media

Recently, Macedonia closed their borders to ten thousands of migrants. Many having to live in terrible conditions and with no where to go. The fortress future is when countries close of their borders creating a fortress where it becomes much more difficult to travel especially those with less money and escaping a country with war. The term fortress Europe ( Festung Europa) was commonly used to describe parts of Europe that was occupied by Nazi-Germany during WW2. Currently, many people smugglers, who were interviewed for the article above, mentioned that their normal routes may be close but they believe that they’ll find new ways to get people into Europe. Migrants are going through terrifying circumstances  just to survive and take their family to a better place. More and more security are being places in countries at the borders such as Bulgaria, Turkey, Ukraine etc. In my opinion, all countries should open up their countries, however it’s questionable to why more middle eastern countries aren't opening up their borders to people in need. The rich middle eastern (not only) countries have more than enough to help a couple of thousands of people and it is extremely upsetting to witness. I hope something will change about this soon. 

Climate change is a long term change in the earths temperature and weather patterns. The earths temperature, sea levels have been rising and glaciers have been melting. When it comes to the media and how they portray climate change it can vary tremendously. The picture i added above is an example of Daily Express (right-wing) newspaper and their front page of how global warming is natural. The spectator is a mixture of conservative and non-conservative writers however RELAX: GLOBAL WARMING IS ALL A MYTH shows their conservative and right wing side perspective. Another example that you see all the time on American news television is Fox News (conservative) and MSNBC (liberal) clearly proves how inaccurate/biased the conservative media outlets are.  Fox News only represents the news on climate change/science 28% of the time they are known for constantly doubting or dismissing actual science facts. MSNBC being more of the liberal and honest news site are more likely to tell you how the ice is melting, the temperature is increasing and polar bears are dying because of this. Only 2/3 of Americans recognise that climate change is a REAL thing! In my opinion there are obvious different opinions on climate change and global warming in the media.

The global village is seeing the world as a village interconnected through media (telephones, computers, newspapers etc). This idea was developed by Marshall McLuhan who believed technology was what destroyed walls between other countries and cultures and had changed the idea of distance, time and communication causing the world to shrink. When McLuhan predicted the global village before the internet had come around hence causing the global village to be much more applicable compared to when he predicted it because back then there was only telephones, televisions and computers. Globalisation is important to the global village because it is what interconnect the different parts of the world. An example would be when a natural disaster takes place on the other side of the world it still can effect us. Marshall in the video above, states that “...they photographs, movies, radio tv all these change at once the way we see, or hear, or touch, or feel ourselves and our world.” He believed that it influences us everyday and in different ways because it constantly changes what we want. "You can't have a point of view in the Electronic Age". In my opinion, the global village will always apply and is important to everyday life. I believe applications like Facebook, Skype and Twitter are what brings us together, gets rid of borders and unites us like a village. 

China’s economy and population is growing by the second hence causing many politicians to question if China will dominate America. A book written by a British journalist and scholar called When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order mentions a lot of China being the new world order and the west no longer being dominant. China has an extremely different type of culture, history than the western world and they believe to be superior to others because of their advanced civilisation. The article I have linked mentions China’s economy soon being able to surpass America’s economy. “Our research on national economies throughout world history shows that long-term economic growth, while indeed based on technological innovation, only sustains itself in the presence of democratic political institutions that provide people with incentives to innovate. China may continue to grow in the near term, but the limited rights it affords its citizens places major restrictions on the country’s longer-term possibilities for prosperity.”  I mentioned this quote because it states how even though China will grow as any authoritarian country does but because of the limited freedom their citizens have it will cause problems for them to grow as much as they could to get on America’s level. in my opinion, China will be very close to being stronger economically, politically etc, than USA but I believe that language is an important aspect and English will always stay as the most used language. 

The public sphere is where you can freely go discuss and identify social problems. It is a place where individuals can come together to share their mutual interests/concerns, come up with a common judgment and how you influence political action. Jürgen Habermas wrote a book where he gathered modern concepts of the public sphere and he believes that in the 18th century a new local society had emerged. The article I linked above states how the since after the Paris attacks demonstrations have been banned. This limits the freedom of speech. “All around the world, it seems, the walls are closing in on the space that people need to assemble, associate, express themselves freely, and register dissent. Even as the internet and communications technology have made speaking up publicly technically easier than ever, ubiquitous state and commercial surveillance has ensured that expression, association, and protest remain constrained. In short, speaking up has never required more courage.” This quote from the article mentions how technology has made it easier for todays society to express their opinions and ideas thus expanding the public sphere. I believe that the public sphere is a helpful idea to get political opinions from the community to make a change in their government/society.  

The public sphere is where you can comfortably speak about political and social issues. Today, it’s getting more difficult to find a safe place where you can freely argue, associate and express yourself. Some countries such as France and Belgium (since after the Paris attacks) they have prevented citizens from expressing themselves, demonstrations are illegal and people are getting arrested for communicating ones thoughts.  Many governments such as Egyptian, Turkish and Russian have been known to prevent activists and those who believe in freedom of speech will get arrested.  “The best way to defend public space is to occupy it”.