Media Freedom: A Downward Spiral
Freedom House
‘Remarkable’ AI opportunity whets News Corp’s appetite for elusive holy grail — a lucrative new revenue stream – The Irish Times
‘Remarkable’ AI opportunity whets News Corp’s appetite for elusive holy grail — a lucrative new revenue stream Rupert Murdoch’s media empire anticipates profitable opportunities and ability to reduce costs.
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Profits at Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp might have dropped 75 per cent in the year to the end of June — to $187 million (€170 million) — but dollar signs still seemed to be flashing in the eyes of the company’s chief executive Robert Thomson this week.
The glint was all courtesy of artificial intelligence (AI). The key Murdoch lieutenant got the usual media earnings release fare about stringent cost controls, challenging macro conditions and currency headwinds over and done with, then hailed what he described as “sound reasons for optimism”. Please take the time to read the full story below on the INLtv.co.uk webpage
Global press freedom plunges to worst level this century | Press freedom | The Guardian
Please take the time to read the full story below on the INLtv.co.uk webpage
Achieving Media Dominance
The Implications for Democracy of China’s Globalizing Media Influence
- Ethiopia, Malaysia, and Ecuador, are particularly vulnerable to backsliding and require special focus.
- Support social media as an alternative outlet for free expression in repressive environments. Innovative alternatives to state-controlled media regularly spring up on social media, including recently in Venezuela, Armenia, and Sudan. Related technology can be used to circumvent censorship and keep reporters anonymous where needed. Donor agencies should provide funding for technology that increases journalistic freedom.
- WRITTEN BYSarah Cook
- Senior Research Analyst for East Asia
The Implications for Democracy of China’s Globalizing Media Influence
A newspaper consumer reads a copy of the Africa edition of Beijing’s state-run China Daily newspaper in front of a newsstand in Nairobi, Kenya
Advantages and Disadvantages of Media | List of Top 10 Media Advantages and Disadvantages - A Plus Topper
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Media | List of Top 10 Media Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages and Disadvantages of Media: Media refers to a means of communication such as broadcasting, publishing, or anything or communication involving the use of the internet or other sources that uses different branches to facilitate global communication for individuals situated across the world.
Media is a means of communication system that carries any message to a targeted audience. Media can be of diverse types, such as radio, print media, outdoor media, internet, TV, and other vehicles or instruments used to convey a particular message.
The main objective of Media is to select the most suitable content that can affect the mass and appetizing it to a larger audience to a choir merit energy with their goal. Media is the largest source that acts as the primary source of information for many individuals
Students can also find more Advantages and Disadvantages articles on events, persons, sports, technology, and many more..
Media planners have to constantly follow the new media trends and technological development that has taken place over the years.
To produce a solid and influential message for their audience, they need to determine the short and long-term effects of various media worldwide that suit their objective and analyze their strengths and weak points.
Media Advantages and Disadvantages
- What is meant by Media?
- The significant features of Media
- The Advantages of Media
- The Disadvantages of Media
- A Comparison Table for the Advantages and Disadvantages of Media
- FAQS Pros and Cons of Media
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What is Meant by Media?
Media is the plural version of the term medium that describes any course of communication. Media includes everything from printed papers to virtually represented data, encompassing art, education, news, and various other forms of information.
Anything that can stretch into the sphere of communication that influences people, including items like television, phones, and the internet, can be regarded as media.
- In modern times, media are further drifting towards the digital aspect of this domain
- Modern digital media consists of all sorts of communication broadcasted electronically via computer networks and other such fiber optic cables. Some modern forms of media, such as the internet media or social media (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.), have totally transformed our world over time.
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Significant Features of Media
- Space for interactivity: New media constructions frequently promote more interaction as compared to old media. It gives space to the audience to engage with the information received from the media and interact with it.
- Power of users: Interactivity also grants more power to its audience. Admittedly, in some new media compositions, the audience is reasonably better defined as users since there is a decrease in the gap between the media producers and their consumers. The audience can use streaming services to follow the various television programmers they desire to watch according to their convenience.
- Better accessibility: New media can be termed as open media. When people have the means and broadband internet access, they can get instant access to the many media content (much of which is free). It allows media producers to make money, moving towards the various subscription services and increasing the significant amounts of advertising to attract more viewer
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Advantages of Media
- Education: Media educates the mass. With the help of television or radio shows, the mob discovers various facts about health affairs, environmental preservation, and many more topics of relevance.
- Updated: People receive the latest news in a short time. Distance does not make a barrier in distributing information to people from any place on earth. People get daily news updates from media outlets, which keeps them updated on the current trends and happenings worldwide.
- Exercise innate potentialities: People get to exercise their hidden talents through media. Media helps to showcase their hidden skills such as comedy, performing, singing, recitation, etc.
- Gather knowledge: Media helps to increase knowledge about various subjects.
- Mass production: Media acts as a great tool in promoting mass consumer products, increasing sales of the assets.
