Press Freedom and Globalisation - International Press Institute

Press Freedom and Globalisation
defined as a ‘mass medium’. 28 Even if mass media may have a broad meaning which
includes even films, computer games and recorded music, the focus is on mass media with
declared social purposes; such as newspapers, parts of radio and TV, and some magazines
and books. Sometimes, these are also categorised as ‘news media’.
How Mass Media Came to be a Globalised Industry
A historical description of how mass media became a global business starts with the news
agencies. During 1850s the Reuters (Britain), Havas 29 (France), and Wolff (in areas which
became Germany) created a cartel. They divided functions for providing news from
European colonies to the networks of newspapers in their countries. After some years, the
American Associated Press (AP) and the rival United Press, joined the cartel. This is the
origin of global production of content and the foundation of transnational media
corporations. 30
Then, the film industry took its global steps. Hollywood became quickly the
world’s film capital. As early as 1914, 85% of the world’s film audience watched
American films. That rose to 90% before “talkies” created language barriers, which
resulted in a decline of the American film’s global share. However, links between Wall
Street’s investments, Hollywood’s film projects, and a global market were established.
British film industry, the sole global challenger to the American, was bought by
Hollywood in the 1960s. 31
Public radio dominated Europe from the earliest years and spread to other parts of
the world. The new technology of short wave was introduced at the end of 1920s, and
removed the borders as limits of radio broadcasting. Radio became global, the whole world
28 Hiebert, Ray Eldon and Gibbons, Sheila Jean, Exploring Mass Media for a Changing World (London:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999), p. 23.
29 Now renamed to Agence France Presse, AFP.
30 Herman and McChesney, The Global Media, pp. 12-13 and 18-19.
31 Ibid., pp. 13-15 and 19.
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