage about this phenomenon. Therefore, online journalism is decreasing the ability of authoritarian regimes from preventing people to access to news and political debates.
Characteristics and Types of Online Journalism
Characteristics
Online journalism, as other news media, has its own characteristics and types. Although there is a number of differences between online journalism and print or broadcast journalism, there are also some points in common. In the same view, Graig says that the objectives of journalism, which are time, proximity and prominence, did not change from the past; nonetheless, technology has set new standards for measuring those objectives (p. 6). In general, writers and editors have to consider three principals concerning journalism which are the medium, the facts and the audience. In online journalism, the medium is known which is Internet. The online journalism facts characteristics are similar to the ones of print and broadcast journalism in addition to two other characteristics stated by Graig “two main characteristics that distinguished online journalism from its counterparts. Online media offered multimedia capabilities and the ability to update stories instantly” (p. 8). In addition to those two characteristics, online journalism also provides links to people in case they want to know more about a specific topic or issue. Audience is a very important aspect of journalism. Graig reports that Howard K. Smith says “the most irresponsible thing in broadcasting is to be dull” (p. 11). Engaging the audience is the main point that Graig gives when analyzing this statement; therefore, audience should be carefully taken into consideration. In online journalism, audiences have their own unique characteristics. According to Graig, there are three main factors that have influence on online journalism audience. The first factor is that “reading news online requires both a computer and Internet access” which means that the users should have stable financial situation and an adequate literacy level. The second factor is “online news requires closer concentration and interest than broadcast news because it is based on readings” meaning that the audience has an active role in selecting the subject. The third factor is “thanks to search engines and customizable news pages, online news viewers can choose to highlight stories and subjects they’re interested in at the expense of other subjects” (p. 12).
Types
Concerning the types of online journalism, I found that researchers in this domain have different views to the types of online journalism; however, I discovered that most researchers declare that there four types of online journalism. Mark Deuze, who is an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam, believes that the four types of online journalism are “mainstream news sites, search engines and media watchdogs, media discussion groups, and finally share and discussion sites.” Mainstream news sites are news moderated from participatory communication such as CNN and Al Jazeera which are very important sites because of the role they play in providing online news. Search engines are simply sites such as google and yahoo that provides links to mainstream sites and personal weblogs, which are websites run by individuals. However, the problem with personal weblogs is credibility, and to what extent should we rely on news provided in them. Media discussion groups, are another type of online journalism, mainly discuss the media content and to work as a mediawatchdog. Finally, share and discussion sites provide ground for exchanging and discussion of ideas about a specific community or subject. (Deuze, 2004).
The Case of Morocco
Workshops on Online Journalism
Morocco, as most of the world, adapted online journalism because of the global use and need of this new kind of journalism. In this regard, there had been many workshops conducted by Magda Abu-Fadil who is the director of the Institute for Professional Journalists (IPJ). Those workshops were financed by the U.S. State Department’s Speaker’s Program, and they took place in Rabat, Fez, Mekenes and at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. These workshops discussed different issues related to journalism in Morocco, and specifically the topic of online journalism. Those workshops were attended by different journalists, scholars and students; therefore, workshops can play a crucial role in clarifying the characteristics and types of online journalism.
Limits to Online Journalism
Online journalism is a new and fresh field of journalism in Morocco; for this reason, it is not well developed, and it still needs a lot of work concerning the audience, the job of the online journalist and the online writing styles. To first understand online journalism in Morocco, we should know some basic information about Internet. Access to Internet in Morocco is not restricted by the government; people have the ability to access any website they want, yet the government can stop any website in Morocco that can affect the national security. For example, the Moroccan government stopped googleearth because it allowed people to have access to private places such as military camps and the king palaces (Human Rights Watch, 1999). From this information, we can infer that the Moroccan Internet users could access any kind of websites except for the ones that monitor the king’s private life, military and the Sahara.
Media in Morocco started using online journalism in 2000 which might be considered late if we compare it to the United States that started in 1991, and in the year 2001, there were 12,878 records of online newsmedia. Today in Morocco, the number of online newsmedia does not exceed a hundred website which means that we still do not have an online journalism that can satisfy a large number of Moroccans. Online newspapers are the most common online newsmedium in Morocco, but I think that they still do not have a great influence on people because they contain the same information as the print version. In my point of view, Moroccans show a little interest in Moroccan online journalism because there is no additional information.
Moroccan online journalism still faces different difficulties in terms of content and technical development. The content of the online version is definitely the same as the print version, and sometimes the online version does not have all the information provided in the print one. I addition, there is a number of online newspapers that are not daily updated which makes people prefer to rely on the print version. There are also some newspapers websites that cannot be opened fast such as Asabah newspaper. Another problem that stands against the development of online journalism in Morocco is the price of newspapers. The price of newspapers in Morocco is much lower than the prices, for instance, in the United States; for this reason, I think that online journalism is more accepted and consumed in the United States than Morocco.
Online News Sources
After a research in Internet, I found that the first Moroccan online news website launched is menara which belongs to Maroc Telecom, the Internet provider in Morocco. It exists only online, and it does not have any print copy; there is a number of news providers in Morocco that exist only online. Concerning newspapers, the first online newspaper is L’economiste that was launched in 2001. The first TV channel that launched an online website is 2M TV. Citizen journalism also has a role in online journalism, and it is basically related to personal blogs. My conclusion, after checking all the online news resources in Morocco, is that newspapers are the most common source of news.
In Morocco, there are twenty-seven online newspapers that have also a print copy. These newspapers are Al Ahdath Al Maghribya الاØداث المغربية , Al Alam العلم , Al Bayane, Al Ittihad االإتØاد الإشتراكي Ichtiraki, Al Jareeda الجريدة , Al Massae المساء , Al Michaal, Annase, Annoukhba, Al Tajdid التجديد , Assabah Ø§Ù„ØµØ¨Ø§Ø , Asdae أصــداْ , Asahrae Al Maghribiya, Al Watane, Au Fait, Aujourd'hui Le Maroc, Bayane Al Yaoume بياناليوم , L’ Économiste, La Gazette du Maroc, Le Journal du Sport, Libération, Le Matin,La Nouvelle Tribune, L’Opinion, La Vie Éco, Le Journal de Tanger and Minbar Achaab. There also exist about five online news magazines which are la Gachete du Maroc, le Journal Hebdomadaire, Maroc Hebdo, Telquel and la Verité. Concerning the news sources that exist only online I found that there are nine which are Menara, Morocco Today, Morocco Chronicle, Casafree, Marrakech Info, Le Journal d’Oujda city, Al Jamaa, Haspress and Les Nouvelles du Nord. In addition, there are two online radios involved in news reporting, Radio Mediteranee International and Yabiladi. Regarding TV channel, there are two the 2M TV channel and Radio Television Morocco (RTM) that also could be included in Radio. Lastly, weblogs also play a role in providing news by amateur journalists, and there is a number of blogs that are active in this domain, and Rachid Jankari is one of the active people concerning online journalism through blogs in Morocco.
