4
AUDIENCE ASSESSMENT OF THE INFLUENCE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS ON
THE GLOBAL NEWS FLOW CONTROVERSY
Eberechi OZURU and Nnamdi T. EKEANYANWU, Ph.D.
Introduction
Communication, at whatever level, is vital to human existence and
the understanding of human relationships. It is a prima facie factor
in international relations and engagement. Communication does
not take place in a vacuum; it takes place between two or more
persons, groups, communities, nationalities, states, and even
nations. At the international level, it is concerned with how nations
relate to other nations as well as concerned with the gathering,
dissemination, interpretation and analysis of global news,
information and communication (Ekeanyanwu, 2008).
The world is now interdependent and there is no one single
nation that is an island onto itself, therefore, different countries of
the world need mutual interaction and understanding with one
another. Furthermore, some of the threatening major issues in the
world today have taken global implications, necessitating global
consciousness on the need for concerted efforts at tackling them.
For instance, issues of poverty, hunger, war, terrorism, women and
85
,Audience Assessment of the Influence of Social Media Networks on the Global News Flow Controversy
child trafficking, refugee crisis and so on, are no longer concentrated
at particular locations and nationalities. They all have wider global
dimensions and implications.
Communication at the global level comes with many
consequences. Some of these consequences arise because of
imbalances, news manipulation, and sometimes, misrepresentation
of some nations and people in the media system of others. The
development and deployment of Information and Communication
Technologies have also brought a mixed reaction to these
consequences. However, the advent of ICT in global interaction has
introduced flexibilities and revolutionary changes in the way the
world communicates. It has also widened the information gap
between the developed and the developing societies and aided the
entrenchment of news flow imbalances that caused a major
hullabaloo in the early 20th century.
This chapter is therefore concerned with how users of social
media networks assess the impact of social media on the Global
News Flow Controversy (GNFC). First, we need to take a cursory
and historical look at the news flow imbalance to establish the
existence of an Old Order before we consider how social media have
affected the scene.
In the process of international communication, there are
news flow imbalances or news inequalities as some scholars have
argued. Ekeanyanwu, Kalyango & Peters (2012, pp. 137-138)
describe two of the major types of these imbalances thus:
Quantitative imbalance is about the
amount of news flowing from
industrialized nations to the un-
industrialized nations and vice versa.
For instance if a content analysis of
CNN, BBC etc is carried out, it is
likely that out of 100 news stories,
maybe only 10 will be about the un-
industrialized nations put together.
86
, Communication and the New Media in Nigeria
Ekeanyanwu (2005) also noted that
out of the paltry 10 news stories about
the un-industrialized nations, nine
may be all negatives. This is
qualitative imbalance.
From the above, one could understand that imbalance is a
major issue in global communication and there are enough literature
and empirical evidence to support this (MacBride, et al, 1981;
Ekeanyanwu, 2005, 2007, 2008; Ekeanyanwu, Kalyango & Peter,
2012). The North (developed western capitalist nations) recognizes
the fact that things happen in developing countries. However, they
only beam their wide searchlight on the issues that have a hidden
national interest for them. This, most times, results in over reportage
of negative, damaging, and scandalous news events and stories
about the developing African societies in the media of the developed
western capitalist nations. Apart from this skewed and biased
coverage of events in the developing societies, the western media
give a one-sided view of the situation leading to what Chimamanda
Adiche calls “The Danger of a Single Story” (Ekeanyanwu,
Kalyango & Peter, 2012). According to her, the single story may not
be wrong but it is not the entire story. It also devalues a people and
their collective will to succeed because it has the tendency for people
to see themselves in the way that they have been framed over time.
Ekeanyanwu (2008, p. 30) confirms this position when he
noted that “Most developing nations never get a mention in the
media of the Western World unless the bizarre/crisis oriented event
occurs”. He further argues that the implication of this is that only
news about poverty, hunger, political strives, diseases etc are
reported in the media of the western world and these same types of
unfavourable news are relayed back to the developing countries for
consumption”.
From the picture painted above, no country that finds itself in
the position of the developing countries will fold its arms and watch
these news manipulations continue. Based on this, the developing
87
, Audience Assessment of the Influence of Social Media Networks on the Global News Flow Controversy
countries are not wrong in seeking for the intervention of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to address global news flow imbalances. The supposed
intervention by UNESCO did not yield the desired result as the
industrialized nations continue to use their technological superiority
to maintain the unhealthy status quo.
The Global News Flow Controversy (GNFC) is about the
imbalance in the flow of international news between different
countries of the world. This controversy has resulted in a debate
known as the 'News Flow Debate'. According to Ekeanyanwu,
Kalyango & Peters (2012, p. 135), the News Flow Debate “is a
conceptual framework whereby developing nations demanded for a
change in the present pattern of news flow between them and the
Western industrialized nations”. This Debate has remained fluid and
therefore continues to generate interest in communication research
because the issues that gave birth to the Debate in the first instance
are still relevant today notwithstanding the emergence of the Internet
that was suppose to liberalize the sourcing and dissemination on
international news and information.
Before the emergence of social media networks (SMNs) like
Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, WhatsApp, MySpace, Skype etc, the News
Flow Debate has been based on the traditional media of
communication notably television, radio, newspaper, magazine etc.
Even the development and deployment of the Internet did not
address the issues raised by the South in the Debate. The emergence
of social media networks, however, seems to have revived the
Debate because of the inherent features in the SMNs that have
capacity to level some of the issues that were hitherto in favour of the
North.