- Entertainment: Serves as a good source of entertainment. People get entertained through music and television programs.
- Cost reduction: Electronic media promotes electronic duplication of information, reducing the production cost and making mass education achievable.
- Cultural immersion: Media allows the diffusion of diverse cultures by showcasing different cultural practices. It helps people around the world to be understanding of each other and welcome their differences.
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Disadvantages of Media
- Individualism: People spend an excessive amount of time on the internet, watching or binging content. As a result, their relationship with friends or family and neighbors may be affected.
- Difficulty to Access: Some media topics are unsuitable for children; limiting access to such content can be challenging for elders in specific scenarios.
- Fraudulence and Cybercrime: The Internet opens up avenues for imposters, criminals, and hackers, or such predators with the possibility to commit criminal acts without any knowledge of the victims.
- Addiction: Some television programs and internet media can be very addictive to most children and adults, leading to a drop in productivity.
- Health Concerns: Prolonged television watching or internet binging can lead to vision problems, and exposure to loud noises by using headphones or earphones can lead to hearing defects.
- Faulty advertisement tactics: It often makes the use of drugs and alcohol appear cool, which can be harmful to the nations’ youth.
- Personal Injury: Some people decide to try the stunts that have been showcased in the media, which lead to severe injuries.
- malware and Fake Profiles: An individual can create an anonymous account and pretend to be someone else. Anyone can use such profiles for malicious reasons, such as spreading lies, which can ruin the reputation of any targetted individual or company.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Media in tabular form
Advantages of Media - Helps in Promoting Democracy and Accountability
- Provides a Platform for Citizen Journalism and Alternative Voices
- Facilitates Distance Learning and Access to Educational Resources
- Fosters Cultural Exchange and Diversity
- Boosts Economic Growth and Job Creation in the Media Industry
- Provides Information and Awareness
- Helps in Building Public Opinion
- Offers Entertainment and Relaxation
- Facilitates Communication and Networking
- Serves as a Platform for Free Expression
- Disadvantages of Media
- Can Create a Culture of Shallow News and Sound Bites
- Can Lead to Sensationalism and Lack of Fact-Checking
- Can Encourage Consumerism and Materialism
- Can be Used to Manipulate Public Opinion and Spread Propaganda
- Can Lead to Information Overload and Difficulty in Navigating the News Landscape
- Can Spread Misinformation
- Can be Biased or Sensationalized
- Can be Addictive and Time-consuming
- Can Infringe Privacy and Security
- Can be Used to Promote Hate Speech and Violence
Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Media
Advantages
Media can influence the sphere of education positively by teaching individuals about various subjects.
Media provides up-to-date information about various topics around the world in very short time
Through media, individuals get a platform to exercise their talents and improve themselves.
Media acts as a source of knowledge for people who want to learn about various disciplines.
Media enables mass production of assets to suit public demands
Media causes cost reduction of educational assets by enabling mass production.
Media allows cultural diffusion among people from different parts of the world.
Disadvantages
Media can often cause hindrances in people’s personal lives causing a drift in their relationships.
Some media unsuitable for children can be hard to access.
Media use has increased the graph of cyber crimes and fraudulent activities.
Using electronic media or media in general can be addictive
Addiction or repeated use of electronic gadgets or internet can cause health problems.
Media is a massive source for entertainment in the world through which people enjoy movies, shows, music, etc.
Some advertisements can glamourize the use of items that cause health risks
Media can cause personal injury if individuals attempt risky stunts at home.
Creating fake profiles and sending threats or bullying or such acts can ruin the mental health and reputation of targetted individuals.
FAQ’s Pros and Cons of Media
Question 1.
What is the value of media content?
Answer:
The media content plays a pivotal role in achieving social media and business-related objectives. It allows your customers to gain interest in your work and therefore reach out to you.
Question 2.
What is the importance of Media in Democracy?
Answer:
The media has supplied political parties with the necessary tools to grasp large audiences. Media should be viewed as the pathway for democracy, with better-educated citizens who help form a more legitimate government.
Question 3.
Why is media vital for Globalisation?
Answer:
The media plays a pivotal role in magnifying globalization, promoting cultural exchange, and multiplying the flows of knowledge between countries through worldwide news broadcasts, video programming, film, new technologies, and music.
Global press freedom plunges to worst level this century
Study finds freedom of expression at lowest point since 2000 with reporters facing violence, prosecution and financial rout in dozens of countries
Media freedom around the world has fallen to the lowest level for at least a decade, according to a study that shows journalists are threatened by government censorship, organised crime and commercial pressures caused by the growth of the internet.
Turkey has experienced the biggest decline in freedom of speech over the past decade but Brazil, Burundi, Egypt, Poland, Venezuela and Bangladesh have also had a disturbing decline in the diversity and independence of the media, according to the report.
'You can get killed': journalists living in fear as states crack down“Unfortunately, our findings show that freedom of expression is under attack in democracies as well as authoritarian regimes.”