Conclusion
To conclude, online journalism is becoming an essential way to get information in the world. Morocco is one of the countries that its media are enhancing online journalism and encouraging people to adapt it. Online journalism is a different way to present news stories to people from television, newsmagazines or newspapers. Nowadays, those media encourage people to go online to get more information; for example, at the end of the news broadcasting in the CNN, the broadcaster informs people that the channel’s website provides more information to check. Therefore, journalism is witnessing a shift from offline to online journalism. In order to follow this wave, I think that Morocco should start enhancing the quality of online journalism by conducting workshops for existing journalists, teach online journalism in universities and invite researchers such as Richard Graig to give lectures about online journalism and the 21st century journalist.
References
Deuze, M. (2004). Types of Online Journalism. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php/Online_Journalism_-_Types
Gonzales, A. (2004). Knowledge Management Systems: Lecture Notes. Retrieved October 10, 2007, from http://mcs.une.edu.au/~comp292/Lectures/%20HEADER_KM_2004_LEC_NOTES/node93.html
Graig, R. (2005). Online Journalism: Reporting, Writing and Editing for New Media. Belmont, USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Human Rights Watch. (1999). The Internet in Morocco: Free Expression and Censorship. Retrieved October 15, 2007, from http://hrw.org/advocacy/internet/mena/ morocco.htm
Institute for Professional Journalists. IPJ Scores More Hits in Morocco. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from http://ipj.lau.edu.lb/outreach/2006/04/morocco.php
Natalie, C. (2007). Journalism and the Internet: Friends or Foes. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/240230/Journalism_and_the_%20Internet_Friends_or_Foes_
Reddick, R., King, E. (2001). The Online Journalist: Using the Internet and Other Electronic Resources. Orlando, USA. Earl McPeek.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Communication and Culture
Communication and Culture
- Culture defines what it means to be a human being. It is all our behavior summed up, our whole life experience.
- On the one hand there is a concern with artistic expression and creative, aesthetic, representational activity, on the other with ways of living, the organization and nature of social activity.
- More frequently, we refer to national culture, as if all of the people living within a particular nation-state share the same culture.
- Mass media are key components in any nation’s culture.
Culture Industries
- It was used to refer to “products which are tailored for consumption by massed, and which to a great extent determine the nature of that consumption, are manufactured more or less according to plan.
- Mass culture was developed as a tool of capitalism for the social control of society, according to Adorno and Horkheimer.
Other cultural groupings
- We may think of culture as the way of life of all human beings, or of nations, or of ethnic groups within or across national boundaries.
- Any organization to which we belong develops a culture if it manages to survive. An organization’s culture is the glue that keeps people attached to it and allows members to identify with it.
Transmission of culture
- We must learn the culture of those groupings before we can become an integral part of them.
- Culture is an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life. (Clifford Geertz).
- The primary symbolic system used to transmit culture is that of language.
- The newspaper allowed people to read about others who lived in their nation who were culturally like themselves.
- Linguistic bond in contemporary society is achieved through television.
- Families used to be nearly the only transmitters of culture to young children by teaching the symbolic system, or language, to their children.
- Television certainly sends messages that can conflict with the family culture.
- Some people fear that the existence of so mush English-language broadcasting brings us ever closer to English being the only world language.
How the west dominates in production of culture
- The easy answer to why so many U.S. films and television programs are aired internationally is that the United States produces more of them than any other country in the world.
- Schiller claimed in that book that the military-industrial complex in the United States was using its television programs and films to obtain world dominance in cultural products.
- The flow of television programs was overwhelmingly one way, and was dominated by entertainment content.
- No major changes in the international flow of television programs and news had occurred since 1973.
- The media are about politics, and commerce and ideas. (Jeremy Tunstall)
- Ariel Dorfman focused attention on the cultural messages contained in U.S. cartoons strips.
- In Tomlinson’s view, we could assess blame to specific institutions when accounting for the economic aspects of cultural imperialism.
- We know something about the effect on people’s health when McDonald’s and KFC become the preferred meals in cultures where the local diet is relatively free of animal and other fats.
- It would be nice to so easily measure the effects of hip-hop music on the teenagers of a particular country.
What cultures do to defend cultural autonomy
- The international diffusion of television programs, films, and other media to countries is not a new phenomenon.
- Countries with large domestic markets for their cultural products always had an advantage as they could pay for the production costs at home and look to the export markets as mostly profit.
- Small countries became vulnerable to the imported products, finding them cheaper than producing their own films and television programs.
- Strategies to protect cultural products:
Quotas
- The most significant policy for supporting domestic television production is that of the European Union.
- France was the strongest proponent of the adoption of this directive.
- France also required that no more than 40% of films screened in the country come from outside Europe.
- French film critics have been blamed for being overly critical of domestic films while they praise American products.
- The United States has taken the position that cultural products should be treated like any other goods traded in the market.
- The United States has opposed the setting of quotas on film and television imports, viewing such quotas as trade barriers.
Subsidies
- The United States also opposes the use of government subsidies provided for development of films and television programs. But many countries take the position that without subsidies, their audiovisual sector will totally succumb to foreign imports.
- The European Union has been supplying grants for new production projects under a program called MEDIA. The program’s aim is to provide training and to stimulate the distribution and
development of European audiovisual works and to boost production companies.
Regional alliances including co productions
- Coproduced films, usually ones that combine the talents and resources of two film production companies in two countries, have several advantages.
- Some bilateral agreements also favor coproductions. One such deal was struck between India and Canada.
Adaptations
- For countries with smaller markets or fewer resources, film and television program production is too expensive to release many new products.
- People like local programs.
- It amounts to buying the rights to an imported television series of film and adapting it to the
local culture and language.
Not all pop cultures are American
- From the evidence presented, it would seem that the media are really American. But audiences around the world still prefer their local cultures and their local cultural products.
- Domestic production accounts for between 70 to 96 percent of market share in India, Russia, Japan and Brazil.
