Images of Globalisation in the Mass Media

Abstract

Increasing flows of goods, capital and labour across various national borders have signalled the ever-increasing integration or 'globalisation' of international markets. The impacts of globalisation are complex and multidimensional and have been intensely debated in the academic literature. Likewise, globalisation and its impacts have also gained attention in the mass media. Yet findings on the way globalisation has been portrayed in the mass media are mixed. In this paper, we examine the conceptual evolution and overall progression of tone of globalisation coverage in the Associated Press from 1984 to 2004. We find that AP reporters have weaved a number of key themes in their stories: growth and efficiency, poverty, employment, environment and migration among others. More-over, we find 'balance' in reporting to the extent that both sides of an argument are presented in an article. However, in absolute terms reporting is skewed in favour or against a specific issue depending on story narrative employed. Our empirical results go some way to reconciling why news organisations feel they present balanced and objective coverage while proponents and opponents on a specific issue feel that coverage is biased one way or the other. Copyright 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd .

The Paradox of Openness

“…Elsewhere, the peak of the globalization debate coincided with mass demonstrations of the gjm, especially at the Seattle World Trade Organization (wto) meeting in 1999. The use of the word 'globalization' steadily declined after this peak (for the us, see Rauch et al 2007; for France, India, and Bolivia, see Beyeler and Kriesi 2005; for the Associated Press global coverage, see Marks, Kalaitzandonakes, and Konduru 2006). In Finland, a second, even more heated phase of the debate occurred in 2004 and 2005.…”

Offshoring, Economic Insecurity, and the Demand for Social Insurance

“…Second, during the economic recovery of the 1990s and to a greater extent the recovery in the 2000s, workers were more pessimistic about both job loss and …nding a job than they were during the previous periods of relatively low unemployment in within the period of the 1970s and 1980s, this trend is highlighted by the growing divergence with the unemployment rate. This divergence, beginning around 2000 (speci…cally with LIL), may be a re ‡ection of; the heightened concerns about the potential of o¤shoring of "white collar" service jobs or; the increased (and more negative) attention the media has given to globalization (see Marks, Kalaitzandonakes, and Sonduru, 2006).…”