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Imperialism

Media Imperialism: The Key Players

Media imperialism is slowly becoming a major issue around the world. It’s a theory that suggests that the dominance of media outlets in larger, more developed nations is affecting the identity of developing countries in a negative way. Its also defined as the media outlets that have a dominant control over the others in a particular country.

The dominance of these media houses means that they have the ability to control the news content being aired. Many critics argue that this principally gives them the power to dictate news content presented to the public. This means that it is quite hard for the public to know whether the news content is biased or not. These media houses also have a habit of covering a large number of developed countries and a small number of developing ones, with the latter always represented in a negative manner.

Key Players Around The World

Some of the key players in the media industry that dominate world news include CNN, BBC and Aljazeera. These media outlets usually cover news stories from around the world. The problem with this is that most of the time their news content may be in conflict with that of local news agencies because of the perception of what the reporting journalist might have obtained while making the story.

Networks
Media outlets that usually cover news stories from around the world

Some of these outlets also practice a form of imperialism in their host countries. For example, the BBC has an annual licence that every TV holder has to purchase regardless of whether they are watching it or not. Other countries like, Canada and Italy, also have imperialistic media. This is because the main media outlets in these countries are controlled by a single company, thereby giving them the ability to influence news content.

Social Media And Media Imperialism

Social Media
Popular social media platforms

Media imperialism is definitely a problem that needs to be addressed. One of the ways that this can be done is through social media platforms. Although there has been a proliferation of fake news sites in social media nowadays, the platform still gives the public unrestricted views of different situations happening around the world. One is not subjected to a single point of view akin to mainstream media.

There have also been a number of protests on social media platforms because of the alleged misrepresentation of information by foreign media outlets. Given their dominance, this misrepresentation may be misconstrued as the truth by people who are not from that region.

Everyone is waiting to see whether there will be a satisfactory solution to media imperialism and whether social media will be part of it.

Check out China’s emerging imperialism in Africa.

Is China’s Huge Presence In Africa The New Face Of Imperialism?

China’s presence in Africa has increased tremendously within two decades. To put it into perspective, it’s exports from African countries have increased from one to fifteen per cent within one decade; a trend that has made both America and the European Union uneasy.

Chinese Businesman
There has been a huge influx of Chinese businessman to the African continent

African countries are increasingly finding it easier to collaborate with the Chinese than with other western countries. This is because of their policy on non-interference in local affairs of partner countries. Western countries on the other hand tend to meddle with local country’s politics which has made African countries wary of their intentions.

Furthermore, it’s not the Chinese government that is investing in Africa alone. In the last decade, there has been a huge influx of Chinese businessman to the African continent as well. Most of them have set up shop on the continent in order to take advantage of the huge market potential as well as resources.

Who Is Benefitting?

Over the years, the question of who benefits the most from Chinese relations has been a constant one. While China offers huge loans and concessions to African countries in order for them to undertake large infrastructure projects, there have been worries that the African governments are getting short changed. This is partly because of the manner in which these projects are initiated.

Most of these projects are awarded to Chinese contractors. Furthermore, the Chinese also bring in a considerable number of its experts when initiating these projects. This means that Africans don’t get to benefit from the transfer of skills or technology, thereby making them more reliant on the Chinese. This move is akin to the imperialism that Africa endured during and after the colonial period.

Different Approach

African Continent
Many African countries are still willing to partner up with China

While many might argue about China’s economic policy in Africa (whether it’s imperialistic in nature or serves to benefit Africans), their integration into African communities has made it hard to refute the fact that some investors have good intent. A section of Chinese investors complain that a few of them are destroying their image in Africa by exploiting the locals. They insist that there is a sizable majority of Chinese investors who are indeed concerned about the development of the communities that they are in, over and above making money.

African Take

Many African countries are still willing to partner up with China in order to advance their development agendas. Most of these countries have opened their doors to Chinese investment. Only the future will tell if this indeed was a great idea.

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