- Much of the magazine and book publishing in the United States is also owned by foreign companies.
- Culture defines what it means to be a human being. It is all our behavior summed up, our whole life experience.
- On the one hand there is a concern with artistic expression and creative, aesthetic, representational activity, on the other with ways of living, the organization and nature of social activity.
- More frequently, we refer to national culture, as if all of the people living within a particular nation-state share the same culture.
- Mass media are key components in any nation’s culture.
Culture Industries
- It was used to refer to “products which are tailored for consumption by massed, and which to a great extent determine the nature of that consumption, are manufactured more or less according to plan.
- Mass culture was developed as a tool of capitalism for the social control of society, according to Adorno and Horkheimer.
Other cultural groupings
- We may think of culture as the way of life of all human beings, or of nations, or of ethnic groups within or across national boundaries.
- Any organization to which we belong develops a culture if it manages to survive. An organization’s culture is the glue that keeps people attached to it and allows members to identify with it.
Transmission of culture
- We must learn the culture of those groupings before we can become an integral part of them.
- Culture is an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life. (Clifford Geertz).
- The primary symbolic system used to transmit culture is that of language.
- The newspaper allowed people to read about others who lived in their nation who were culturally like themselves.
- Linguistic bond in contemporary society is achieved through television.
- Families used to be nearly the only transmitters of culture to young children by teaching the symbolic system, or language, to their children.
- Television certainly sends messages that can conflict with the family culture.
- Some people fear that the existence of so mush English-language broadcasting brings us ever closer to English being the only world language.
How the west dominates in production of culture
- The easy answer to why so many U.S. films and television programs are aired internationally is that the United States produces more of them than any other country in the world.
- Schiller claimed in that book that the military-industrial complex in the United States was using its television programs and films to obtain world dominance in cultural products.
- The flow of television programs was overwhelmingly one way, and was dominated by entertainment content.
- No major changes in the international flow of television programs and news had occurred since 1973.
- The media are about politics, and commerce and ideas. (Jeremy Tunstall)
- Ariel Dorfman focused attention on the cultural messages contained in U.S. cartoons strips.
- In Tomlinson’s view, we could assess blame to specific institutions when accounting for the economic aspects of cultural imperialism.
- We know something about the effect on people’s health when McDonald’s and KFC become the preferred meals in cultures where the local diet is relatively free of animal and other fats.
- It would be nice to so easily measure the effects of hip-hop music on the teenagers of a particular country.
What cultures do to defend cultural autonomy
- The international diffusion of television programs, films, and other media to countries is not a new phenomenon.
- Countries with large domestic markets for their cultural products always had an advantage as they could pay for the production costs at home and look to the export markets as mostly profit.
- Small countries became vulnerable to the imported products, finding them cheaper than producing their own films and television programs.
- Strategies to protect cultural products:
Quotas
- The most significant policy for supporting domestic television production is that of the European Union.
- France was the strongest proponent of the adoption of this directive.
- France also required that no more than 40% of films screened in the country come from outside Europe.
- French film critics have been blamed for being overly critical of domestic films while they praise American products.
- The United States has taken the position that cultural products should be treated like any other goods traded in the market.
- The United States has opposed the setting of quotas on film and television imports, viewing such quotas as trade barriers.
Subsidies
- The United States also opposes the use of government subsidies provided for development of films and television programs. But many countries take the position that without subsidies, their audiovisual sector will totally succumb to foreign imports.
- The European Union has been supplying grants for new production projects under a program called MEDIA. The program’s aim is to provide training and to stimulate the distribution and
development of European audiovisual works and to boost production companies.
Regional alliances including co productions
- Coproduced films, usually ones that combine the talents and resources of two film production companies in two countries, have several advantages.
- Some bilateral agreements also favor coproductions. One such deal was struck between India and Canada.
Adaptations
- For countries with smaller markets or fewer resources, film and television program production is too expensive to release many new products.
- People like local programs.
- It amounts to buying the rights to an imported television series of film and adapting it to the
local culture and language.
Not all pop cultures are American
- From the evidence presented, it would seem that the media are really American. But audiences around the world still prefer their local cultures and their local cultural products.
- Domestic production accounts for between 70 to 96 percent of market share in India, Russia, Japan and Brazil.
- Much of the magazine and book publishing in the United States is also owned by foreign companies.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Assignment 2
The two articles discuss the idea of international news channels. The first article about the French World TV Channel talks about the incentives behind launching this channel. According to the article, making the French point of view about global issues is the main idea behind having this channel. I think that this channel is going to communicate the ideas and perspectives of French government, politicians and researchers about worldwide issues. Concerning the second article, I think that it talks about the roles and goals of international news channels. In this article there is an emphasis on two international news channels which are Al Jazeera and BBC World. I think that they use those two channels because they are the most significant ones. About their goals, I think that they want to achieve the highest number of audience. Moreover, profit is not the main motive behind global news broadcasting. I think that those two channels are the best example for France 24 news channel to become an international news channel that reaches a large number of people.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
The Transnational Media
Corporation and the economics
Of Global Competition
- The transnational corporation (TNC), as a system of organization, represents a natural evolution beyond the multinational corporation of the 1960s and 1970s.
- What distinguishes the transnational media corporation (TNMC) from other types of TNCs is that the principal commodity being sold is information and entertainment.
- The TNMC is the most powerful economic force for global media activity in the world today. As Herman and McChesney (1997) point out, transnational media are a necessary component of global capitalism.
The transnational media corporation
- The first myth is that such companies operate in most or all markets of the world. Although today’s TNMCs are highly global in their approach to business, few companies operate in all markets of the world.
- A second myth concerning TNMCs is that such companies are monolithic in their approach to business. In fact, just the opposite is true.
The purpose of a global media strategy
- Most companies do not set out with an established plan for becoming a major international company.
- In the beginning stages, the foreign office tends to be flexible and highly independent. As the firm gains experience, it may get involved in other facets of international business, such as licensing and manufacturing abroad.
- Historically, TNMC begins as a company that is especially strong in one or two areas.
- In Sum, most major corporations become foreign direct investors through a process of gradual evolution rather than by deliberate choice.
The globalization of markets
- The globalization of markets involves the full integration of transnational business, nation-states, and technologies operating at high speed.
- Globalization is being driven by a broad and powerful set of forces including worldwide deregulation and privatization trends, advancements in new technology, market integration and the fall of communism.
