When think of the ways we communicate today in comparison to how people would have 50 years ago, the changes and new media technologies that are now present makes it hard to think of how it would have been back then.
We are living in a media savvy world, able to carry around everything we need in one compact piece of technology treasure. Our phones give us access to so much information that we are no longer dependent on traditional forms of media. One click and we are able to see what is happening on the other side of the world. One click and we can keep up to date on current news events, one click and we are able to chat to someone overseas.
Social media can be seen to be both glocalized and globalized. We can not only chat and see what is happening in our local surroundings and people in our area that we live in, but also allow for a wider reach for round the world access to both people and news stories.
In relation to Television we are also seeing this trend, Austar enables us to be able to tune into a greater span of national and international shows and News, although, there is still a large number of individuals that refute this idea of globalization (Sinclair and Harrison 2004). The main factor causing this is localization. Many individuals highly value their culture and feel they need to protect their local industries. Therefore, they do not support this globalized approach to television (Sinclair & Harrison, 2004).
Jinna Tay and Graeme Turner (2008) tell us that “where once broadcast television was everywhere the fundamental medium to which mass media theory had to address itself, now we need to address a much more complex media scape where change has been dynamic but uneven, where the localm national and regional media environments vary significatly” If the only medium for us to gain our knowledge of the outside world was through broadcast television there would be some stories we would never hear about.
This can link to how the stories we view through social media can be seen to have more depth and there is room for discussion from audiences, whereas Television news being scripted and having a time frame doesn’t sometimes allow for in depth information to be processed.
News events such as KONY and Bring Back our Girls (Nigerian school girls missing) have really adapted to the social media world and have used it effectively to gain a wider awareness behind the issue.
The Globalization of media can be view both positively and negatively depending on how you use the media and how is best suits your needs and lifestyle as well as the generation you fit into will alter your perceptions on what media you take best to.
Tay, J and Turner, G 2008, ‘What is Television: Comparing Media Systems in the Post-broadcast Era’, Media International Australia, Issue 126. Accessed 12/5/14