media in social change.taimoor tk

Media in Social Change Sociology

MEDIA IN SOCIAL CHANGE

SOCIAL CHANGE

Social change refers to any significant change over time in behavior patterns and cultural

values and norms. Here by “significant” change, sociologists mean changes having

profound social consequences. Examples of significant social changes having long-term

effects include the industrial revolution, the abolition of slavery, and the feminist

movement.

Today's sociologists readily acknowledge the vital role that social movements play in

inspiring dissatisfied members of a society to bring about social change. In order to

understand the nature of long-term social change, including looking for patterns and

causes, has led sociologists to propose the evolutionary, functionalist, and conflict

theories of change. All theories of social change also admit the likelihood of resistance to

change, especially when people with fixed interests feel unsettled and threatened by

potential changes.

The change is discussed by many theorists, sociologists, novelists in their own terms and

has given their own theories. Here some of the views about social change will also be

discussed.

THE “CHANGE” DEBATE

All cultures change through time. No culture is static. However, most cultures are

basically conservative in that they tend to resist change. Some resist more than others by

enacting laws for the preservation and protection of traditional cultural patterns while

putting up barriers to alien ideas and things. For example, the French government has

forbidden the commercial use of English words for which there are French

equivalencies. This is a reaction particularly to the widespread use and popularity of

terms such as "sandwich" and "computer" among young people. More recently,

Starbucks has found it very difficult to become established in France despite the fact that

it is becoming successful elsewhere in Europe. In contrast, some cultures are extremely

open to some kinds of change. Over the last two decades, the Peoples Republic of China

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has been rapidly adopting western technology and culture in everyday life. This can be

seen in their wide acceptance of everything from cell phones to American television

shows and fast food. McDonald's has already established 560 of their restaurants in

China and soon will be adding 100 more. KFC fried chicken franchises have been even

more popular. There are 1000 KFC outlets throughout the country with more than 100 in

Beijing alone. Taco Bell, A & W, and Pizza Hut are not far behind. In 2003, the Chinese

government made the decision to require all children in their country, beginning with the

3rd grade of elementary school, to learn English. This will very likely accelerate

westernization.

China is far from being unique in experiencing a revolutionary rate of change. It is now

abundantly clear that we are in an accelerating culture change period all around the world

regardless of whether we try to resist it or not. It is driven by the expansion of

international commerce and especially mass media. Ultimately, what is driving it is our

massive human population explosion. The number of people in the world now doubles in

less than half a century.

When analyzing the transformation of a culture, it is clear that different understandings

are gained depending on the focus. Anthropology began its study of this phenomenon,

during the late 19th century, largely from the perspective of trying to understand how

manufactured things, such as tools, are invented and modified in design over time. It

became apparent that there rarely are entirely new inventions. Most often, only the

function, form, or principle is new, but not all three. For instance, our modern jack, used

for lifting up the side of a car, is usually based on the principles of the lever and/or the

screw. Those principles were well known to the ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years

ago. By the 1940's, anthropologists began to realize that ideas, tools, and other artifacts

generally are not invented or changed in isolation. They are the product of particular

cultural settings. Cultures are organic wholes consisting of interdependent components.

Inventions often occur in response to other cultural changes. Similarly, the introduction

of new, effective birth control measures, mostly beginning in the early 1960's, allowed

people to easily limit the number of children they had and to space their births. This

affected the relationships of children with their parents and siblings. When there are

fewer children, parents can give more attention to each one. Likewise, more money per

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child is available for clothes, entertainment, gifts, and education. Potentially, there is

also more money and leisure time for parents when there are fewer children in their

family. Human economies change as necessity forces us to alter our relationship with the

environment. As our economies change, the rest of culture changes in response. We are

now facing potential major global cultural changes over the next century as a result of the

greenhouse effect that is presumably being caused or aggravated by the accelerated

burning of fossil fuels and forest products. The result likely will be progressive global

warming, shifting climates, and flooded coastal regions. Entire island nations in the