The rules of free market trade
- Today, there is only one economic system operating in the world and that system is called free market capitalism.
- The Cold War was a world of friends and enemies. The globalization world, by contrast, tends to turn all friends and enemies into competitors.
- A basic tenet of free market trade is that the private sector is the primary engine of growth.
- The rules of free market trade adhere to the principles of deregulation and privatization of business.
- Free market trade opens up banking and telecommunications systems to private ownership and competition, and provides a nation and its citizens with access to a wide variety of choices.
- It further attempts to eliminate, or at least reduce, tariffs and quotas on imported goods.
- In sum, free market trade in its varying forms provides the basic architecture for today’s global economy.
Foreign direct investment
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to the ownership of a company in a foreign country.
- In a transnational economy, media decision making and FDI are largely based on economic efficiencies, with little regard for national boundaries.
- The five reasons why a company engages in FDI:
• Proprietary and physical assets
• Foreign market penetration
• Production and distribution efficiencies
• Overcoming regulatory barriers to entry
• Empire building
The risks associated with FDI
- The decision to invest in a foreign country can pose serious risks to the company operating abroad. The TNC is subject to the laws and regulations of the host country.
- There are the problems associated with political instability, including wars, revolutions, and coups.
- Changes in labor conditions and wage requirements are also relevant factors in terms of a company’s ability to do business abroad.
- Dymsza writes that FDI can occur only if the host country is perceived to be politically stable, provides sufficient economic investment opportunities, and has business regulations that considered reasonable.
Transnational media ownership
Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances
- Today’s TNMCs are taking advantage of deregulatory and privatization trends to make ever-larger combinations.
- In a merger transaction, two companies are combined into one company.
- An acquisition involves the purchase of one company by another company for the purpose of adding (or enhancing) the acquiring firm’s productive capacity.
- Strategic alliance is a business relationship in which two or more companies work to achieve a collective advantage.
- In sum, mergers, acquisition and strategic alliances are the most direct ways for a company to expand and diversify into new product lines without having to undergo the problems associated with a new startup.
When mergers and acquisition fail
- Not all mergers and acquisitions are successful.
- A failed merger or acquisition can be highly disruptive to both organizations in terms of lost revenue, capital debt and decrease in job performance.
- There are four reasons that help to explain why mergers and acquisitions can sometimes fail:
• The lack of a compelling strategic rationale.
• Failure to perform due diligence: the acquiring company only later discovers that the intended acquisition may not accomplish the desired objectives.
• Post-merger planning and integration failures
• Financing and the problem of excessive debt
Media and global finance
- The business of media and telecommunications is an industry characterized by high startup costs and high risk.
- In order to obtain the necessary financing, today’s media and telecommunication companies will either use their own money or seek the assistance of a financial lending institution.
The role of global capital markets
- A global capital market brings together those companies and individuals who want to invent money and those who want to borrow it.
Capital market loans
- Capital market loans are either equity loans or debt loans. An equity loan is made when a corporation sells stock to investors.
- Debt financing requires the corporation to repay a predetermined portion of the loan amount at regular intervals for a specified period of time.
Debt financing
- The TNMC, like any other company, needs to be able to invest in new product development as well as engage in potential mergers and acquisitions if and when it is deemed appropriate.
- The problem is that too much debt load can be highly destabilizing to an organization.
Business and planning strategies
- As today’s media and telecommunications companies continue to grow and expand, the challenges of staying globally competitive become increasingly more difficult.
- Strategic planning is the set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long-term performance of a company or organization.
- Environmental scanning requires assessing the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization as well as the external opportunities and threats to the organization.
Understanding core competency
- The principle of core competency suggests that a highly successful company is one that possesses a specialized production process, brand recognition or ownership of talent that enables it to achieve higher revenues and market dominance relative to its competitors.
- A company’s core competency is something the organization does especially well in comparison with its competitors.
Vertical integration (and cross media ownership)
- One common growth strategy is vertical integration, whereby, a company will control most or all of its operational phases.
Broadband communication
- The main driving force behind convergence is the digitalization of media and information technology.
Corporation and the economics
Of Global Competition
- The transnational corporation (TNC), as a system of organization, represents a natural evolution beyond the multinational corporation of the 1960s and 1970s.
- What distinguishes the transnational media corporation (TNMC) from other types of TNCs is that the principal commodity being sold is information and entertainment.
- The TNMC is the most powerful economic force for global media activity in the world today. As Herman and McChesney (1997) point out, transnational media are a necessary component of global capitalism.
The transnational media corporation
- The first myth is that such companies operate in most or all markets of the world. Although today’s TNMCs are highly global in their approach to business, few companies operate in all markets of the world.
- A second myth concerning TNMCs is that such companies are monolithic in their approach to business. In fact, just the opposite is true.
The purpose of a global media strategy
- Most companies do not set out with an established plan for becoming a major international company.
- In the beginning stages, the foreign office tends to be flexible and highly independent. As the firm gains experience, it may get involved in other facets of international business, such as licensing and manufacturing abroad.
- Historically, TNMC begins as a company that is especially strong in one or two areas.
- In Sum, most major corporations become foreign direct investors through a process of gradual evolution rather than by deliberate choice.
The globalization of markets
- The globalization of markets involves the full integration of transnational business, nation-states, and technologies operating at high speed.
- Globalization is being driven by a broad and powerful set of forces including worldwide deregulation and privatization trends, advancements in new technology, market integration and the fall of communism.
The rules of free market trade
- Today, there is only one economic system operating in the world and that system is called free market capitalism.
- The Cold War was a world of friends and enemies. The globalization world, by contrast, tends to turn all friends and enemies into competitors.
- A basic tenet of free market trade is that the private sector is the primary engine of growth.
- The rules of free market trade adhere to the principles of deregulation and privatization of business.
- Free market trade opens up banking and telecommunications systems to private ownership and competition, and provides a nation and its citizens with access to a wide variety of choices.
- It further attempts to eliminate, or at least reduce, tariffs and quotas on imported goods.
- In sum, free market trade in its varying forms provides the basic architecture for today’s global economy.
Foreign direct investment
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to the ownership of a company in a foreign country.
- In a transnational economy, media decision making and FDI are largely based on economic efficiencies, with little regard for national boundaries.
- The five reasons why a company engages in FDI:
• Proprietary and physical assets
• Foreign market penetration
• Production and distribution efficiencies
• Overcoming regulatory barriers to entry
• Empire building
The risks associated with FDI
- The decision to invest in a foreign country can pose serious risks to the company operating abroad. The TNC is subject to the laws and regulations of the host country.
