To what extent is the media independent of state Essay Example

To what extent is the media independent of state? Essay The dependency between government and media is a contentious issue in contemporary times. The media, once termed the Fourth Estate due to the unique role it plays in society, is supposed to be the conscience of the First Estate, namely the government. Yet, a simple analysis of the functioning of media organizations makes obvious that its role had deviated from the purported ideal. Rather than serving the interests of the general public, the media is shown to serve vested interests of the powers that be. The object of this essay is to ascertain the magnitude of such deviances from ethical journalism. Scholarly sources are perused in the process to provide supporting evidence. In any critical discussion of modern geo-polity, the word ‘propaganda’ finds recurrent mention. This is nowhere truer than in discussions about the policies and actions of the world’s only superpower, the United States of America. In his book, ‘Managing Public Opinion: The Corporate Offensive’, Alex Carey says that in the United States, â€Å"great progress had been made towards the ideal of a propaganda-managed democracy, whose principal aim was to identify a rapacious business state with every cherished human value† (Pilger, 2005). If the objective of this propaganda framework is met, then notions of democracy and individual franchise will be overwhelmed by constructs of the public relations industry in the form of advertisements and business-controlled news. Carey goes on to say that it will not be long before other functioning democracies adopt this model of control, which essentially negates institutions of democracy. In essence, Alex Care y is suggesting that in the United States, the media has become subservient to the state (Pilger, 2005). We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent is the media independent of state? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent is the media independent of state? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on To what extent is the media independent of state? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The state of mass media in Britain, as in other modern democracies, should be also be gauged in the context of its participation in ideological propaganda. Ideology as a sociological term has been interpreted in many different ways. But the following is an approximate definition of the term: Any system of beliefs, values and habits that are based on a particular political or religious school of thought. Media in general and Television in particular has always been used to propagate ideologies. Although the word â€Å"ideology† has come to carry negative connotations, the propagated ideas need not necessarily be detrimental to the interests of the audience (Payne, 2005, p. 81). A very good example of this positive use of ideology is the British government run propaganda machinery during the First World War. As the strength of the British army grew weak in confronting an imposing German hostility, the military administration had to resort to Conscription as a means of restoring its strength. But a glimpse at the history of media in the backdrop of public administration and consumerism will show that the positive application of ideological propaganda is an exception than the rule. Empirical studies show that instances when the media and the state collaborate on a project, the consequences are unfavourable for the general public. For most part, the conservative owners of leading media houses want to ‘preach their viewers what is good conduct and what is not. The way they do it is by ‘showing’ what acceptable conduct is. While the merits and demerits of their beliefs are subject to debate, their role as the moral custodians of society is highly objectionable. The worrying aspect of this subtle coercion of values into the citizenry is that the viewers are not even aware of it, which makes them vulnerable to ideological indoctrination (New Statesman, July 24, 2000, p. 129). A key talking point amongst the intelligentsia is the dangers posed by lack of diversity and representation in the mainstream media’s coverage. The phenomena of media concentration, which has seen greater consolidation in the last decade, gives rise to production of news content that serves the interests of select media elite. This concentration of power in the hands of large media conglomerates makes it easy for them to set the political agenda on the national scale as exemplified by Rupert Murdoch’s near monopoly ownership of media space in Britain. In fact, when Tony Blair first came to power in 1997 his first foreign visit was to Australia to have a one-on-one conversation with Mr. Murdoch. Irrespective of the official rhetoric, this gesture on part of Mr. Blair can only be construed as an informal pact of media-state cooperation in the subsequent years of New Labour rule. It is no surprise then that the issues that media coverage, in general, is infested with their personal biases, prejudices and interests. The general public, made helpless by this system, are presented a narrow political agenda that holds no real significance for them (Eldridge, Kitzinger Williams, 1997, p. 27). In other words, while the media has the power to elicit a policy response from the government, the outcomes tend to benefit the media elite and ruling classes rather