Pacific and Indian Oceans may disappear below the sea. Actually, this process of people

changing the global climate may have begun much earlier than the beginning of the

Industrial Revolution as it has been commonly thought. William Ruddiman of the

University of Virginia has evidence indicating that the rise of global temperatures began

about 8,000 years ago with the early spread of agriculture. He suggests that the massive

clearance of forests in Europe and Asia for farming beginning at that time released huge

amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In his estimation, this was enough

warming to put off an impending ice age. (What Actually Changes When Cultures

Change? By Dennis O'Neil)

THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Evolutionary Theories assume that there is a constant direction of social change

carrying all the societies through a same sequence of stages from simple to complex.

August Comte(1798-1857) known as the founder of sociology has discussed three stages

of social change i.e. (1) theological stage, guided by supernatural wisdom (2)

metaphysical stage, in which supernatural wisdom are replaced by principles and logics

(3)legal rational, in which society is guided by scientific principles and logics.

Hebert Spencer (1820-1903) was an English writer who explained Darwin’s theory he

saw a parallel social evolution, with societies moving through a series of stages fro

homogenous and simple tribal groups to more modern societies. He applied Darwin’s

“survival of fittest” to human societies and said those human will survive who are the

fittest and active members of the society similarly those societies will survive who have

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the ability to dominate and have values and norms that are the most logical and followed

by the members.

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was American sociologists who proposed a series of

seven stages through which societies passed from savagery to civilization.

Karl Marx (1813-1883) was a German philosopher who spent much of his life in

England, while he is classed as a conflict theorist, his theory of change is clearly

evolutionary, and he saw a series of successive changes of increasing technological

complexity, from primitive hunting o modern industrialization. Each stage has own

“mode of production” while all other elements of the culture were brought into harmony

with it.

Cyclical Theorists also a series of stages through which societies must pass. But, instead

of ending in a final stage of perfection they see a return to the starting point for another

round. There are many names who contributed in this school of thought. Pitrim Sorokin

(1889-1968) is one of those who was from Russia and than left Russia and went to USA.

He saw all the modern civilization in an endless cycle of three culture systems i.e.

ideational culture, idealistic culture, and sensate culture.

Functionalist theorist says that change is the functional need of the society and is

accepted. Societies those who change theme self survive and those societies are capable

of going with the time. This school of thought says only those changes are adopted which

are useful and are in fewer of society while those are rejected which are not useful.

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MEDIA IN THE BEGINNING

The beginning of visual media and even audio media were used for many

purposes by the different countries. The most miss utilization of this

fantastic media was used for propaganda during World War. This was the

time when this media was trying to developed from its childhood stage.

It is a say that well begin is half done. While in this case, it was an

opposite experience. Time has changed and this media has flourished

with a new technology and today we are talking this by using a new

media language. The whole history of electronic media had seen

different stages of how people, countries and the world has had used

this for their benefit. Today, communication rule the world, it is so

personalized that people now starting avoiding talking to each other,

meeting to each other. I would say it is a kind of psychic air which

almost grabs the people’s mind and heart. The socializing factor has

gone in the background. Another factor related with this communication

technology is information, which furthermore considered as a power.

Thousands of people need information about their health, education,

livelihood, and so on. For instance, take the example of HIV/AIDS and

STDs, if people know how to avoid these diseases, this could not be

happened what actually happening in African countries or other part of

the world. If people know that, saving environment means they are

saving all living being including themselves, may be then there is no

need of making “In convenient truth (an environmental documentary by Al

Gore)”. It is actually a long debate but what I mean is that the time

has come to think what best use of New Media technology and knowledge

could be? The idea of “Visual media for social change” developed

through all these madness. This is not a new idea, but this could be a

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reminder for and could be an alarm for, hey guys what are you thinking

to go ahead with fantasy world? Or would you like to give some

contribution back to your society? It is not forcible to anyone or no

one can change the idea or mind of anyone but it could be a serious

question for New Media Artist that, what benefit is you going to do for

society? Is it a technology and a toy for fun loving societies, where

food, health, education, shelter, livelihood is not an issue? My

supplementary question could be the opposite of mentioned question. For

the last few months, I am trying to search all these answers in the

light of the New Media Arts. It was not a surprise for me that my idea

and thinking is most marginalized in the fantasy world of the New

Media. However, being an optimistic and a social activist I will always

advocate for the use of New Media for social change. Today's discussion

with Eleanor was great in the sense of New Media advocacy. (Jayprakash Panwar 'JP'