- There are the problems associated with political instability, including wars, revolutions, and coups.
- Changes in labor conditions and wage requirements are also relevant factors in terms of a company’s ability to do business abroad.
- Dymsza writes that FDI can occur only if the host country is perceived to be politically stable, provides sufficient economic investment opportunities, and has business regulations that considered reasonable.
Transnational media ownership
Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances
- Today’s TNMCs are taking advantage of deregulatory and privatization trends to make ever-larger combinations.
- In a merger transaction, two companies are combined into one company.
- An acquisition involves the purchase of one company by another company for the purpose of adding (or enhancing) the acquiring firm’s productive capacity.
- Strategic alliance is a business relationship in which two or more companies work to achieve a collective advantage.
- In sum, mergers, acquisition and strategic alliances are the most direct ways for a company to expand and diversify into new product lines without having to undergo the problems associated with a new startup.
When mergers and acquisition fail
- Not all mergers and acquisitions are successful.
- A failed merger or acquisition can be highly disruptive to both organizations in terms of lost revenue, capital debt and decrease in job performance.
- There are four reasons that help to explain why mergers and acquisitions can sometimes fail:
• The lack of a compelling strategic rationale.
• Failure to perform due diligence: the acquiring company only later discovers that the intended acquisition may not accomplish the desired objectives.
• Post-merger planning and integration failures
• Financing and the problem of excessive debt
Media and global finance
- The business of media and telecommunications is an industry characterized by high startup costs and high risk.
- In order to obtain the necessary financing, today’s media and telecommunication companies will either use their own money or seek the assistance of a financial lending institution.
The role of global capital markets
- A global capital market brings together those companies and individuals who want to invent money and those who want to borrow it.
Capital market loans
- Capital market loans are either equity loans or debt loans. An equity loan is made when a corporation sells stock to investors.
- Debt financing requires the corporation to repay a predetermined portion of the loan amount at regular intervals for a specified period of time.
Debt financing
- The TNMC, like any other company, needs to be able to invest in new product development as well as engage in potential mergers and acquisitions if and when it is deemed appropriate.
- The problem is that too much debt load can be highly destabilizing to an organization.
Business and planning strategies
- As today’s media and telecommunications companies continue to grow and expand, the challenges of staying globally competitive become increasingly more difficult.
- Strategic planning is the set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long-term performance of a company or organization.
- Environmental scanning requires assessing the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization as well as the external opportunities and threats to the organization.
Understanding core competency
- The principle of core competency suggests that a highly successful company is one that possesses a specialized production process, brand recognition or ownership of talent that enables it to achieve higher revenues and market dominance relative to its competitors.
- A company’s core competency is something the organization does especially well in comparison with its competitors.
Vertical integration (and cross media ownership)
- One common growth strategy is vertical integration, whereby, a company will control most or all of its operational phases.
Broadband communication
- The main driving force behind convergence is the digitalization of media and information technology.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Global Economy and International Telecommunications Networks
El Mehdi Zeroual
Dr. Ibahrine
COM 2303
18 September 2007
Global Economy and International Telecommunications Networks
Premodern World
- In the 13th century, the world was very different from the world of today.
- The personal possessions of our predecessors were all made locally.
- Foreign products were rare, and foreign products were basically exotic.
Division of Labor
- One of the things that distinguished the modern world from the premodern world was the extent to which division of labor was used in the production process.
- Division of labor creates specialization that in turn increases efficiency.
- The interdependencies created by the division of labor require coordination and control to keep the production going smoothly.
- Coordination and control problems can be handled on a face-to-face level, but these problems become more severe when division of labor occurs across geographical space as companies seek to capitalize on the locational advantage of each place.
- When business owners started realizing that some components could be made more cheaply in other parts of the country, they moved away.
- The global division of labor is intricately tied to modern communication technologies.
- While telecommunications technologies allow for global coordination and control, transportation technologies move raw materials and products from one corner of the world to another.
Imperialism
- The world was interconnected but in a loosely coupled way.
- The picture changed dramatically with the emergence of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and British empires in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Western powers transformed the multipolar world into a monopolar one.
- It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire.
- Britain alone controlled about a quarter of the world landmass.
- These new empires were not like earlier ones in history. First, they were far-flung and disjoined, unlike the old empires, which were created through the conquest of neighboring countries. Second, the economic relationship between the imperial powers and the subject territories changed in the age of imperialism.
- One of the main reasons the imperial powers were interested in acquiring colonies was to gain access to raw materials for their growing industries.
- People who are culturally closer to the mother country than their own native traditions are less likely to revolt.
- The network was totally London-centric such as telegraph.
- If people at any two points in the empire wanted to communicate with each other, they had to do so through London even if they were geographically adjacent to each other.
- Today, in the eyes of many scholars, we have moved from an era of imperialism to one of
electronic imperialism.
Electronic Imperialism
Global media flows
- The center of the world moved across the Atlantic to the United States.
- The main source of U.S power was its economic rather than its military strength, even though the importance of the latter should not be discounted.
- U.S projects its power not brazenly, but subtly through economic, and more lately, cultural means.
- The global political structures created during the age of imperialism remain in place. These structures create a relationship of dependency between the rich and the poor countries.
- The United States overwhelmingly dominates the cinema and TV screens all over the world.
- Developing nations consider the import of U.S film to be a new kind of invasion-cultural invasion-that is more subtle and insidious.
- When we look at global communication flows, we can easily see that they are disproportionately from U.S (center) to the rest of the world (periphery) (one-way-flow).
Transborder data flow
- With the improvement in transportation technologies, international trade progressively moved beyond lightweight, high-value items to heavier and bulkier commodities. However, services remained local for the most part.
- The service provider and the client need no longer be in the same place; technological developments finally made even services tradable.
- U.S favors both free trade and free flow of information.
- If one were to use the brain-brawn analogy, the industrialized countries remain the brains of the world system and the developing countries the brawn.
- U.S and industrialized countries view free flow of information as a normal commercial activity essential for coordination and control of business processes.
- What U.S exports are intangible products.
Emerging Network structures
- The high costs of program production and transmission make television a top-down mode of communication where the sources are few and the receivers are many.
- The cost of production equipment has dropped sharply.
- These days, an ordinary citizen can shoot video with a camcorder and make it accessible via the internet to anyone interested.