than people. Only a few news stories get picked for publication/broadcast among numerous other pieces competing for the same space/time. The journalists in charge of deciding the news content are subject to personal biases, external coercion (both implicit and explicit) and other constraints that influence their decision making. For these reasons, there are only a minority of journalists who adhere to standards of objectivity and professional integrity, while the rest succumb to various pressures consciously or otherwise. This decline in journalistic ethos is seen across geo-political entities and cultu res, making it a cause of concern for all (Eldridge, Kitzinger Williams, 1997, p. 28). While media industries across geo-political entities have similarities, no two media organization operates in the same environment. To this extent one cannot draw sweeping generalizations with respect to ascertaining the independence or the lack of it in the media industry. Not only is the difference induced by realities of individual nation-states, but they are also demarcated by political transformation from within. A case in point is Eastern Europe, whose constituent nations previously belonged to the Communist bloc of the Soviet Union. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union had provided the fledgling democracies of the bloc to form a new media culture. But, as is the usually the case, orthodox media establishments proved difficult to budge even as Eastern European countries are now â€Å"the scene of the gradual disentanglement of the media from structures of the state, a process that, in many other countries, took place already a lon g time ago† (Jakubowicz, 1995, p.128). Even today, authoritarian regimes do exist and they exert strict control over news media establishments. In fact, under these regimes, media is just another agency of the government, as opposed to a neutral one. The classic examples of this model of information dissemination were first witnessed during the Stalinist years post Second World War. In contemporary times, China adopts a similar approach. So do Islamist nations of the Middle East. In the case of the former, â€Å"The Communist Party state sought to achieve unity of power and ownership, that is, absolute power subordinating political, economic, military, ideological, police, and judiciary powers and, of course, the media to a centralized command system of government it controlled†. Although this system is being challenged by a growing number of citizen activists, it is still a far cry from the standards of press freedom seen here in Britain. The erstwhile Communist states â€Å"must retrace the process that began wi th the original battle for liberty of the press in 17thcentury England† (Jakubowicz, 1995, p.127). Furthermore, the functioning of media under the Communist system sought complete subservience of the media, and, as a consequence, instituted the centralized command media system, whose defining characteristics were â€Å"state monopoly of the media (or a ban on opposition media), financial control, administrative control (of appointments, goals, allocation of frequencies and newsprint, monopoly of press distribution), prepublication political censorship (leading to self-censorship), laws banning critical (â€Å"subversive,† â€Å"seditious†) journalism, and barriers to international information flows (jamming of foreign radio stations, bans on imports and distribution of foreign newspapers, periodicals, books, etc.). The media fulfilled for the state the hegemonic functions of dominance, ideological homogenization of the audience, and reproduction of the existing social order.† (Jakubowicz, 1995, p.125) While the media-state relations might not be so intertwined in modern capitalist democracies, here too the government-media nexus exists, but from a subtler government-business community of interests. This is particularly true in capitalist societies, whereas it is less blatant in nations with a socialist tradition. Even in Britain, whose public representatives believe that they are at the forefront of democratic principles, the mutual dependency between government and business enterprises is quite obvious. Since mainstream media is only one manifestation of the larger corporate world, it is established by deduction that the government and media are dependent upon one another. To cite a popular example, the radio series Absolute Power, starring Stephen Fry and Mark Tavener, which featured in BBC Radio4 during the Blair years, is a humorous expose on the media’s ulterior motive. The lead characters in the series – Charles Prentice and Martin McCabe – play the role of partners and directors of the company Prentice-McCabe, which specializes in ‘Government-Media’ relations. The reality is not much different from this humorous take on the media. Across the Atlantic, for example, a thorough investigation of news and public affairs programming by the media watchdog group FAIR revealed that â€Å"the voice of business on television was much louder than all others even on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). More than one-third of all on-camera sources were representatives of corporate America or Wall Street. Corporate influence pervades nearly every aspect of society – from simple things, like our daily diet and the clothes we wear, to matters of larger scale, like the way we communicate with each other† (Gerbner, 2001, p.186).