14/Aug/2007 www.Rediff.com)

MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY

The shift of media and media industry over the past few years into new forms, such as

DVD and the internet, changes the channels available for audiences to consume and

receive media. The change has caused some media theorists to call into question the

influence that the media has over attitudes and beliefs.

Urbanization, industrialization and life is one good change created by social conditions in

which the mass media has developed. Mass media plays a crucial role in forming and

reflecting public opinion:media connects the world to individuals and reproduce the self-

image of society. Critiques in the early-to-mid twentieth century suggested that media

weaken or delimit the individual's capacity to act autonomously . Mid twentieth-century

empirical studies, however, suggested more limited effects of the media. Current

scholarship presents a more complex interaction between the media and society, with the

media on generating information from a network of relations and influences and with the

individual interpretations and evaluations of the information provided, as well as

generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and the mass media

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relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at

all), but also to many of cultural influences that operate through the media. The media

has a strong social and cultural impact upon society. This is predicated upon its ability to

reach a wide audience which often sends a strong and influential message. Marshall

McLuhan uses the term “the medium is the message” as a means of explaining how the

distribution of the message can often be more important that the message itself. [1] It is

through the persuasiveness of mediums such as television, radio and print media that

reach the target audience.

These have been influential mediums as they have been largely responsible in structuring

the daily lives and routines of Australians. Television broadcasting has a large amount of

control in influencing the content that society watches and the times in which they are

viewed. This is a distinguishing feature of traditional mediums and although they are by

no means redundant, the development of the internet has challenged the traditional

participation habits involved in mediums such as television. The internet has lifted some

of the restrictions placed on society by allowing for diversification of political opinions,

social and cultural differences and heightened level of consumer participation. There

have been suggestions that allowing consumers to produce information through the

internet will lead to a bombardment of too much information. It can however allow

society a medium for expressing opinions and moving away from the political restrictions

placed on society.( April 2007))

MEDIA’S ROLE IN SOCIAL CHANGE

Most of the time we feel very strongly against many a things taking place around us. But

hardly ever we decide to act boldly. Be it any injustice being meted out to someone

unknown to us today or to ourselves tomorrow, we prefer being silent spectators. Accept

it or not for "practical reasons" we avoid the whispering sounds.

As is visible in the way the foreign lifestyle has engulfed our life and mindsets

too. Parents have stopped sounding like a 'nuisance' anymore since they realized their

suggestions are viewed as 'interference' in their own beloved kids' life. They have

somehow submitted themselves before the regularly updating definition of freedom.

There was a time when everything required a permission of parents. One couldn't decide

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upon living 'his/her own way' just because he/she has got into a 'big' college or institute.

What a youngster watches on TV or listening or doing in his/her spare time was parents'

first concern. Not to all youngsters such regulations felt 'disgusting' or 'suffocating'. For,

being just open to SEX was not the only benchmark of anyone's being 'modern' or 'person

of this planet'. People had friends and a huge social life too. Today, even mentioning such

thing can make your listeners turn off their faces or laugh at you. Probably, such talks

look fairy tales of 18th century. Of course today's youngsters are many a times sharp-

minded than youngsters of their age in the recent past. But it is also true that most of the

youngsters appear engulfed or swallowed up by the 'copy cat' style of life. What we

watch on big or small screen we just follow it without applying even our common

sense. Certainly, the long cherished lifestyle in urban and rural areas of the country had

its advantages and disadvantages too. But it had the power of keeping families united. It

had the charisma of going to each other's place for great affection. Today, it is just to

sound 'being in touch' we visit anyone's place. The values we give to our relationships

have lost their sheen. Except on marriages, parties or funerals that we come to reunite for

a few hours. Are we not living a life of seclusion in the absence of our near and dear

ones? We can take it as reward (read penalty) of blindly submitting our lifestyle to 'Filmi

lifestyle’.

