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Rilationship between government and media
Relationship of government and media
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As of the year 2010, Google battle with the Chinese government over Internet censorship has drawn increased international attention to media system in the country. The conflict between Google and Chinese government is mainly because of the different media systems that serve in the United States and China. Basically, the media system consists of different types of communications media, such as television, Newspapers, Internet, books and other new media (Ipad, smartphones). Chinese media system differs from that of the United States is up to the very different regimes and social conditions that can be analyzed in four aspects: Ownership and national culture of media, laws and regulations, attitude towards foreign media. The ownership and national culture of media system is the basic cause of the different media systems of the United States and China. Media system of the United States is considered as a free-market system. Large corporations control most the print media and the entire American broadcast media and, and wealthy individuals own these corporations. In 2012, The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the US, with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Time Warner, Viacom CBS Corporation and NBC Universal ranking second, third and so forth respectively (Lutz, 2012). Together, the "big six" dominate 90% news, radio, magazines, movies and other entertainments in the United States. The Walt Disney Company owns 10 television stations, 277 radio stations, Pixar Animation, and other entertainments. This large and diverse proportion of media holdings make sure that the power of speech is on peoples` side. Thus, the American government has less power to interfere the free speech of media industry. On the contrary, Chinese... ... middle of paper ... ...wever, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao prompted a calling for press freedom in 2010. After that, there was a “Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms” made public as a document on November 15th 2013 by the government. It is likely to prompt fairly free market media system. This is a big step towards to free speech in China. The state-controlled media and the private wealthy individuals owned media decide the content that the public can get. The strict laws and regulations in China not only affect the domestic media but also influence the attitude towards foreign media. Even though China has a very different way to manage the media system, it already starts to approach media freedom, like the CNC reform and reforms document in 2013. In the future, the Chinese government would find its own way to free media industry with its social conditions.
Michael Parenti (2002) declares media in the United States is no longer “free, independent, neutral and objective.” (p. 60). Throughout his statement, Parenti expresses that media is controlled by large corporations, leaving smaller conglomerates unable to compete. The Telecommunications Act, passed in 1996, restricted “a single company to own television stations serving more than one-third of the U.S. public,” but is now overruled by greater corporations. (p. 61). In his opinion, Parenti reveals that media owners do not allow the publishing of stories that are not beneficial and advantageous. Parenti supports his argument very thoroughly by stating how the plutocracy takes control over media in multiple ways: television, magazines, news/radio broadcasting, and other sources.
Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and internationally. The aim of these companies is to generate revenue and in order to do this they create and air shows that cater to popular demand. In doing so, they sometimes compromise on the quality of their content. This is where public broadcasters come into perspective.
It is interesting to note that some of the new Internet regulations contradict International Laws signed by the Chinese government. China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998 that states that “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print…or through any other media of his choice”.
The media censorship appears in various forms and in almost all countries; few have legal systems that guarantee absolute freedom of the media.
Since its creation, the Internet has continuously grown in importance as a means to obtain information. This is due in part because it is not censored like the rest of America’s mainstream media, such as television, newspapers, and the radio. Nevertheless, the issue of censorship has raised many controversial issues, not only in the United States, but also throughout the world. In the debate by Intelligence2 (2008): Google Violates its Don’t be Evil Motto, it is argued that Google has violated its self declared motto that it wouldn’t be evil, thus putting people’s interest before their own corporate financial interests. While Google has committed certain questionable acts I do not believe they have violated their motto. Harry Lewis, Randal Picker, and Siva Vaidhyanathan argue that this violation is exposed in Goggle’s agreement to cooperate with the Chinese government in exchange of a larger monetary market and in its advertisement market (Intelligence2, 2008). Nevertheless, Esther Dyson, Jim Harper, and Jeff Jarvis argue that while such actions have occurred, the good it has brought to the over all population exemplifies their don’t be evil motto.
Companies such as Disney own a vast number of media outlets so they are able to influence culture in a biased way that is shaped to how they want. The more money a company has then the more power and influential they can be and the Disney corporation has plenty of money and power. They are able to give us the information they want us to see and have in order to shape popular culture.