Concept Essay

Concept Essay Steps for Writing Concept Essays The aim of Concept Essays is to inform readers about a particular topic. The purpose of such an essay is to explain a concept without influencing your readers. When you write this type of essay, you do not adopt a stance or provide a point of view on the essay topic. Even if you write about a controversial topic, you need to explain all the sides of the controversy instead of taking one particular side. This type of essay can be written on any essay length. If you are writing a concept paper for the first time, follow these simple steps to get started: 1. Select a Topic You may be given a specific essay topic or you may be told to write your essay on a topic of your choice. If it is the latter, look for a topic that you find interesting. Writing about an interesting theme will lead to you writing your essay in a way that interests your readers. Keep in mind that topics for Concept Essays are more abstract than other types of essays. Examples of such topics would be racism, wisdom or communication. 2. Conduct Research Make a note of the information you possess on your topic and then start collating information on the parts that are missing. As you will be educating your readers on your chosen topic, it is important that you know all that you can find out about it. After carrying out all the research, decide what information you are going to use. You don’t have to write about your topic in extensive detail; however it should be detailed enough to provide thorough understanding of the concept. 3. Determine your Audience Before writing your Concept Essay, you must have an idea of who your target audience is. It is not possible to write an essay effectively without determining the type of readers you are writing for. Knowing who your readers are will help you decide what materials to include, the order of ideas and the best way to support the arguments made. 4. Create an Outline Creating an essay outline is a great idea as it will help you organise your thoughts and information. Once you organize your thoughts, you will get an overall view of how your essay will look. This will help you group similar ideas together and eliminate unnecessary ones. 5. Begin Your Essay The introduction to an essay is very important. The essay intro introduces readers to the subject of the essay and indicates the areas of importance. This opening paragraph must contain your thesis statement. This statement must be explained briefly in one or two sentences and must convey the main idea of your essay. Follow your introduction with the essay body paragraphs in which every paragraph discusses one main point. 6. Write Your Conclusion Conclude your Concept Essay with a paragraph that reminds readers of your essay’s main idea. This paragraph must summarize the main points in a fresh and interesting way. If you find it difficult to write this type of paper, you can buy an essay or read a couple of free sample essays online for guidance.

Midterm Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Midterm Exam - Essay Example The securities are supporting various political sides and hence creating a situation whereby a certain proportion of the population is not secure. Without fair security to all people, a country experiences political instability. In other countries, military leaders are being involved in politics and hence the forces side with them. In such a situation, a county is exposed to political instability since their security is not guaranteed. In the last decade, the phenomenon of coups in Arab regimes that has dominated the political world since 1950’s has come to an end. Most regimes have expanded their military forces and hence making a military coup very complex. The numbers of military officers have grown by over 200% (Cordesman 57). The fund of the military officers has also been increases and hence they cannot be lured to taking political sides through money favors. This has ensured that the military can guard the country’s political stability. From the above dig into, it is apparent that the military have been in involved in generating political stability and political instability in Arab countries. Discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia was highly welcomed, and it was anticipated that the country was going to rise highly economically. The demand of oil globally had been constantly increasing and hence the country focused on oil production leaving out the other economic activities. The countries oil export was very high and hence its currency value spear-rocketed making it difficult for other countries to purchase its exports. The domestic industries were negatively affected by the economic situation and hence limiting their growth and reducing the possibility of opening of new business. The local industries participate in state building, and when they are in a position of no or little growth, the rate of state building is very low. The collapse of many local industries due to the value of the currency in

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example George. W. Merck a formal chairman of the company always tried to project his founding father’s mission that the corporation will always â€Å"work for the people and not for profits†. On this regard it can be said, that the company is more deliberate to act with high social responsibility rather than just focusing on profitability or revenues (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). Organization Values of Merck & Corporation In respect of Merck’s company’s mission and vision which is to serve public at all means, profit is not the first priority as the organization is with deeper social grounds at the time of service or operation. As company’s vision is set on high moral grounds, it becomes mandatory for the system of the company to follow the similar track in which social responsibility is on highest node of consideration. In such ethical frame of work, the decision of developing a drug which is specifically for small population is hard to make, as it has to imi tate company’s vision and fit in the interest of internal and external stakeholders (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). It was the period of 1970s when the case of â€Å"River blindness† came on the front to Merck & Corporation. ... ion like Merck’s & Corporation, whose idea is to serve mankind and provide people with effective remedies on such chronic diseases (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). Stakeholder Impact and Interest Merck & Corporation is one of the largest medication providers in the world. It is having a thorough background in serving people genuinely with high effective cures and remedies. The case of river blindness required an ethical decision in which Merck & Corporation was being expected to make a decision in favor of the affected population (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). The case brought attention of stakeholders who were actively part of the organization at that time. Scientists were internal stakeholders who projected their deep interest in researching for the case. This was all in the context of company’s mission and vision, which is to serve public who is facing influence of such chronic disease â€Å"River blindness† (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). Risk in Development of the Drug In the case of River-blindness disease, Merck & Corporation was carrying high amount of risk especially if the company owners look at the profitability aspect (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). If the company goes with its research, it would require high investments plus a lot of time to get with a probable solution. The profit generation is on the lesser side even the investments are hard to recover on the drug as the affected people requiring the drug are located in poor regions, who cannot afford such high profitability ratios for the company (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). The Final Decision In respect of the following risk factors, it is hard to make a decision that whether a company should go or not for developing the drug. If a company decides to proceed with the drug development, it could compromise the principles of

