Images of Globalisation in the Mass Media

Abstract

Increasing flows of goods, capital and labour across various national borders have signalled the ever-increasing integration or ‘globalisation’ of international markets. The impacts of globalisation are complex and multidimensional and have been intensely debated in the academic literature. Likewise, globalisation and its impacts have also gained attention in the mass media. Yet findings on the way globalisation has been portrayed in the mass media are mixed. In this paper, we examine the conceptual evolution and overall progression of tone of globalisation coverage in the Associated Press from 1984 to 2004. We find that AP reporters have weaved a number of key themes in their stories: growth and efficiency, poverty, employment, environment and migration among others. More-over, we find ‘balance’ in reporting to the extent that both sides of an argument are presented in an article. However, in absolute terms reporting is skewed in favour or against a specific issue depending on story narrative employed. Our empirical results go some way to reconciling why news organisations feel they present balanced and objective coverage while proponents and opponents on a specific issue feel that coverage is biased one way or the other.

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