Social media networks have spiced up ways in which
information are disseminated, opinions/views are expressed and
most especially the instant nature of message delivery and feedback
as well as creating an open environment for easy interaction. Unlike
88
AUDIENCE ASSESSMENT OF THE INFLUENCE
OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS ON
THE GLOBAL NEWS FLOW CONTROVERSY
Eberechi OZURU and Nnamdi T. EKEANYANWU, Ph.D.
Introduction
Communication, at whatever level, is vital to human existence and
the understanding of human relationships. It is a prima facie factor
in international relations and engagement. Communication does
not take place in a vacuum; it takes place between two or more
persons, groups, communities, nationalities, states, and even
nations. At the international level, it is concerned with how nations
relate to other nations as well as concerned with the gathering,
dissemination, interpretation and analysis of global news,
information and communication (Ekeanyanwu, 2008).
The world is now interdependent and there is no one single
nation that is an island onto itself, therefore, different countries of
the world need mutual interaction and understanding with one
another. Furthermore, some of the threatening major issues in the
world today have taken global implications, necessitating global
consciousness on the need for concerted efforts at tackling them.
For instance, issues of poverty, hunger, war, terrorism, women and
85
,Audience Assessment of the Influence of Social Media Networks on the Global News Flow Controversy
child trafficking, refugee crisis and so on, are no longer concentrated
at particular locations and nationalities. They all have wider global
dimensions and implications.
Communication at the global level comes with many
consequences. Some of these consequences arise because of
imbalances, news manipulation, and sometimes, misrepresentation
of some nations and people in the media system of others. The
development and deployment of Information and Communication
Technologies have also brought a mixed reaction to these
consequences. However, the advent of ICT in global interaction has
introduced flexibilities and revolutionary changes in the way the
world communicates. It has also widened the information gap
between the developed and the developing societies and aided the
entrenchment of news flow imbalances that caused a major
hullabaloo in the early 20th century.
This chapter is therefore concerned with how users of social
media networks assess the impact of social media on the Global
News Flow Controversy (GNFC). First, we need to take a cursory
and historical look at the news flow imbalance to establish the
existence of an Old Order before we consider how social media have
affected the scene.
In the process of international communication, there are
news flow imbalances or news inequalities as some scholars have
argued. Ekeanyanwu, Kalyango & Peters (2012, pp. 137-138)
describe two of the major types of these imbalances thus:
Quantitative imbalance is about the
amount of news flowing from
industrialized nations to the un-
industrialized nations and vice versa.
For instance if a content analysis of
CNN, BBC etc is carried out, it is
likely that out of 100 news stories,
maybe only 10 will be about the un-
industrialized nations put together.
86
, Communication and the New Media in Nigeria
Ekeanyanwu (2005) also noted that
out of the paltry 10 news stories about
the un-industrialized nations, nine
may be all negatives. This is
qualitative imbalance.
From the above, one could understand that imbalance is a
major issue in global communication and there are enough literature
and empirical evidence to support this (MacBride, et al, 1981;
Ekeanyanwu, 2005, 2007, 2008; Ekeanyanwu, Kalyango & Peter,
2012). The North (developed western capitalist nations) recognizes
the fact that things happen in developing countries. However, they
only beam their wide searchlight on the issues that have a hidden
national interest for them. This, most times, results in over reportage
of negative, damaging, and scandalous news events and stories
about the developing African societies in the media of the developed
western capitalist nations. Apart from this skewed and biased
coverage of events in the developing societies, the western media
give a one-sided view of the situation leading to what Chimamanda
Adiche calls “The Danger of a Single Story” (Ekeanyanwu,
Kalyango & Peter, 2012). According to her, the single story may not
be wrong but it is not the entire story. It also devalues a people and
their collective will to succeed because it has the tendency for people
to see themselves in the way that they have been framed over time.
Ekeanyanwu (2008, p. 30) confirms this position when he
noted that “Most developing nations never get a mention in the
media of the Western World unless the bizarre/crisis oriented event
occurs”. He further argues that the implication of this is that only
news about poverty, hunger, political strives, diseases etc are
reported in the media of the western world and these same types of
unfavourable news are relayed back to the developing countries for
consumption”.
From the picture painted above, no country that finds itself in
the position of the developing countries will fold its arms and watch
these news manipulations continue. Based on this, the developing
87
, Audience Assessment of the Influence of Social Media Networks on the Global News Flow Controversy
countries are not wrong in seeking for the intervention of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to address global news flow imbalances. The supposed
intervention by UNESCO did not yield the desired result as the
industrialized nations continue to use their technological superiority
to maintain the unhealthy status quo.
The Global News Flow Controversy (GNFC) is about the
imbalance in the flow of international news between different
countries of the world. This controversy has resulted in a debate
known as the 'News Flow Debate'. According to Ekeanyanwu,
Kalyango & Peters (2012, p. 135), the News Flow Debate “is a
conceptual framework whereby developing nations demanded for a
change in the present pattern of news flow between them and the
Western industrialized nations”. This Debate has remained fluid and
therefore continues to generate interest in communication research
because the issues that gave birth to the Debate in the first instance
are still relevant today notwithstanding the emergence of the Internet
that was suppose to liberalize the sourcing and dissemination on
international news and information.
Before the emergence of social media networks (SMNs) like
Facebook, Twitter, Hi5, WhatsApp, MySpace, Skype etc, the News
Flow Debate has been based on the traditional media of
communication notably television, radio, newspaper, magazine etc.
Even the development and deployment of the Internet did not
address the issues raised by the South in the Debate. The emergence
of social media networks, however, seems to have revived the
Debate because of the inherent features in the SMNs that have
capacity to level some of the issues that were hitherto in favour of the
North.
Social media networks have spiced up ways in which
information are disseminated, opinions/views are expressed and
most especially the instant nature of message delivery and feedback
as well as creating an open environment for easy interaction. Unlike
88
