Globalization, its impact on mass media

Technological advancement has not only shattered social boundaries of the world, it has
brought tremendous transformation in all fields of life. Marshall Mcluham, a Canadian theorist
propagated the idea of Global Village in 1960.To him the world has shrunk to a village due to
advancement in the fields of science and technology. Peoples of the world now live in close
proximity. They share their joys and sorrows with one another. They benefit from the inventions
and discoveries made by other people. It is the media that creates the experience of global
shared time, especially by informing people around the world about events that they can
share. Communications give people a chance to contact other people in distant locations
whatever the time. Globalization of any country is reflection of that country. As Globalization
produce winners and losers. A casual look at the world reveals that there is competition
everywhere. The rush in every area of life divides the world into winners and losers. At present
media is the only source which is easily accessible by all walks of people through various
electronic appliances i.e. TV, Radio, Internet, News Papers and now mobile phones also used
by people to aware of events every time. Globalizing TV shows and films may influence people,
shaping the way they understand their social identities, their cultural communities, and wider
world in which they live.Media revolution has converted the whole world into a global village.
Cable TV networks are one of its tools and peoples love for such medium cannot be denied. In
Pakistan cable TV is gaining popularity day by day and has eclipsed all other forms of
entertainment. Several channels are delivering modern scientific information at no cost that we
cannot afford due to our limited resources. Simply, turning on TV sets, we can be aware of the
latest developments around the globe. We can watch the landing of man on the moon, working
of robots at Mars and miracles of genetic engineering in the field of medicine. This cutting edge
of technology has provided us the opportunity to move from a stagnant phase of ignorance to a
modern era of revolution and logic. As we are living in rapidly and constantly changing times,
change is around us, about us, within and without us.It is because of globalization that world is
fast shrinking. This would be a reason for students to take advantage of the situation and study
wherever their interests take them. In Pakistan our universities conduct only popular courses.
Hence if a student has passion for a subject such as astronomy, he will not be able to do so in
Pakistan. In this case he would have to study overseas. Now, with a single click on internet
when we look at all the universities in the world as possible places of study, we will have more
choices. Now by utilizing and getting benefit from Newspapers, we can easily know that what is
happening in other parts of the world. In Pakistan it goes beyond the range of television and
reaches the remotest regions of the country. Salesmanship is the key to modern business and
the newspaper is an effective means of advertising. Another function which the press performs
today is that of a watchdog. Ads are also a useful source of information regarding rent and sale.
Thus, we can learn about wars, revolutions, earthquakes, floods etc in different parts of the
world. We learn about the different functions the UN is performing in various fields of economic
uplift and international trade and relations between states. The editorials of popular newspapers
are useful commentaries on national and international affairs. They tell us about social matters
like debates, public meeting affairs, transport problems, price levels ,art, literature, religion and
so on every now and then. General health programs get easily publicity like campaigns for child
health, family planning, awareness about AIDS,TB and Bird Flu. Television can be used to teach
uneducated people. We can have programs for teaching the basic details of languages. Such
programs can be extremely useful for our villagers and the working class people in the
cities.Since the last decade the media in Pakistan has become very vibrant because of the
privatization of TV channels, independent press and uncontrolled internet access to general
people. Pakistan is a big country of more than 150 million people. So it offers a huge market to
multinationals and local companies to sell their products. These facts are very provocative for
the international companies to sell their products and services in Pakistan. The multinationals
companies like coca cola, KFC, MacDonald, Nestle and many more are already doing business
in Pakistan. The purpose of the media is to inform people about current ,new affairs and to tell
about the latest gossip and fashion. It tells about the people who are geographically divided.
Mass media helps to reveal the news of peoples misery so that concerned authorities can take
necessary steps. The whole world has become a global village due to media. Today the
powerful effects of media have spread in every society of all over the world. Now with the
advancement in the field of science and technology, we are globally interconnected and
communicate with other countries. There are a group of computers that can communicate with
each other connecting million of other computer networks in the world. World Wide Web is
collection of millions of changing documents on computers all over the world. These documents
may contain the books, magazines, pictures, films and information one needs. The different
websites that run into millions, offer information in the
sciences,arts,religion,education,commerce,industry,agriculture,law and almost every topic or
subject. The internet has surely brought countries and nations closer, it has functioned to help in
the development of the world into global village.We in Pakistan can especially promote science
and technology only if we are globally interconnected with other countries in the world by
making the use of different technologies and Communication. We can likewise learn about new
books, magazines, films, music and other arts and literary writings in different countries in
English and other international languages. Because of this Interconnectivity we watch and hear
about all scenes of destruction, we can learn how we can make our national and personal life
better. We can fix and determine our true destinations and aims in life with this information and
guidance