Background and conditions Essay Example for Free

Background and conditions Essay How is it possible that two people grow up together in the same family background and conditions, yet turn out to be strangers? How is it possible that two people who have lived together for many years are strangers to each other at the end? In Sonnys Blues, two brothers the narrator and Sonny, grows up together in Harlem, fall apart as they grow older, and live completely different lives. In Lullaby, Ayah feels that Chato, her husband, has remained stranger to her even when they have spend forty years together, facing all the hardships and sufferings given by life. In Sonny Blues, the narrator is the older brother who is conservative, determined, and a kind of family person. Sonny, who is his younger brother, is carefree and undecided about his future plans. It is sometimes very difficult to understand how two people coming from the same background live life completely opposite from each other. As the narrator and Sonny grow into adults, one moves towards success and the other moves towards failure. Once when their mother was dead, their lives completely changed. The narrator wants Sonny to finish his school and think about his future seriously. After knowing Sonnys plans to play jazz music, the narrator is surprised and annoyed. His conservative thinking and definition of success makes him unable to understand his brothers feelings. He fails to understand that music is Sonnys life and thats what he wants to do all his life. That makes him feel that he doesnt know his brother at all. He is like a stranger to him. The narrator, in some way or the other, wants his brother to be like himself and wants him to do whatever he thinks is safe and right for his future. So Sonny was forced to move in with his brothers fianci e, Isabel, where he has to stay until he finished high school. Sonny starts skipping school and eventually he ceases to go all together. He has been spending all his time with some musicians in a white girls apartment. He is scolded and screamed at by Isabels mother and that is what breaks him down and he runs away. After that, whenever the two brothers met they always fought awfully. It is hard to not be able to fit into society and that is why Sonny turned to drugs for a sense of belonging. Nobody was aware about this problem until it was too late. The narrator has never been a good listener to his brother. That is what I think is the greatest factor that gives him the sense of alienation towards his brother. Sonny was always kept away from his dreams. At the end of the story, the narrator for the first time listens to his brother after all these years and tries to understand him and the sufferings he has to face all his life and tries to console him. Thats when he hears him playing the piano and he ends up being proud of his brother. He becomes the important person in Sonnys life, on the way from suffering to success. They both end up happy and understanding each other much better. In Lullaby, Ayah, the old woman and her husband, Chato have lived together for forty years. Together, they have seen their three children getting apart. Ayah hates white people because she thinks that Jimmie, their eldest son, died due to them. BIA-Bureau of Indian Affairs, who consists of white people, takes away her other two children. On the other hand, Chato is always eager to learn white ways of living. He is fluent in both English and Spanish languages and works for white people in a horse farm. She hated him for teaching her to sign her name in English because thats what takes her children away from her. If she had not signed it, her children would never have departed. The white people fired Chato; he became ill after that. As Ayah describes it, That satisfied her. To see how the white man repaid years of loyalty and work. All of Chatos fine -sounding English talk didnt change things(Baldwin 127). This shows that Ayah was so rigid about her thoughts for white people that she didnt even spare her husband from criticizing. They got some money from the government that Chato spends for his wine. He was sick and drunk one evening when Ayah had to go to pick him up from the bar. That is when she feels a sense of alienation and estrangement towards Chato. She could not see him as a person so ill, drunk, and broken mentally from what he has faced after his sincere and loyal work toward white people. This feeling is very different from what the narrator in Sonnys Blues feels about his brother at some point in the story. Even if Ayah and the narrator in both the stories feel the sense of estrangement and alienation towards the people, so close to their hearts, it is different. The narrator and Sonny never stayed together for long when they grew up. They were always apart and different. Ayah and Chato were different in every way but they lived together all their life, they knew they had, and faced every suffering together. When Ayah sees Chato losing his strength to fight against the hard facts towards life, she feels this sense of estrangement. She has never seen Chato losing or giving up. She has always seen him facing the difficulties with courage and determination. She feels that they are old now. In Sonnys blues, both the brothers end up happily, but in Lullaby, the end is sad. Ayah has nothing to say about anything anymore. Her life has become memories. But the narrator and Sonny have a lot to do together in their life.

