The Turn Within: The Irony of Technology in a Globalized World

Technology and journalism-as-labour: Historical perspectives

“…In the social sciences, strong versions of technological determinism are generally discounted, and there is a well-established body of work critiquing it (e.g. Bijker et al, 1989;Douglas, 2006;Heilbroner, 1967Heilbroner, , 1994. In journalism studies, some theorists and commentators were quite taken with technology in the early days of the internet and took a decidedly determinist stance (e.g.…”

The State of Coverage: The Media’s Representation of International Issues and State Crime

“…For example, Mindich (2005) found that, while claiming to be passionate about promoting social justice, many youths in the United States were largely ignorant of current affairs beyond national borders and were next to worst in the world at identifying countries on a map. It has also been suggested that this may be a result of the relative geographic isolation of the United States, a lack of emphasis on geography in American schools, and, with regard to this current research, the fact that the United States is the only recognized world superpower with a globally influencing media system (Douglas, 2006;Horvat, 1995).…”

“…Bicket and Wall (2007), as well as Esser (2008), suggest that many of these failings result from the structural constraints placed upon the media in the United States; a narrow range of voices or perspectives are offered due to concentrated ownership of media outlets and the role of the media in maintaining the status quo. Due to the economics and politics associated with the media in the United States, there is often a wide disparity in coverage, as news media attempts to serve marketing needs, rather than public informational ones (Bicket & Wall, 2007;Cushion & Lewis, 2009;Douglas, 2006;Esser, 2008;Hickey, 1998). Notably, between 1985s Magazine Editorial Reports found that Time magazine's coverage of international issues decreased from 24% to 14% and, during the same time period, Newsweek's coverage of international issues decreased from 22% to 12%.…”

“…Notably, Mort Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report, and Maynard Parker of Newsweek, stated that ''featuring a foreign subject on the cover of the magazine results in a twenty-five percent drop in newsstand sales'' (Douglas, 2006, p. 12). Thus, despite numerous advances in technology which Douglas (2006) argues should increase global empathy and awareness, some posit that the American public remains largely uninformed about world affairs. For example, Mindich (2005) found that, while claiming to be passionate about promoting social justice, many youths in the United States were largely ignorant of current affairs beyond national borders and were next to worst in the world at identifying countries on a map.…”

“…In a global society, where the news can almost instantaneously report a massacre in Russia, a tsunami in Southeast Asia, or a political scandal in the United Kingdom (Dennis, Snyder, & DeLisle, 1995;Douglas, 2006), it is important to track cultural differences in how the media covers news stories. Cross-cultural tracking of news stories is especially important with regard to international issues and state crime because this allows a glimpse into how the national media informs readers about major issues of the day.…”