Disney is the parent company for many of societies favorite brands and products on a global scale. After doing research I can honestly say that the Disney brand owns almost every media outlet. According to PBS “The Walt Disney Company is the third largest global media conglomerate. Its FY 2000 revenues topped $25
Google is the largest search engine across the globe, which has significantly transformed the use of the Internet as an information source. The influence of Google in Internet use as information source is evident in the fact that by June 2010, it accounted for more than 70 percent of total Internet searches in America. In addition to its success and profitability in the global market, Google is renowned as a highly ethical company as demonstrated in its corporate philosophy features. However, the firm’s behavior during the launch of its China-based search engine in 2006 generated huge skepticism from the United States government and several human rights organizations (Baker & Tang, p.2). Since the launch of Google’s Chinese search engine, the company complied with China’s censorship regulations by deciding to filter out terms that are considered politically sensitive. This decision attracted criticism from political leaders and human rights activists who accused Google of betraying its adopted ethical standards by ignoring the essence of freedom of expression and information access. As a result, Google faced a dilemma involving the clash between law and ethics. In the subsequent years, Google reacted to the dilemma by changing its rhetoric strategies in efforts to respond to the changing needs.
The government in china is very concerned with limiting the freedom of expression for it's citizens in all possible ways. Let's examine first the reason why censorship is such an important aspect for the Chinese government. According to the book “A Short History of China” by Gordon Kerr when the renaissance took place in Europe from the 14th through the 17th century it changed people's view in many different ways because it was “a period of exploration, discovery and advancement in almost every field”(Gordon Kerr 87); it was a rebirth of the ancient traditions. Mean...
One of the fundamental roles of the media in a liberal democracy is to critically scrutinise governmental affairs: that is to act as a watchdog of government to ensure that the government can be held accountable by the public. However, the systematic deregulation of media systems worldwide is diminishing the ability of citizens to meaningfully participate in policymaking process governing the media (McChesney, 2003, p. 126). The relaxation of ownership rules and control, has resulted in a move away from diversity of production to a situation where media ownership is becoming increasing concentrated by just a few predominantly western global conglomerates (M...
The Chinese government pressured Taiwan’s social media to self-censor because Taiwan revealed news that was biased against China. The censorship takes away the free will of knowledge from everyone other than the people imposing the censorship and also could be a potential threat in cases where conflict would take place. The China Factor in Taiwan’s Media by Huang Jaw-Nian states that “ In China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enforces administrative censorship on the media with political and legal penalties” (27). The Chinese government attempts to silence Taiwan’s social media which will ultimately keep the public oblivious and under the government’s control. Additionally, Taiwan depends on China for income, meaning that the Chinese government holds the power to indirectly censor Taiwan.
Interests: China’s leaders desire to improve their nation’s economy while preserving political stability. They want to censor political discussions to prevent “westernization” of China,
Censorship in China Introduction: Censorship is a technic often used by a state to control the information available to its citizens. Although the very first act of censorship is unknown, many acts of censorship throughout history has been documented. Acts such as burning books, imprisoning, and killing those with ideas that go against the belief of the government/ the main power holding group. Although it is thought that these acts are no longer used/ heavily frowned upon in most areas of the world, there are plenty of areas where these acts are performed systematically by the government. China has almost always been a society that heavily relies on acts of censorship of its own people to keep things in line.
The Walt Disney Company is an American diversified multinational mass media corporation which is the largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue. It is present in five major industries - media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive. According to the 2013 Fortune 500 list, The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue in the United States, and it is followed by the News Corp, Time Warner, CBS and Viacom. (Fortune 500, 2013)
Censorship allows governments more control of society than they already have, slowly progressing governments utilizing censorship to a dictatorship. Often times, this censorship can lead to immense rebellions. A good example of this is in China, where Google has been censored by a provider called The Great Firewall of China, which censors information that could be viewed as defamatory or insulting to Chinese government and culture. According to the article “Google turns off China censorship warning” as published by BBC News Technology, “Google has had a rocky relationship with the Chinese authorities since January 2010, when the company said it may shut down Chinese operations due to a ‘sophisticated and targeted’ cyber attack. Google said at the time that it was no longer willing to censor the Google search engine”. Many journalists have also taken a look at Egypt, which also utilizes censorship. According to “Egyptian authorities step up censorship” as published by the Committee to Protect Journalists website, the new military-run Egyptian government is censoring news outlets and keep journalists, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates. “Egyptia...