Comparison Online News Publication and Video Reports - Sample

Question: Discuss about the Online News Publication and Video Reports. Answer: Introduction This is a textual a critical, political and economy and textual analysis essay highlighting the following news item. The news item addresses the suspicion that has been raised by the North Korea defense officials after the American craft career USS Carl Vinson was spotted heading to the North amidst the current tension between the United States and North Korea. This essay compares online news publication and video reports. The online publication by CNBC on its website on 18th April 2009 reported, USS Carl Vinson wasnt headed for North Korea when defense officials said it was. And the video report by Arirang News reported, USS Carl Vinson enters Korean waters hours after North Koreas missile launch. The NBC online publication shows a photo of The Nimitz-class aircraft career USS Carl Vinson (CVN70) in the Indian Ocean. According to this report the photos released by the navy showed that CVN 70 was far off the Korean Peninsula with speculation that it was heading there for a show of fo rce. This has occurred at a time when there is increased tension between America and North Korea. This is likely to make the readers raise different opinions based on textual analysis and also critical political economy. On the other hand, the video report by Arirang the heading explains in depth the reason why USS Carl Vinson is heading to North Korea, the viewer immediately gets the information from the title itself and by watching and listening to the report saying that USS was initially heading to Australia but instead headed to North Korea following a command from the US Pacific Command. The title of the report by CNBC creates suspicion so the reader can continue reading the article and know what where the aircraft was heading to. Critical, political and textual analysis According to Lee (2011), a critical political economy is a critical approach to communication studies. This is a Marxist approach in the study of communication. This approach focuses on the effects of access to communication technology, capitalism, and cultural industries on the social, economic classes. It also focuses on the effect of corporate ownership of media products. The critical political economy is concerned on whether the economics of productions determines the information given and does it lead to change the meaning of a text. According to Graham (2014), political economy determines the production, distribution, exchange and consumption which is the economic part of it while politically it focuses on the production of power, distribution, exchange and exercise of power. For example, in the reports by CNBC and Arirang News, USA uses the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to show political and economic power to warn North Korea against the attempt to test a nuclear missile. The critical political approach emphasizes on the domination of the media industry by the elite groups in the society. The elite uses the media as a commodity to generate profits and spreads their ideology. For instance, Airang New and CNBC have different agendas which are determined by the ownership and background of the corporation. The power distribution in the society has a big influence on the media. Economically the media corporations are looking forward to maximizing their profits through delivering news as the product or good. According to Frey et, al (1999), a textual analysis is a method of communication used to interpret the characteristics of a recorded or visual message. The textual analysis involves the determination of the type and appropriateness of the texts to be studied and the approach to be used in analyzing the texts. Critical Political Economy and textual analysis can be used together to derive political and economic meanings from written or recorded information. The approach of delivering information through online platforms in a written form is quite different from the one used in the television. This is because of the different in the target audience. According to Smythe (1981), economic relationship has a major influence on the media industry which targets the attention of the audiences with the aim of selling their attentive abilities to the advertisers. According to Sytaffel (2013), in the past, there were no media advertisements as the media was funded by the central governments with an aim to inform and entertain the public. However, with the development of the modern communication technology, there are many global media networks have commercialized the media. There has a great competition between the media houses to capture audiences. Many media house have emerged with different sources of funding. The new media corporation have brought completion to a market that was previously dominated by major media corporations such as BBC who have been enjoying the monopoly over the years. Today the media corporations are competing to provide information that will attract many huge audiences. The platform which the media used to reach its audiences determines the approach they use. For instance, by comparing the online published report by CNBC and the video report by Arirang News, the title used to address a similar event are different. CNBC title aims at attracting the attention of the viewer by creating suspense, therefore, triggering the desire of the reader to get full information by reading the article. On the other hand, in the report by Arirang the viewer is able to get a full image of the report by just viewing and reading the title of the report, and there they become attentive to view and listen to get the full information. Here, the mode of access to information by the target audience determines the framing of the titles. In the past, certain groups in the society, such as priests, kings, soldiers, and scientists had the privilege to access certain kinds of information thus they enjoyed a monopoly on the access to specific knowledge (Innis, 1950). According to Sytaffel (2013), there has been a major development in political economy communication in the 20th century. In contemporary society, political, economic implications of the new media have brought major changes in the character and functioning of the society. The