But What if We’re Wrong and Global Media can exist without English
Global media around the world has been dubbed for English audiences. But what if we’re wrong? By catering global news to English readers, the media feeds into the western colonized few and slumps all bodies into one speaking language, English. With the rise of thriving cultures such as China and India, many news sources have the ability to thrive on their own, by being written and produced in their country’s native language. These two nations, China and India, as mentioned in our class readings question the capitalistic and globalization set forth by the west.(Javnost 2013) Because of this, the rest of the globe has the ability to do the same. Each nation, country, or section of the globe can report globally and cater to its native audience. With the rise of Chindia it is entirely possible for other nations to thrive on their own and rise while challenging the western view.
“But the objective world is different. Here, we traffic in literal facts…” Klosterman states in But What if We’re Wrong?(Klosterman 2016 Burn Thy Witches) His outlook on the globe backs up the idea that nations can thrive, write, produce and create on their own. The objective world is different and can continue to be different in a beneficial way to individuals and globally. It allows for competitiveness to exist and understand how other countries are rising. This is seen through his example of landline phones and how America was living on the hype of having landlines, while simultaneously Japan was creating and using mobile phones. While colonization may be the reason many of these nations exist, it does not have to be the reason they thrive on their own. The media industry is made up of multiples upon multiples of sources from around the globe. Most of these sources are written in English or have an English version. By challenging the west, global media can function entirely on its own for its own. The English version can be removed and translated if need be, each news and media source could write for its native and specific audience.
By writing specifically in English, global news sources are not catering to its own audiences. This concept is also mentioned in Klosterman’s book and the idea behind football and the audience surrounding the sport. (Klosterman 2016 Sudden Death) Similar to football, global news stories are not always going to be catered to multiple news sources. But by catering to English read people, the global news industry is wrong. They are wrong because their only allowing the west and those who are colonized by the west to read their coverage and news. The future has the ability to have global news that is catered to native speakers of the country that it is writing for, but still covers what is going on in the world. Global news could be written from specific countries like China or Israel in their native language and will hopefully still cover what is happening globally but in their own format, language, and media source.
Japan has been more technologically advanced for years. Because of this, other countries have the ability to advance as well in technology, media, and resources. With individual advancement, each country can create and produce technology on their own. Technology advancements allows for better media to be created throughout the globe. This will allow for cultures to represent themselves respectfully. If media sources are catering to their audience yet still covering global issues, the opportunity for cultural appropriation becomes smaller and smaller. Because, with advanced technology and native written media, cultures are able to be represented by themselves and not appropriated by the west. Locally written media allows for friendly competition to exist among news sources. As Klosterman writes about the competition surrounding sports fans, that approach could exist for global news as well. This would happen by multiple sources from the same country covering the same story such as national holiday coverage and how it relates to that specific country’s culture.
The future can be made up of a lot of opportunities. However, when it pertains to global media and news coverage, there is the opportunity for news to exist in every country and cater to their culture and audience while still covering stories on a broader scale. This can be done by writing in their own language and covering stories from their perspective rather than accepting the west. Global media could grow to a larger scale by existing and thriving in every country. With advancements in technology, countries can create their own news and still cover what is happening on a larger scale that helps inform their people with the language they know. Global news could become competitive on a hyperlocal scale where individual press sources compete for the best story. Alongside that, this future opportunity allows for cultures to be represented by themselves and not misrepresented by others. By having individual control of their own media, countries around the globe can write their own story and provide understanding of their culture from their view.
Works Cited:
Klosterman, C. (2016). But what if we're wrong?: Thinking about the present as if it were the past. New York: Blue Rider Press.
Thussu, D. K. (2013). De-Americanising Media Studies and the Rise of “Chindia”. Javnost - The Public, 20(4), 31-44. doi:10.1080/13183222.2013.11009126