The sudden exposure of Cable channels have brought in Hollywood's vulgarity in our

Pakistani families. Today, as a parent one cannot just tell a little strongly to his/her own

child about not doing anything. For, they know the suggestion would fall on deaf ears. As

today's youngsters is fast loosing faith in tolerance. Unsurprisingly, such an attitude

creates problem in nurturing relations in married life too. Just ask any parent to go and

stop anyone from watching any song or movie, which is coming on television. The

hesitation would be just because nobody wants to face an 'open-mouthed' reply. But why?

Who is responsible for such a precarious situation? Cannot we, as youngsters, make our

parents at comfort with us?

Be it any 'item number' or late night episodes shown on AXN or Movie channels, the

media moguls are simply attacking our life and brain-washing our future generations.

Like any individual with no control on his/her lifestyle or objective we have somehow

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submitted ourselves to others' way of life. By the time we realized the repercussions of

such a 'trapped lifestyle', we would have lost our golden years of career too. It is

regrettable when the western world is striving to take lessons from our tradition way of

family system; we have lost interest in it. Can addiction to marijuana, cocaine, foreign-

brands of drinks or half-naked lifestyle make us look more 'successful' than anyone in

any part of the world? Well, sooner or later we have to learn what we could get benefited

from even today-the Indian lifestyle.

We should show how much deep-rooted we are to our family values without feeling

embarrassed of it for a second in any gathering. It is only when we learn how to live with

pride in our present circumstances; we will ensure great success despite every limitation

or obstruction. But are we ready to change at bit today?

( Can We Dare To Change? By: Sandeep Datta””)

Media has changed the lifestyle as well as the structure of the families in

Pakistan. Once it is consider as the luxury item but now it is the reach of almost every

common people due to this families are modernized day by day and even they are broken

into separate family system or you can say nuclear family system. This is only due to the

influence of media. In Pakistan after the 1980s the trend had changed and the electronic

media start moving the use of television start increasing. Before 1980s the people are not

very much interested in watching television. Even people don’t have their own television

at their homes and they go to others home of their relatives and friends to watch

television. But now time has changed and the television is available at almost every

home. Even in rural areas or in village’s people watch television as their great source of

recreation. This thing has great impact on the lifestyles of families, different type of

programs are telecast on television for the person of every generation from elder to

younger women and men. With the use of dish and cable network the use of television is

very increased. People are more aware with the things. You can watch almost all types of

programs on television like news, fashion shows, dramas, movies etc. people love to

watch non Pakistani channels instead of Pakistani channels. People watch Indian and

English channels more than Pakistani channels that are not a right thing. Due to the

increase in the use of watching Indian channels we are moving toward their culture. The

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Indian dramas had a very great impact on the women of our family. They demand those

things that they watch on the television.

MEDIA BOOM IN PAKISTAN

The media scene in Pakistan has seen a tremendous growth over the last few years:

The open media policy adopted by the present regime has resulted in frenzy with every

big shot of Pakistan opening up his/her TV or FM channel. Leaving aside the quality of

these channels for a while, let’s have a look at the impacts of this trend. We only had a

single TV channel i.e. PTV till 2001. NTM proved to be a bit of fresh air in the early

90’s, but the conspiracies of PTV bureaucracy ultimately led to its closure. By then most

of the Pakistanis especially the urbanites of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad had already

switched over to the cable TV. So when Indus TV network started its transmission on 14th

August, 2001, it was a new phenomenon in Pakistani media scene. People started taking

notice of this channel and its viewer ship increased many folds within months. Then other

business interests jumped into the bandwagon in opening up new TV channels and since

then there is no looking back. Now there are more dozens of private TV channels

operating in Pakistan.