innovation of mass media brought many changes in in communication. Other than the traditional methods of communication such as televisions, radios and newspaper technology has brought multifunctional computers and tablets which allow people to access information from the internet. This has made accessibility of information easy and thus media corporations that used traditional method have been forced to adapt new methods. The approach of presenting information is also different while usi ng the mass media and traditional forms like television. The television provides summarized information with the aid of pictures to bring a better understanding to the viewer for example, in the report by Airang, the USS Carl Vinson is seen in a convoy of Japanese ships. The scene provided aids in making the viewer have a deeper understanding. On the other hand, CNBC report uses a photo of USSR Carl Vinson carrying war crafts. This does not provide detailed information on the situation, and the reader can only get the full information by reading the report, which provides more information in writing. According to Chomskey and Herman (1988), the mass media systems are used for communicating message and symbols to the general populace. This is because they play a part in entertaining and informing the people it is being used to instill values, beliefs, and code of behaviors to help them fit in the structures of the society. The society is mainly focused on wealth creation thus resulting in a conflict of interest between the social classes. To attain their interest social classes use systematic propaganda (Innis, 1942). The social media has been used to as an ideological propaganda to neutralize ruling class ideology. However, the ruling class is still able to filter what it wants the general public to hear. Chomskey and Herman identified five structural filters of information which includes the size and ownership of media corporations, the established economic model of generating revenues, use of trusted sources to convey information, the ability of financially and politically powe rful individuals to hide negative media information and an ideological filter used to generate consent. The ideology of media filter still exists especially in the midst of terror wars in the recent years (Klaehn, 2009). In the information provided by the Airang and NCBC, the Information given is just necessary to inform the audiences, but a comprehensive information on why the US decided to act that way is not known. According to Boyd Ellison (2008), the accessibility of internet in many parts of the world has led to a rapid growth of online communication. Organizations are now using their websites to convey their messages. The consumers of the information access the channels of communication through the internet. Users pay for the internet services and also consume the content advertised by the capitalist just like in the traditional media. Corporations are now using online platforms to interact with their audiences by getting opinions from them. Modern communications media is being used to integrate the capitalist system to the society and increasing political centrality and allow people to exercise full citizenship in the society. According to Murdock and Golding (1989), the modern mass media will allow people to access information advice and analysis that would enable them to understand their rights and exercise them appropriately. Mass media will allow certain information to be broadcasted to the public and would be subject to debate on areas that involve political choices this will enable the public to propose useful alternatives. According to Golding and Murdock (1969), Liberal economists argues that in the market consumers choose commodities on the basis of how they will use them to satisfy their needs. The greater the options to choose from in the market the greater the freedom of the consumer. In the media industry, the mass media have provided diverse platforms where the consumers of media products such as news can access them for instance; YouTube is used in passing information in written and also through streaming of videos. Consumers, therefore, can choose to use the most convenient and approach to access the information needed. The media corporations have also adopted different platforms to reach the consumers. For example, NCBC has used online and television services to provide news. The media can influence the perception of the people through the news proprietors. Some of the media corporations have dominated the market nod abuse their power to reach a wider audience that their competitors. Comparing CNBC and Airang News, NCBC has a wider network. Critical political economists are concerned on they will present their news to reach their target audience. Conclusion The consumption of the news will depend on the medium used that is the online publication of videos. Published information is less effective that video or visual mediums. In the case presented in this essay, CNBC has used published news while Airang has used video report. The published news by CNBC requires reading and analysis by the audience. Therefore, the target audience must have the capacity to read. On the other, hand, the audience can easily understand the information by viewing the footage of the video and the audience will understand even without the reading capacity. The audience that cannot read the written news cannot understand the information provided by CNBC while information presented in video by Airand from include sounds which make the news lively and it can also be consumed by people who are deaf, and those of cannot read or see. In this case, NCBC has provided a biased information which does not meet the needs of every consumer while on the other hand, Airang has provided detailed and accurate information which is accessible to all audiences. However, because NCBC has the wider political influence it able to reach a wider audience that Airang. This clearly shows the incorporation of the capitalist system in the media industry. References Boyd, M Ellison, NB 2008, Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13, 210-230. Chomskey N Herman, E 1988, Manufacturing concent: The Political Economy of mass media. Pantheon Books. New York. 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