Globalization of News: A Theoretical Evaluation

Globalization of news dates back to the 19th century. Concentration of news gathering and distribution process in the hands of few international news agencies is criticised for homogenisation of international news, one-way news flow from the developed countries to the developing countries, serving to the national interests of Western countries, having power to determine the international agenda and reinforcing the asymmetrical power relations between countries, thereby justifying the media imperialism thesis. However, there are some views opposing to these criticisms, claiming that the local media organisations domesticate international news to meet the tastes and interests of local audience, that today the global news does not flow in one-way from the West to the East and from the North to the South, instead there is a contra-flow thanks to the non-Western news actors like Al Jazeera, that digital technologies multiplied the news alternatives for news consumers and made each citizen with a smart phone a potential correspondent, thereby creating a pluralist news atmosphere. By reconsidering these views, each of which underlines a different part of the same whole, this article intends to provide an insight into the global background of the current news geography