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FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA

STUDIES FKPM

MASTER OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS


INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
(COM733)

MIDTERM TEST

NAME

ANIS AIREENA BINTI ANAS ZAIRI


2020416332

PREPARED FOR

DR. WAN NORBANI BINTI WAN NOORDIN


1. Describe one of the arguments that the US opposed to in the 1970s demands for a
New World Information and Communication Order(NWICO) and does that
discussion that led to the argument is still relevant in the 21st century?

In the 1970s, international fora were rife with discussion about global media and information
patterns. As long as there has been mass media, news collection and reporting has been
contentious, both inside and between countries, but flow of information has never been
contentious either before or after (Carlsson, 2017). The major shifts in international politics that
occurred in the 1960s were the catalyst for these developments. Several colonies declared their
independence from colonial megacities. With freedom came calls for acknowledgement of the
countries' national self-determination, not just in terms of politics, but also in terms of economics
and culture. On the one hand, beliefs about the role of communication in society's growth, and on
the other, connections between industrialized and developing nations, are intertwined in the
debate over an emerging global information order. Communication is essential to human survival
and aids in the differentiation of races and individuals. Unfortunately, because the West controls
the global media, knowledge is not fairly spread. As a result, developing countries rely entirely
or largely on the media of industrialized countries for information (Kenechukwu, 2015).

One of the arguments made by United States of America (U.S.A) during the enforcement of
NWICO is that they said that the new order was created by the Third World to control the
information, enforce restriction, and keep international journalists at bay. It wasn't by luck that
the non-aligned camp demanded reform of the global communications infrastructure. The chaotic
transformation in the global oil market was one of the main factors (Carlsson, 2017). USA thinks
that the newly reformed NWICO is a threat to the global and mainly to the freedom of press and
free flow of information. However, if this issue is taken allegedly, USA is trying to monopolize
the economic markets around the world. Hence, NWICO emphasizes on the documents
pertaining to mass media content that emerged from non-aligned country meetings in the late
1970s show that the notion of an emerging global information system required extensive changes
of the present order, covering all types of information.
The first D is of the Four D’s is the democratization. People and citizens have a right to get
an objective image of reality through accurate and thorough information, as well as to think
freely through diverse cultures and nations and communication. Democracy is always related to
freedom of speech. Hence, an individual has been given the right to freely express their feelings
towards the government system if there are any lacks or improvisations. Every nation has the
right to engage in the international flow of information under advantageous conditions, on a
political and non-governmental level, in a spirit of equality, fairness, and mutual benefit
(Carlsson, 2017). According to Girard (2003), One is the media's role in the information society.
In general, the media is treated as an afterthought rather than a key and distinguishing aspect.
Few would disagree that media play an increasingly important role in society, including in the
construction of culture, personality, and society, as well as constitutional democracy processes.
The second D represents decolonization which emphasizes each country's right to have its
interests, goals, and political, moral, and cultural values respected. The third D represents
demonopolization that means every nation has the right to establish its own separate data system,
in part through controlling transnational firms' operations. Demonopolization is the enforcement
that USA is concerned about where they are prohibited from monopolizing the whole economic
system alone and started to argue about free flow of information. The last D would the
development, meaning that every nation has its own right to develop their ways of information
systems.

In my opinion, this argument is not relevant to be discussed in this era since freedom of
speech is now globalized. People are given the opportunity to freely express themselves in any
aspect. However, if we look at the global side, the USA seems to still monopolize every sector in
every dimension. Media imperialism still can be seen as a crucial issue nowadays. Finally, the
USA is still seen as one of the top countries that imperialize the global.
2. Does the western dominated news media shape the global news agenda?

Most people think that the trend toward internationalization looks to be unstoppable, and
that it is a movement that will influence everyone in some manner (Wang, 2008). Although we
recognize the gravity of the situation, there are some issues with the phrase itself. The definitions
of the phrases internationalization and globalization are considerably different. The former
generally relates to norms and laws, whilst the latter frequently refers to worldwide integration's
social, migration, language, and economic activities. It has been suggested that media
globalization would result in power decentralization and greater bottom-up control. While some
perceive globalization as a horrible homogeneous process of civilizations adversely or favorably
influencing one another, others see local cultures deriving their own significance from the
influences they receive. Some consider this as the Western nation's "duty," while others think
that Western nations, such as the United States, have a harmful influence on Third World
nations' traditional cultures (Campbell, 2010).