- Rich countries, with only 16 percent of the world’s population, have 97 percent of all Internet hosts.
- The global Internet exhibits a center-periphery relationship similar to that of the British imperial telegraph network and African telephone networks.
- Unlike the telephone system, in which the cost of the international circuit connecting two countries is evenly split between them, Internet service providers in other countries pay the entire cost of the circuit connecting them to the United States.
Dr. Ibahrine
COM 2303
18 September 2007
Global Economy and International Telecommunications Networks
Premodern World
- In the 13th century, the world was very different from the world of today.
- The personal possessions of our predecessors were all made locally.
- Foreign products were rare, and foreign products were basically exotic.
Division of Labor
- One of the things that distinguished the modern world from the premodern world was the extent to which division of labor was used in the production process.
- Division of labor creates specialization that in turn increases efficiency.
- The interdependencies created by the division of labor require coordination and control to keep the production going smoothly.
- Coordination and control problems can be handled on a face-to-face level, but these problems become more severe when division of labor occurs across geographical space as companies seek to capitalize on the locational advantage of each place.
- When business owners started realizing that some components could be made more cheaply in other parts of the country, they moved away.
- The global division of labor is intricately tied to modern communication technologies.
- While telecommunications technologies allow for global coordination and control, transportation technologies move raw materials and products from one corner of the world to another.
Imperialism
- The world was interconnected but in a loosely coupled way.
- The picture changed dramatically with the emergence of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and British empires in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Western powers transformed the multipolar world into a monopolar one.
- It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire.
- Britain alone controlled about a quarter of the world landmass.
- These new empires were not like earlier ones in history. First, they were far-flung and disjoined, unlike the old empires, which were created through the conquest of neighboring countries. Second, the economic relationship between the imperial powers and the subject territories changed in the age of imperialism.
- One of the main reasons the imperial powers were interested in acquiring colonies was to gain access to raw materials for their growing industries.
- People who are culturally closer to the mother country than their own native traditions are less likely to revolt.
- The network was totally London-centric such as telegraph.
- If people at any two points in the empire wanted to communicate with each other, they had to do so through London even if they were geographically adjacent to each other.
- Today, in the eyes of many scholars, we have moved from an era of imperialism to one of
electronic imperialism.
Electronic Imperialism
Global media flows
- The center of the world moved across the Atlantic to the United States.
- The main source of U.S power was its economic rather than its military strength, even though the importance of the latter should not be discounted.
- U.S projects its power not brazenly, but subtly through economic, and more lately, cultural means.
- The global political structures created during the age of imperialism remain in place. These structures create a relationship of dependency between the rich and the poor countries.
- The United States overwhelmingly dominates the cinema and TV screens all over the world.
- Developing nations consider the import of U.S film to be a new kind of invasion-cultural invasion-that is more subtle and insidious.
- When we look at global communication flows, we can easily see that they are disproportionately from U.S (center) to the rest of the world (periphery) (one-way-flow).
Transborder data flow
- With the improvement in transportation technologies, international trade progressively moved beyond lightweight, high-value items to heavier and bulkier commodities. However, services remained local for the most part.
- The service provider and the client need no longer be in the same place; technological developments finally made even services tradable.
- U.S favors both free trade and free flow of information.
- If one were to use the brain-brawn analogy, the industrialized countries remain the brains of the world system and the developing countries the brawn.
- U.S and industrialized countries view free flow of information as a normal commercial activity essential for coordination and control of business processes.
- What U.S exports are intangible products.
Emerging Network structures
- The high costs of program production and transmission make television a top-down mode of communication where the sources are few and the receivers are many.
- The cost of production equipment has dropped sharply.
- These days, an ordinary citizen can shoot video with a camcorder and make it accessible via the internet to anyone interested.
- Rich countries, with only 16 percent of the world’s population, have 97 percent of all Internet hosts.
- The global Internet exhibits a center-periphery relationship similar to that of the British imperial telegraph network and African telephone networks.
- Unlike the telephone system, in which the cost of the international circuit connecting two countries is evenly split between them, Internet service providers in other countries pay the entire cost of the circuit connecting them to the United States.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theories
El Mehdi Zeroual
Dr. Ibahrine
COM 2303
11 September 2007
Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theories
“Normative” theories
- the authors of “Four Theories of the Press” set out to create what is sometimes called a taxonomy which means dividing up all the various versions and aspects of a topic into systematic categories and sometimes subcategories as well.
- The taxonomy the authors proposed was that the world’s various media systems could be grouped into four categories: authoritarian, Soviet, liberal and social responsibility.
- Authoritarian effectively meant dictatorial, and the authors had especially in mind the nightmare fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini.
- Soviet referred to the communist dictatorships at that time in Russia and its surrounding ring of client regimes.
- By liberal, the authors meant not “left-wing,” as in current American parlance, but free market-based, which is the sense of the term in current continental European parlance.
- By social responsibility, the authors effectively meant a different order of reality again: namely, media operating within a capitalist dynamic but simultaneously committed to serving the public’s need.
- A strong underlying assumption in all in all four models was that news and information were the primary roles of media.
- The authors did not seek simply to explain or contrast comparative media systems but to define how those systems ought to operate according to certain guiding principles.
- The development model meant media that addressed issues of poverty, health care, literacy, and education.
- Participatory media typically designated local, small-scale, and more democratically organized media, such as community radio stations or public access video, with their staff and producers having considerable input into editorial decisions.
- Communist media in the former Soviet bloc claimed their purpose was to serve the general public, the industrial workers, and the farmers who made up the vast majority of the population.
Dr. Ibahrine
COM 2303
11 September 2007
Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theories
“Normative” theories
- the authors of “Four Theories of the Press” set out to create what is sometimes called a taxonomy which means dividing up all the various versions and aspects of a topic into systematic categories and sometimes subcategories as well.
- The taxonomy the authors proposed was that the world’s various media systems could be grouped into four categories: authoritarian, Soviet, liberal and social responsibility.
- Authoritarian effectively meant dictatorial, and the authors had especially in mind the nightmare fascist regimes of Hitler and Mussolini.
- Soviet referred to the communist dictatorships at that time in Russia and its surrounding ring of client regimes.
- By liberal, the authors meant not “left-wing,” as in current American parlance, but free market-based, which is the sense of the term in current continental European parlance.
- By social responsibility, the authors effectively meant a different order of reality again: namely, media operating within a capitalist dynamic but simultaneously committed to serving the public’s need.
- A strong underlying assumption in all in all four models was that news and information were the primary roles of media.