The report’s authors measured freedom of expression in 172 countries between 2006 and 2016 through a metric they have described as the Expression Agenda. This is based on 32 social and political indicators such as media bias and corruption, internet censorship, access to justice, harassment of journalists, and equality for social classes and genders.
Hughes said journalists were threatened by intimidation, prosecution and even murder in some parts of the world; there were 426 attacks against journalists and media outlets in Mexico in 2016 alone. He believes the UK was responsible for one of the most draconian surveillance legislation in the form of the Investigatory Powers Act, which “offers a template for authoritarian regimes and seriously undermining the rights of its citizens to privacy and freedom of expression”.
The report’s authors measured freedom of expression in 172 countries between 2006 and 2016. Photograph: Alamy
The freedom of the media globally is further threatened by the rise of the internet because online content is being controlled by a handful of internet companies whose processes “lack transparency”, commercial pressure on news providers has led to redundancies and cuts in investment, and the “vast majority of countries”, including China, restrict access to a range of websites.
The report found that 259 journalists were jailed last year and 79 were killed. Areas of concern include the vulnerability of journalists reporting on or criticising the “war on drugs” in the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras, and intimidation and malicious charges against opposing voices to the Erdoğan regime in Turkey.
“Global media freedom is at its lowest level since the start of the century,” the report said.
As of April this year, 152 Turkish journalists were in prison, according to the opposition. More than 170 media organisations have been shut down since last year’s coup, including newspapers, websites, TV stations and news agencies, and 2,500 journalists have been laid off.
On a brighter note, Article 19 said there were improvements in countries including Tunisia, Sri Lanka and Nepal, and also praised the introduction of freedom of information laws in 119 countries.
Another group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, warned there has “never been a more dangerous time to be a journalist”. It said Donald Trump’s attacks on the “fake news” media in the US was sending a message to authoritarian leaders that it is acceptable to crack down on the press, pointing to recent criticism of CNN by the Egyptian government for its coverage of the terrorist attack on a mosque in Sinai.
Robert Mahoney, the deputy executive director of the CPJ, said: “The United States has traditionally been a beacon of press freedom and defender of journalists but a barrage of anti-press rhetoric from President Trump undermines the role of the press in a democracy and potentially endangers journalists.
“Labelling reporting you don’t like as ‘fake news’ sends a signal to authoritarian leaders globally that it’s OK to crack down on the press. It did not take the Egyptian foreign ministry long to seize on Trump’s attack on CNN International this month to try to draw attention away from the message to the messenger.”
The head of the BBC World Service – the biggest international news broadcaster – warned that the rise of new economic powerhouses that do not fully support freedom of expression would threaten media freedom in the 21st century.
Francesca Unsworth said: “We are dealing with a world I don’t think buys into enlightenment values of freedom of expression as part of economic development.
“We see the rise of the economic powerhouses of the far east – China, Vietnam – which don’t have the values of freedom of expression going along with economic development. So I think that is a real problem because if the 21st century belongs to those economies then that is going to shape the future of the world.”
Unsworth said China was trying to spread its influence in Africa and the Caribbean by investing in the local media alongside vast spending on improving infrastructure. “What the Chinese have seen is that alongside putting in a load of investment in infrastructure they also need to spend money on the media landscape in those areas,” she said.
“So they have invested in partnerships with television and media companies in Africa and the Caribbean. It is a way of them getting a foothold in those countries in order to have some kind of influence on the agenda there.”
BBC World Service journalists face particular pressure in Iran over the London-based Persian service. Iranian authorities have frozen the assets of at least 152 BBC Persian journalists and former contributors – preventing them from conducting financial transactions or selling properties in their homeland – and summoned family members of BBC staff who live in the country for questioning. The BBC has appealed to the United Nations about the conduct of the Iranian government.
Media Freedom: A Downward Spiral
Key Findings
- Media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade.
- In some of the most influential democracies in the world, populist leaders have overseen concerted attempts to throttle the independence of the media sector.
- While the threats to global media freedom are real and concerning in their own right, their impact on the state of democracy is what makes them truly dangerous.
- Experience has shown, however, that press freedom can rebound from even lengthy stints of repression when given the opportunity. The basic desire for democratic liberties, including access to honest and fact-based journalism, can never be extinguished.
Key Findings
- The Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and various proxies have rapidly expanded their influence over media production and dissemination channels abroad. As a result, the CCP has enhanced its ability to interfere aggressively in other countries, should it choose to do so.
- Chinese authorities influence news media content around the world through three primary strategies: promoting the CCP’s narratives, suppressing critical viewpoints, and managing content delivery systems.
- These efforts have already undercut key features of democratic governance and best practices for media freedom by undermining fair competition, interfering with Chinese diaspora communities, weakening the rule of law, and establishing channels for political meddling.
- Actions by policymakers and media development donors in democracies will play a critical role in coming years in countering the potential negative impact of Beijing’s foreign media influence campaigns.
- https://freedomhouse.org/
report/freedom-and-media/2019/ media-freedom-downward-spiral