The Media Helps to Construct National Identity and Loyal National Subjects. Discuss.

The nature of Australian’s national identity has been an ongoing debate for many years. It involves how Australians see themselves, and how other countries view Australia as a whole. Throughout the country’s history, the national identity has not remained constant, and currently it is a debate to what Australian’s true national identity is.

Over the centuries, the media has played a significant role in the shaping of societies across the globe. This is especially true of developed nations where media access is readily available to the average citizen. The media has contributed to the creation of ideologies and ideals within a society. The media has such an effect on social life, that a simple as a news story has the power to shake a nation. Because of this, governments around the world have made it their duty to be active in the regulation and control of media access in their countries. The media however, has quickly become dominated by major mega companies who own numerous television, radio and movie companies both nationally and

One of the oldest and most recognized forms of group activity is participation in collective state identity. Pride in one’s nation is a phenomenon that can transcend race, gender, class, sexual orientation, physical proximity and many other social groupings. This topic development will explore the sociological concept of nationalism and patriotism in relation to group identity, beliefs and subsequent actions performed by members of specified nationality groups.

Nationalism is generally described as the largely-held belief that individuals living in certain geographical spaces share unique historical and cultural customs, which provides them with the right to live in a sovereign political, state (Ellen, 2011). The description of nationalism provides the basis for understanding why national identities have strong emotional connections in lives of individuals. Actually, nationalism becomes an important aspect in modern personal identities and public events because of the emotional link with national communities.

As the main source of national identity, nationalism “makes [people] feel connected not only to one another but also to the homeland itself” (Jusdanis 28). In the case of the American founding, when the delegates from respective states met to construct a more perfect union, they did not identify themselves as Virginians or New Yorkers. Instead, they defined themselves as “we the people of the United States” as it appears in the Preamble to the US constitution. The shared interest in liberty and freedom as well as the attachment to the land of their fathers made it possible for the vast population of the thirteen states to think of itself as a unified body despite their internal ethnic and cultural divide. By identifying themselves as a member of certain group, people will form a society with certain shared value, which ultimately can become the political units for a democratic government. Nationalism is essential for creating a cohesive political community.

The media’s job is to entertain, inform, and educate society on what is going on around the world. The media entertains society by reporting stories that amuse people. The educational function of the media is about allowing society to know their legal rights. The informational aspect of the media does not need to be explained; it is self-explanatory. Within the last three decades, the media’s role has changed dramatically. The media went from using telegraphs, post offices, newspapers, magazines, radio, and television to using cell phones and tablets. In the modern era, which is also sometimes referred to as the information age, global networking and global communication have shaped modern societies. The majority of

A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, language and ethnic origin often possessing or seeking its own government. National identity refers to the distinguish features of group and to the individual’ sense of belonging to it. In some case even a little difference in pronunciation is enough to categorize a person as a member of different nation but in some cases two people may be separated by language, culture, geographical location etc categorized in

Nationalism can be described as a mix, multidimensional morally developed or created concept involving a shared common identification with one's Nation. It is more on politically motivated towards working and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, working towards to a specific land or a territory of historical significance to the group such as land and its belongings. In simple Nationalism is a nation command and lead itself, free from foreign influence, it is the concept of self-rule. Nationalism is further formed towards maintaining and developing a Sovereignty based on shared features such as religion, language, race, culture, or either political goals or a belief in a customary ancestry. So its pride towards nation's achievements, and the concept in world history has shown positive and negative impact, moreover in a political dimension it leads either unification or disintegration.

The British media has contributed to spreading elements of national identity but how has national identity influenced the British media? When it comes to the BBC, it has been closely defined in regards to servicing the British population as a whole, and this common link that everyone is supposed to be able to enjoy serves as yet another facet of national identity. Because of its founding principles of public service broadcasting, the BBC's identity was grounded in the idea

Today, the scourge of nationalism continues to infect humanity. Without doubt, in some circles, nationalism is hotly debated. For most people, however, the concept of nationalism is rarely questioned. In fact, it 's a foregone conclusion that people should love the nation in which they reside. Some people even take great pride in the fact that they were arbitrarily born in a specific geographical location. Unfortunately, like religion or capitalism, nationalism is alive and well in the 21st century.

The media influences how people experience social life. Media such as newspaper, television and film, are important sources of information, education and entertainment. It can be used to learn more about the world and the people in it. In this regard it can be said that the media represent, interpret and endorse aspects of social experience (O’Shaughnessy and Stadler, 2005). The media are also implicated in social regulation, or in other terms, the government of society. The media are implicated in government and politics in an obvious way because modern systems of democracy are conducted through the media. But the media have a bigger role to play in government by structuring how society is controlled and maintained.

“A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth” – Joseph Goebbels, German Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This is the exact words of Nazis most famous propagandist in using media as a mass weapon of propaganda and mind control. Could you imagine Germany in 1930s, without Television channel, without the Internet, without every mobile device in your palm, what channel of information will you get? Of course, newspapers, flies, images, celebrities were used as tools for propaganda purposes, designed to provoke a reaction, and ultimately, a form of control over their citizen. Nowadays, with all the advanced of technologies, information can reach everyone in every corner of the Earth, the message is delivered in the subtlest ways, without people’s conscious, has shaped everyone’s decision, or at least shape their behavior toward the decision that the orchestrator want the audience to perceive. With the booming of internet, information sharing seamlessly, we must ask ourselves, the role of media in conveying, shaping the society that we are living in. Let look at few examples of U.S propaganda machine, and later, the particular case of fish sauce in Viet Nam back in October 2016.

How can the development of national identity lead to loyalty and conflict for an individual?

The ideology of the media is broad and manifests in the communicativity of the media. To facilitate ideological analysis, however, the key is the fit between the images and texts in a specific media output, plus the manner thought and discussion on social and cultural issues. Questions, however, arise as to how the media content (shaped by ideologies) depict real life. This begs the question of function and ethics. The ideological analysis further attempts to answer questions about what the media messages depict of the society and its people.

It is without a doubt that the Globalisation of the media has increased our access to information about people and events around the world. However, during the process it has also shifted issues on what should or should not be in the public domain due to media ownership led by Western media corporations. The media shape is reconstructing itself, forming a singular global body playing an essential part in our democracy socially, politically, economically and culturally. Due to this, the effects of globalisation towards Journalism have become very debatable to whether it is benefiting the practice of journalism or hindering it. During the course of this essay, it will explore the affect globalisation has on the media (especially journalism), the affect of media ownership and how new technologies have influenced journalism.