- The authors did not seek simply to explain or contrast comparative media systems but to define how those systems ought to operate according to certain guiding principles.
- The development model meant media that addressed issues of poverty, health care, literacy, and education.
- Participatory media typically designated local, small-scale, and more democratically organized media, such as community radio stations or public access video, with their staff and producers having considerable input into editorial decisions.
- Communist media in the former Soviet bloc claimed their purpose was to serve the general public, the industrial workers, and the farmers who made up the vast majority of the population.
A different approach I: comparing and contrasting media
- Soviet media had a strong overlap with media under other dictatorships and with so-called development media.
- In the world at large, issues of extreme poverty, economic crisis, political instability even to the point of civil war, turbulent insurgent movements, military or other authoritarian regimes, and violent repression of political dissent are the central context of media.
Political power
- Communist media were seen as simple mirror-opposites of media in the West.
- Communism equaled repression and censorship.
- Soviet media were the favorite counterexample for proving what was right with Western media.
- When photocopy machines came into use, access to them was governed in microscopic detail.
- The media credibility dilemma is a significant one in any dictatorship. And perhaps the longer the dictatorship lasts, the worse the dilemma.
Economic crisis
- Economic crisis was a daily experience for the majority of Russians, especially from the time of the Soviet bloc’s collapse up to the time of writing this essay.
- Russian media, until the last few years of the old Soviet Union, were silent about this decline in living standards and stagnation in productivity, and asserted that the capitalist countries were suffering from acute and irremediable economic problems.
Dramatic social transitions
- World War I opened the way to the 1917 revolution and the three-year civil war that followed the revolution (Soviet Union).
- Colonial rule, invasion, war, vast social movements, civil war, entrenched ethnic conflicts, wrenching changes of government, and dictatorships were common experiences across the planet.
- Media in Russia also went through many transitions during the 20th century.
- In the decade that followed Stalin’s death, some Russian media professionals made cautious attempts to open up the media.
- Some other brave dissidents who tried to publish works critical of the regime were sentenced to long terms of hard labor in highly publicized trials meant to scare off any would-be imitators- another media transition.
- In the world at large, issues of extreme poverty, economic crisis, political instability even to the point of civil war, turbulent insurgent movements, military or other authoritarian regimes, and violent repression of political dissent are the central context of media.
Political power
- Communist media were seen as simple mirror-opposites of media in the West.
- Communism equaled repression and censorship.
- Soviet media were the favorite counterexample for proving what was right with Western media.
- When photocopy machines came into use, access to them was governed in microscopic detail.
- The media credibility dilemma is a significant one in any dictatorship. And perhaps the longer the dictatorship lasts, the worse the dilemma.
Economic crisis
- Economic crisis was a daily experience for the majority of Russians, especially from the time of the Soviet bloc’s collapse up to the time of writing this essay.
- Russian media, until the last few years of the old Soviet Union, were silent about this decline in living standards and stagnation in productivity, and asserted that the capitalist countries were suffering from acute and irremediable economic problems.
Dramatic social transitions
- World War I opened the way to the 1917 revolution and the three-year civil war that followed the revolution (Soviet Union).
- Colonial rule, invasion, war, vast social movements, civil war, entrenched ethnic conflicts, wrenching changes of government, and dictatorships were common experiences across the planet.
- Media in Russia also went through many transitions during the 20th century.
- In the decade that followed Stalin’s death, some Russian media professionals made cautious attempts to open up the media.
- Some other brave dissidents who tried to publish works critical of the regime were sentenced to long terms of hard labor in highly publicized trials meant to scare off any would-be imitators- another media transition.
A different approach II: globalization and media
- Comparing and contrasting media is then one way to get a clearer focus on what is that media actually do in our world.
- A second, complementary approach is to focus on the current trends toward the globalization of media and of other cultural processes.
- Globalization signifies structural economic changes, or it is applied as well to cultural and media processes.
- For some writers, globalization more or less means Americanization.
- Some analysts have sharply criticized the “imperialism” school, arguing that it falsely assumes global media audiences are more moldable plastic in the hands of global media firms and pointing to research that shows how differently varying audiences around the world react to U.S. media.
- Some from this claim that people’s cultural resistance is proof against cultural invasion, but more commonly, writers of this approach use the terms hybridization and hybridity to try to capture what they see happening.
- A problem with the hybridity approach is that it can become rather wooly and vague.
- A second, complementary approach is to focus on the current trends toward the globalization of media and of other cultural processes.
- Globalization signifies structural economic changes, or it is applied as well to cultural and media processes.
- For some writers, globalization more or less means Americanization.
- Some analysts have sharply criticized the “imperialism” school, arguing that it falsely assumes global media audiences are more moldable plastic in the hands of global media firms and pointing to research that shows how differently varying audiences around the world react to U.S. media.
- Some from this claim that people’s cultural resistance is proof against cultural invasion, but more commonly, writers of this approach use the terms hybridization and hybridity to try to capture what they see happening.
- A problem with the hybridity approach is that it can become rather wooly and vague.
A different approach III: small-scale alternative media
- The term refers to the hand-circulated pamphlets, poems, essays, plays short stories, novels, and, at a later stage, audio- and videocassettes (magnitizdat) that began to emerge in Soviet bloc countries from the 1960s onward. They contained material that was banned by the Soviet regimes.
- Samizdat contained widely varied messages- some religious, some nationalist, some ecological, some reformist, some revising the myths of official Soviet history, some attacking Soviet policies, some defending citizens victimized by arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
- The term samizdat literally means “self-published,” in contradistinction to “state-published,” that is approved by the Soviet regime as “safe.”
- BBC World, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe would read samizdat texts over the air as part of their programming and thus amplified their message outside the major urban centers, which were normally the only places where samizdat were circulated.
- Samizdat contained widely varied messages- some religious, some nationalist, some ecological, some reformist, some revising the myths of official Soviet history, some attacking Soviet policies, some defending citizens victimized by arbitrary arrest and imprisonment.
- The term samizdat literally means “self-published,” in contradistinction to “state-published,” that is approved by the Soviet regime as “safe.”
- BBC World, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Europe would read samizdat texts over the air as part of their programming and thus amplified their message outside the major urban centers, which were normally the only places where samizdat were circulated.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication
El Mehdi Zeroual
COM 2303
Dr. Ibahrine
September 6, 2007
Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication
Geographical space: a barrier to communication
COM 2303
Dr. Ibahrine
September 6, 2007
Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication
Geographical space: a barrier to communication
- Geography is limiting communication.