These TV channels can be divided into five categories. First one has the largest market

share and it comprises both News and Entertainment channels of Urdu language. They

also have the largest viewer ship and revenue generation. The second category is of

English TV channels. It’s a new phenomenon and only a single channel, i.e. Dawn News

has recently started its transmission. The third category is of hybrid channels mostly

catering to the urban youth of Pakistan. They mostly play both desi and foreign musical

content interspersed with catchy programs related to the issues of young generation. The

fourth category is of channels offering regional language programs. These channels are

offering their services in almost all languages of Pakistan whether it’s Sindhi, Baluchi,

Brahvi, Punjabi, Pashto or Kashmiri. They have proved to be a massive hit especially

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among the rural populace of Pakistan. Last but not the least is the genre of sports

channels. Currently only one channel i.e. GEO SUPER is reining this field.

The TV industry, of course, will be preferred as its the strongest medium of expression.

Before we take on a long and arduous journey on analyzing the TV industry, let us have a

go at the Radio scene, FM Radio to be more precise, in Pakistan. The traditional AM

radio was literally dead in Pakistan by early nineties. The urban listeners were fed up

with the old-fashioned type of entertainment that was and still is the hallmark of Radio

Pakistan.

Braving all the above mentioned grim realities of radio scene in Pakistan, the first FM

channel of Pakistan, FM 100, was launched in 1995. This channel revolutionized the

radio scene of Pakistan. Targeting the young and urban population, FM 100 gained

massive listeners base in a few months. The people who were sick of traditional radio

switched over to FM because the a) the content was new and pop-oriented (b) the

interactive style with live call in really caught peoples attention and the DJ phenomena

was also warmly accepted by the urban masses

To cut the long story short, the bureaucracy at the Radio Pakistan decided to launch a

Sarkari FM channel, FM 101, in 1998 to curb the growing popularity of FM 100. Since

2001, we have seen a massive growth of FM channels all over Pakistan. It is operating in

Pakistan, by the end of this year. Now FM listening has become a habit of many Pakistani

urbanites irrespective of their economic standings. In fact its become almost impossible

to not listen to FM channels while driving. The FM mobiles have further broadened the

listener’s base of these channels. I must say that urbanites have become sort of addicted

to FM mania.

As they say, quantity and quality are two opposite sides of a coin, so same is the case

with these FM channels. Only a few of them stand out in quality. First let’s have a look at

the sub-categories of these FM channels. The most popular ones are indeed the

entertainment FM channels. The second one deals with community based channels. The

community based channels mostly cater to the educational institutions and NGOs. We

also have some sectarian based FM channels (of course operating illegally) in the tribal

areas, which are a great mess for national security.

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http://www.fm101.gov.pk/

http://www.fm100pakistan.com/history.asp

http://www.radio.gov.pk/

http://www.radio.gov.pk/


This post mainly deals with the entertainment based channels. Although we have seen a

tremendous growth in this industry but there is still a huge room for improvement. As per

the international norms, Pakistani FM channels also cater to different social and

economic groups of Pakistan. First we have the hi-fi FM channels which mostly cater to

the elite and the professional classes. City FM 89 is the most notable one with its crisp

programming and popularity among the target audiences. Some of its programs especially

Cloud 89 has garnered international repute for their socio-political content and innovative

concepts. There are some critics too who think that the moderator of the program,

Hameed Haroon a.k.a Red Baron tries to force his own ideology on the interviewees.

Radio Active 96 is another elite channel catering mostly to the young generation.

Radio One FM 91 is a channel with broader listeners base. It caters both to the desi as

well as vilayati music lovers. The content and style makes this channel one of the most

popular ones among all the urbanites. Then there are other channels which mostly play

Pakistani and Indian music like FM 100, FM 101, Apna Karachi 107 (famous for its

traffic updates), Hum FM, Must FM and others. Their quality ranges from good and

average to being gross. The old channels especially FM 100 and FM 101 have now lost

their significance and major chunk of listeners due to their scruffy programming.

