In: Economics
Western nation where media become the cause of riots are following:-
analyses the mass media’s claims about the role of social media
in
the 2011 UK riots and the Arab Spring, arguing that social media
has become
a new fetishism of technology that distracts from the
contradictions of capitalism
underlying contemporary societal changes and conflicts.
Understanding
contemporary capitalism, its contradictions and the role of the
media requires a
dialectical and critical analysis.
one of the most important aspects of our media system, and yet hardly known to the public: most of the international news coverage in Western media is provided by only three global news agencies based in New York, London and Paris.
The key role played by these agencies means Western media often report on the same topics, even using the same wording. In addition, governments, military and intelligence services use these global news agencies as multipliers to spread their messages around the world.
A study of the Syria war coverage by nine leading European newspapers clearly illustrates these issues: 78% of all articles were based in whole or in part on agency reports, yet 0% on investigative research. Moreover, 82% of all opinion pieces and interviews were in favour of the U.S. and NATO intervention, while propaganda was attributed exclusively to the opposite side.