The Active Role of the Media in Influencing Our Opinion on Global Polit

Introduction The globalization of media has broken down the communication barriers between countries and is now more readily available and accessible than ever before. This paper examines how the media plays an active role in influencing our opinion on global politics in regards to the Arab Spring and the new revolution making its way through the Middle East and North Africa. It will also examine the theories of the CNN effect and the Manufacturing consent and how these define the relationship between governments and the news media. The United States involvement with the Hollywood industry raises concerns about this relationship and emphasizes the importance to recognize the role of the media in global politics. Media today has made significant leaps in terms of advancements in technology since the beginning of the 20th century. Globalization has led to the breaking down of communication barriers between nation states and now news media can be accessed all over the world; giving exposure to events of war, economic, political and humanitarian strife. This in turn will lead to greater awareness of humanitarian crisis in places such as the Middle East. It has only been in the past two decades that ‘new’ media took the world of media even further. The term ‘new’ means to facilitate information sharing, one of the components of effective resistance; those in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to show the rest of the world what the news media is unable to. This type of media was the beginning of an information revolution and the changing of the nature of conflict by strengthening network forms of organiza tion over hierarchical forms. Activists in Tunisia who were ag... ...n Foreign Policy.† Eurpoean Journal of Communication16, no4 (2001):523-544, http://ics-www.leeds.ac.uk/papers/pmt/exhibits/1848/robinson2.pdf (accessed April 16 2012) Entman, Robert. â€Å"Symposium Framing U.S. Coverage of International News: Contrasts in Narratives of the KAL and Iran Air Incidents.† Journal of Communication 41,no4 (1991): 6, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.auckland.ac.nz/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1991.tb02328.x/abstract;jsessionid=1ED043007C2287AA69B7A3A2DD869C27.d01t02 (accessed April 16 2012) Robinson, The CNN Effect, 304 Ibid,. 304 Lacey, Anita. â€Å"How do we find out what is going on in the world?† Lecture, POLITICS 106, The University of Auckland, March 26, 2012. Castonguay, James. â€Å"Conglomeration, New Media, and the Cultural Production of the â€Å"war on Terror.† Cinema Journal 43, no4 (2004):102-108, Ibd,. 102+ Ibd,. 102+