- Even though historians have long been interested in oral and written language traditions and technologies the broader concept of communication is relatively new.
- Technologies are cultural metaphors for prevailing social and cultural conditions.
- Communication strategies and devices of many varieties were used to gain advantage in warfare and trade.
- Geography of space: We are in Ifrane, then in Meknes, Tafilalt, then in Morocco
The important thing here is time between now and the past.
The importance of communication is transformation of news.
- Geography of experience: your stories and history are limited because of space, but now it is not the case because the communication tools developed.
- Space of flow: the material and immaterial components of the global information networks.
It is the network of all networks.
Geography and the mythical world
- Ancient people certainly must have regarded the world with a sense of awe and wonder, struggling to control the unexplained events of their lives.
- Until relatively recently in history, perhaps within just the past century or two, most people knew life only as they saw it unfolding within a few square miles of their rural homes.
- Travel in most of the historical past was hazardous and unpractical.
Ancient encounters of societies and cultures
- When Greek and Arab scientists sought to rise above mythical beliefs and to construct rational models of knowledge, they saw the world as measurable, even suggesting the use of coordinate geographical space.
- The early Greeks regarded the remote islands to their west as the horizon of the known world.
- The early Greeks regarded the remote islands to their west as the horizon of the known world.
Global explorers: migrants, holy people, merchants
- Cairncross predicts that much of the work that can be done on a computer can be done from anywhere: the place has no importance nowadays.
- He also discusses 30 major changes likely to result from trends, including a diminishing need for countries to want emigration.
- In the past, they didn’t need international communication. There was global not international communication because there were no nations or countries.
- The technologies of international communication may be contemporary phenomenon.
- For ancient pre-agrarian societies in Europe, migration was a way of life.
- Improvements of farming techniques and implements allowed many nomadic groups to settle on fertile lands, unless they were by disease, invasion or war.
- The disappearance of Greek scholarship on geography left Europeans without many clues about the outside world.
- He also discusses 30 major changes likely to result from trends, including a diminishing need for countries to want emigration.
- In the past, they didn’t need international communication. There was global not international communication because there were no nations or countries.
- The technologies of international communication may be contemporary phenomenon.
- For ancient pre-agrarian societies in Europe, migration was a way of life.
- Improvements of farming techniques and implements allowed many nomadic groups to settle on fertile lands, unless they were by disease, invasion or war.
- The disappearance of Greek scholarship on geography left Europeans without many clues about the outside world.
Mapmakers in the medieval world
- Maps were closely guarded by European royalty and considered to be state secrets.
- Maps served many purposes in ancient times, including maritime navigation, religious pilgrimages and military and administrative uses.
- Mapmaking was an integral part of communication history.
- Maps were widely considered be valuable keys to unlocking unknown worlds.
Inventors: signals and semaphores
- The historical succession of technologies used for communication is lengthy.
- The telegraph made the transmission of information rapid and ensured secrecy and protection of codes.
- As usual, the business community was the 1st to make use of this technology.
- The rapid development of the telegraph was a crucial feature.
- The new technology had significant military implications.
- The telegraph made the transmission of information rapid and ensured secrecy and protection of codes.
- As usual, the business community was the 1st to make use of this technology.
- The rapid development of the telegraph was a crucial feature.
- The new technology had significant military implications.
The printing press, literacy, and the knowledge explosion
- Throughout the early Middle Ages, clerics were among the few literate people engaged in any task requiring writing.
- It was the Muslims who developed paper technology and brought it to Europe.
- The social consequences of the printing press were far-reaching, eventually encouraging the practice of reading among people.
- The world of printing was notorious for its piracy, incivility, plagiarism, unauthorized copying, false attributions, sedition and errors.
- In 1450, Gutenberg developed the printing machine.
- In “Imagined Communities,” Benidict Anderson gives a detailed analysis of nation building projects and their relationship to print media.
Scientists and international networks
- Technological innovations in travel and the changing role of international science in the mid-19th century brought far-reaching changes in relations between nations.
- Beginning with the railroad and the telegraph, towns and cities were brought closer together within a nation.
- One of the earliest significant steps toward globalizing the world was adoption of a global time system.
- Beginning with the railroad and the telegraph, towns and cities were brought closer together within a nation.
- One of the earliest significant steps toward globalizing the world was adoption of a global time system.
The international electric revolution
- The scientific innovations of the 19th century launched the world on a path to electrification of industry and commerce.
- Within 20 years of the general introduction of the telegraph in 1844, there were 150000 miles of telegraph lines throughout the world.
- The first transatlantic line did not work, and other attempts either broke or failed.
- The public showed little enthusiasm about telephone at the beginning.
- The telephone was a communication innovation that was adopted and managed differently in each nation.
- Unlike cable, radio equipment was comparatively cheap and could be sold mass scale.
- Governments used radio for political interests.
- Radio waves could travel anywhere, unrestrained by politics or geography.
- Radio was used for the international communication. Eg: De Gaulle used it from London and Germany for Nazist and also in Business. U.S also used it in Europe during the cold War. The example in the Arab world is radio SAWA.
- Within 20 years of the general introduction of the telegraph in 1844, there were 150000 miles of telegraph lines throughout the world.
- The first transatlantic line did not work, and other attempts either broke or failed.
- The public showed little enthusiasm about telephone at the beginning.
- The telephone was a communication innovation that was adopted and managed differently in each nation.
- Unlike cable, radio equipment was comparatively cheap and could be sold mass scale.
- Governments used radio for political interests.
- Radio waves could travel anywhere, unrestrained by politics or geography.
- Radio was used for the international communication. Eg: De Gaulle used it from London and Germany for Nazist and also in Business. U.S also used it in Europe during the cold War. The example in the Arab world is radio SAWA.
The era of news agencies
- The increasing demand among business clients for commercial information on business, stocks, currencies and commodities.
- Reuters tended to dominate.
- Its influence was due to the British Empire.
- British control of cable lines made London itself a universal center for world news.
- The flow of information was controlled by British but after 1987 New York became the center.
- CNN effect: if you are able to gather a lot of information, you can transform information to business.
- Reuters tended to dominate.
- Its influence was due to the British Empire.
- British control of cable lines made London itself a universal center for world news.
- The flow of information was controlled by British but after 1987 New York became the center.
- CNN effect: if you are able to gather a lot of information, you can transform information to business.
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