The global media, also known as transnational media, refers to large media corporations
that exercise imperial dominance over the world's social culture by disseminating cultural goods
such as news, music, movies, cartoons, and other forms of creative expression (Muswida, n.s).
USA set their sights on nation-states as main actors in international relations during the early
stages of cultural imperialism. They accused affluent, industrialized, and Western nation-states
of attempting to export their cultural goods and impose their sociocultural norms on poorer and
weaker nations in the developing world through their intents and deeds. According to Kraidy
(2002), developing countries got inadequate and biased coverage in Western media, most media
flows were exported by Western countries and imported by developing countries, both in terms
of quantity and quality.
When it comes to global news agenda, international related communications are being
discussed. Western dominated media has proven that they are taking over the global news
agenda since they are domination of almost parts of the world’s communications system. Every
nation is currently having an international affair with the USA. Hence, the monopolization of the
USA media in other nations is prominent. One viewpoint on cultural globalization, like cultural
imperialism in terms of the type of the media's impact on culture but distinct in its understanding
of the issue, is that the media contribute to the homogeneity of cultural variations throughout the
world. This viewpoint on cultural globalization dominates popular thinking, bringing up visions
of Planet Hollywood and the MTV generation as mentioned by Kraidy (2002). The fact that
people are looking up to western media is also one of the factors that the USA wins the
international media. Take a look at the USA Presidential election, every person in this world
would want to know and observe the results of the elections even though they have nothing to do
with it. This is because some of the nations are relying on the USA in certain aspects. For
instance, regarding the economic sector. This can be seen when Afghanistan has cut off their
international relations with the USA, the citizen there are scared to their deaths since the Taliban
will be taking over their country. Therefore, global news agenda is really affected by the western
dominated media.

Other than that, on the issue of the Israel’s attack on Palestine, the western media seems
to be so biased and started to gaslight Palestine through the media. Tons of people do believe
anything that is being portrayed through the western media. Hence, western media really
influences the global news agenda.
3. What is a Transnational Media Corporations (TNMC) and discuss two of their
contributions to the host nation.

The problems of being internationally competitive are becoming increasingly challenging


as today's media organizations develop and expand. A transnational corporation is a firm with
activities in two or more countries but is based in one country. One distinguishing aspect of the
transnational company (TNC) is that planning, and asset allocation are driven by economic goals
and efficiency, rather than national borders (Gershon, 2015). TNMCs are ideally positioned to
benefit from efficient decentralized production locations. Workers at all levels are affected by the
new subsidiary of cultural labor (NICL), which allows for the sharing of off-line formatting,
special effects manufacturing, and pieces of music, further inspiring TNMCs to cut costs through
pass supply chain that maximize profits while minimizing wages. TNMC films are favored by
big exhibitors because they are widely advertised, better recognized and preferred by huge
audiences, and come as part of film packages that ensure marketers have access to a large
number of films at a reasonable cost (Artz, 2016). The circumstances for generating media,
including its aesthetics, style, form, and substance, are asserted by international commercial
media ownership and concentration. For example, relying on formats maximizes content
adaptation and the propagation of standardized codes and norms.

Multiple TV stations with various languages and formats have been formed by TNMCs
for advertisements targeting these diverse categories. TNMCs have also created films,
publications, newspapers, and music genres targeted for certain audiences (Artz, 2016). The
social effects of the sector's globalization are analogous to those of many other industries, and
include reorganization of labor rights and circumstances, as well as worldwide rivalry for risky
means economic on lower labor costs. While these are important concerns in and of themselves,
they should be considered in the context of the larger challenges surrounding globalization
(Siochru, 2004).

The contributions of TNMC are prominent in today’s media industry. In order to achieve
a well-organized media system, TNMC has made it easier for the producers as well as the media
owners to systematically organize their masterpieces. The mass communication industries are
one of the most important sectors in supporting globalization. To begin with,
telecommunications play a key part in international manufacturing techniques. Without advanced
telecommunications networking, it is impossible to imagine how the pace and depth of
globalization could have been maintained throughout the previous decades. As the media
becomes more global, concerns of regulation arise on a worldwide scale. The worldwide level
arises when national media limits are increasingly eased. As a result, media and technology
challenges have spawned their own international institutions or been included into the work of
existing provisions organizations'.
REFERENCES

Artz, L. (2016). Transnational Media Corporations and Global Division of Cultural Labor and
Consumption. Les Enjeux de l’information et de La Communication, N° 17/2(2), 25.
https://doi.org/10.3917/enic.021.0025
Campbell, A. M. (2010). Screening Culture : Is Western Media to Blame for “ Tainting ”
Traditional Third World Values ?
Carlsson, U. (2003). The Rise and Fall of NWICO. Nordicom Review, 24(2), 31–67.
https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0306
Gershon, R. A. (2000). The transnational media corporation: Environmental scanning and
strategy formulation. Journal of Media Economics, 13(2), 81–101.
https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327736ME1302_3
Kraidy, M. M. (2002). Globalization of Culture Through the Media. Encyclopedia of
Communication and Information, 2(April), 359–363. http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers
%5Cnhttp://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/325
Mirrlees, T. (2019). Mass Media and Imperialism. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism
and Anti-Imperialism, January 2020, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91206-6_122-1
Tyner, K. (2008). Educating in the information society. In Digital Literacy: Tools and
Methodologies for Information Society. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-798-0.ch014
Wang, D. (2008). Globalization of the Media: Does It Undermine National Cultures?
International Communication Studies, 2, 170–171.

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