Week 5

Globalisation Vs Localisation

Today's seminar topic was primarily focused on the effects of globalisation, its benefits and risks. The presenters defined globalisation as the 'linking of humanity in all parts of the world'. Martens and Rennen (2003), further defined globalisation as a complex phenomenon where it is the interactive co-evolution of millions of technology, cultural, economic and social trends. This is made possible through the dominance of Transnational Corporations (TNCs) internationally, such as Disney and Time Warner.

I agree with the presenters that the rise of globalisation makes national security less dominant and domestic laws are unable to act as watchdog. For instance, the example of footballer Ryan Giggs' attempts for a court injunction to prevent reports on his extramarital affairs failed terribly when the news was blown up internationally. Instead of reducing the damage done, news of his injunction on his affairs spread like wildfire on twitter and newspaper reports in countries outside Britain.

However, the issue on globalisation is a complex one and cannot simply be classified as 'good or bad'. Globalisation has certainly helped us know more about the world. It enables us greater access and up-to-date information to international news. There is also greater freedom of expression in the international news arena. In my opinion, both globalised and localised news are as important in any newspaper. Especially in a small country like Singapore where its local news are not necessarily covered in international newspapers, my primary source for local news comes from the Home section in Straits Times. As mentioned in the class discussion, one key factor of good news is timeliness, and I would definitely be interested to read news that are close to home.


Reference List

Martens, P & Rennen, W 2003, The Globalisation Timeline, Journal of Integrated Assessment, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 137-144.

- Andy Wang

Week 4

Journalism as a Public conversation in the 21st century. What is the role of the citizen? 

In today's tutorial, Daniel and I presented on this week's topic and it turned out to be a fruitful discussion on the importance of citizen journalism and the role citizens play in shaping Journalism over the past years. The three main aims of journalism are as follows:

- To serve the publics' rights to know
- To represent the public
- To be independent from any form of control (Meadows, 2011)

From the class discussion and Q&A, we can observe that most people think that citizen journalism is an inevitable aspect of news reporting in today's context. Especially in Singapore where is media is primarily state-controlled, we are desperate for unbiased news coverage and for our voices to be heard. Citizen journalism has witnessed benefits beyond what mainstream journalism can provide. For example, up to date information and hundreds of footages/pictures are provided from the lenses of citizens' cameras and hand-phones (Think Orchard flooding and Asian Tsunami). 

However, as much as citizen journalism is on a phenomenal rise, traditional media should never die off. There are people who still prefer reading hardcopy version of the newspapers, and readers who want credibility provided by established news organisations. Journalism as a profession helps to edit the written pieces provided by citizens and reporters are well-trained to spot any discrepancy or hoax stories cooked up. In my opinion, the direction journalism should uptake is to infuse both traditional and citizen journalism. For example, media organisations could open up to reporting stories provided by citizens which are edited and screened by their reporters. This would meet the main aim of citizen journalism, enabling 'our voices to be heard'.

Reference List

         Meadows, Michael 2001, 'A return to practice: reclaiming journalism as public conversation' S.Tapsell and C. Varley (eds), Journalism Theory in Practice, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

-Andy Wang

Week 3

Who will pay for journalism? Is it just about money?


The first presentation in tutorial was about dollars and cents on journalism, with the group using Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) as an example. SPH's annual report and profitability were analysed. Beyond that, the fundamental question posted in everyone's mind is, 'Is journalism sustainable?'


It is certainly evident that the profitability of journalism is on the decline. From the presentation, we can observe that SPH is venturing into the property market. With declining readership of its print copy, I agree that this is a wise move to ensure sustainability and to prepare for stormy days ahead. However, critics have argued that private funding and running media corporations similar to a business model is detrimental to a country pledging allegiance democratic values. McChesney (1998) argues that the concentration of media powers and commercialisation 'are a disaster' to democracy. McChesney suggested for reforms such as public broadcasting and noncommercial media. But, truth be told, publicly funded media organisations are struggling to find a foothold in the market in the current age.


Coming back to the issue of sustainability, we must first understand that journalism stems from the need for the public to be informed and for journalists to satisfy this need. People never get tired of latest news. It is true that with the rise of citizen journalism, mainstream media runs the risk of being ousted. However, in my opinion, journalism will never die off. It's mainstream that needs to reinvent itself. To keep it running, mainstream media could venture more into different variety of delivery, such as online methods or even interactive styles.


Reference List


McChesney, RW 1998, Making Media Democratic, Viewed 23 May 2011,
http://bostonreview.net/BR23.3/mcchesney.html


- AndyWang