Managing Change Essay -- essays research papers

"Managing Change" Massive change is impacting on all facets of society, creating new dimensions and great uncertainty. Instant communication, super small high-tech equipments, the globalization movement, the deadly terrorist attacks in the U.S., the emerging of foreign investments in China nation are all the changing dimensions of the world. These are few of the changes which have occurred around last two decades. The issue facing people in business today is how to manage such changes. The origin of one change has an impact on other origin of changes. For example, technological break thorough of the communication in computers resulted in tremendous change of behavioral through an extensive and immediate involvement of the average citizen in world event. In the past, it took time and a lot of money to reach the person across the continent but now it is only one click on the button and a cost under $1. The impact of the change affects the individual, on organization, and on geopolitical. The management of change by individual, organization, and national and international bodies is critical to survival in the decades ahead. The individuals who invest their most formative years in an education and their most productive years in occupational activities must be able to build to personal competence both to survive and manage change. Organizations require flexibility in structure and appropriate strategies if they are to survive and be viable in the future. And government, institutions, and international coordination must create the appropriate environment to permit individuals and organizations to prosper and create the fruits of civilization. The emphasis is primary on how individuals and organizations can deal with change successfully and develop appropriate strategies and structures for the effective management of change. Management of change must provide guidelines for institutional and structural change as well as for individual. (Scott and Jaffe, 1995) If persons have a motivation to face a change, they are likely to take people with them and they can bring organization to change. This is an effective one. Also, there are many changes that are brought by the change in an institution, such as the go... ...n; prevent crisis. Nonetheless, Basil and Cook (1974) state crisis can be a danger that weakens or destroys the organization or crisis can be a growth opportunity. Therefore, successfully dealing with change in the organization means choosing to grow and develop continuously. References Robblins, P. Stephen, Organization Behavior 10th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003. Carnall, Colin A. Managing change, London : Routledge, 1991. Scott, Cynthia D. and Jaffe, Dennis T. Managing change at work : Leading people through organizational transitions, Menlo Park, CA : Crisp Publications, 1995. Basil, Douglas C. and Cook, Curtis W. The management of change, McGraw Hill, 1974. http://www.prosci.com/ADKAR-overview.htm

Girl Postitive Essay

The movie â€Å"Girl Positive† is about, Rachel, a teenage girl Rachel in high school that has come in contact with the disease HIV. The movie shows how people in her high school view the disease. They also stereotype it, saying only gay people can get. They are quickly proven wrong though. A recent report put up on the school website shows that the star athlete that graduated before them was doing heroin. He had just died in a car accident and they found it in his system and in his car. Everybody was completely shocked. After the report came out Rachel received a message that told her that this star athlete, Jason, had HIV. They were concerned about her well-being and asked if she also had the disease because she had lost her virginity to him at a party. Rachel became close with a new teacher at the school who conveniently worked at an AIDS clinic too. She asked to do some community service down there for extra credit. While Rachel was there she snuck a HIV test and took it. Later on, the results came back positive and the teacher was trying to help her out but Rachel didn’t want to listen. She was scared and didn’t want anyone to know. Rachel tried telling her boyfriend, but he didn’t understand. The rumors started in her school about her having it and her life felt like it was falling apart. But then Mark, Jason’s brother, came to Rachel with a video admitting that Jason was HIV positive. They decided the school needed to know. When they all found out, almost the entire senior class went to this AIDS clinic and were getting tested. Rachel and her mom stood by each other’s side and got blood test done to know for sure. The movie ended with the doctor saying she was positive; which I think was a really disappointing ending. I thought this movie was really good. It shows that people really do not know about this awful disease. They think it will kill them instantly, but really won’t if they take the right meds. I also think it’s very insightful. Although a lot of the scenes in the school were off because personally that wasn’t like my school at all. I think this is a really good movie to shows because it gives a lot of facts on HIV that I didn’t know and I’m sure many other teenagers don’t know either.