Now let’s have some dig at the advertisement trends of these channels. Unfortunately,

Radio Pakistan still takes the big portion of the cake, followed by the oldest FM channel

of Pakistan. One wonders why the advertisers still prefer the grand daddies.I think the

sole reason is the extensive coverage of these channels which attracts the wallets of these

advertisers. The advertising revenues of these FM channels can be seen here (Please note

that these revenues are in millions, not in billions as written over there). The quality of

advertisements is quite appalling on most of the channels. I am surprised at even the elite

channels like City FM 89 and Radio One playing the same ads of candies and phone

entertainment services. At least they should prefer quality over these nasty ads provided

that they are owned by business tycoons.

On a final note, it’s quite satisfying that FM channels, despite their shortcomings have

revolutionized the listening trends in Pakistan. Most of these channels have sprung up in

a few years and needs time for evolution. One can hope that with the passage of time, the

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http://www.mastfm103.com.pk/

http://www.fm100pakistan.com/

http://www.ra96.com/

http://www.cityfm89.com/cityfm89web/home.aspx


process of natural selection will take place and the sub-standard FM channels will be

discarded by the listeners.

SOCIAL CHANGE IN INSTITUATIONS OF THE SOCIETY

FAMILY STRUCTURE

Media has a great impact on the family lifestyle. The major reason is the advancement of

electronic media. Television plays a great role in it. The use of television create different

types of issues relate to the family members of the family. Television also plays a great

role in the awareness of different types of things related to the families. Like family

health issues, like family planning programs, campaigns for the cure of different diseases

like HIV aids, hepatitis, polio etc and other different types of diseases. With the passage

of time now the whole world is connected trough satellite media broadcasting the

introduction of dish TV and cable network is the advanced form of television media.

Though with lot of advantages and disadvantages it gave birth to different types of family

issues like teen issues, children issues, kids issues etc. these all issues are related with the

awareness of media network:

SPECIAL ISSUES FOR TEENS:

There are different types of issues regarding the teens:

Television viewing generally drops during adolescence as young people start to spend

more time socializing, doing schoolwork, and using other media, such as music, video

games, computers and the Internet.

Because watching television is a relaxing activity, requiring low levels of concentration,

teens tend to watch TV when they're alone or bored. But even though viewing drops

during these years, it's still important for parents to know what their kids are watching.

For teens, television is a major source of information about sex. A survey conducted in

1997 by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 61 per cent of young teens, ages 13-15,

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rated entertainment media as their top source of information on sexuality and sex health.

This should concern parents because although two-thirds of TV shows contain sexual

content, only one in ten includes any reference to safe sex or the consequences of

unprotected sex.

The main focus of many teen dramas is sex, with each episode containing countless

verbal and visual references to sexual activity. These highly sexualized portrayals of

relationships bear little resemblance to the real lives of teens—and are generally not

balanced by clear messages about safe and healthy attitudes towards sex.

The early teen years are considered a crucial time for the development of healthy self

esteem. Insecurities over attractiveness and weight are increasing while at the same time

teens are bombarded with TV images of impossible thinness and beauty. It's important

that young people understand that most of the images they see on TV are unrealistic and

unattainable.

Because teens are usually not supervised when watching television, parents have to make

a concerted effort to find out what they are watching. You can help lessen the negative

effects of TV if you:

Watch your teens' favorite shows with them occasionally—if they'll let you!

use television as a springboard for talking about topics such as sex, AIDS,

smoking, drug and alcohol use, divorce and peer pressure

talk about what you find objectionable on TV, and ask their opinions

encourage teens to analyze and question what they see on TV

steer kids towards diverse, good quality programming such as science shows,

documentaries, news, realistic teen dramas

watch music videos with your kids and discuss the often-sexist images of women

and the representations of masculinity

SPECIAL ISSUES FOR YOUNG CHILDERN:

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Parents of young children need to actively manage and control TV viewing in the home.

Children need a variety of activities for healthy development and television can be a fun

and educational part of a child's daily routine, if managed properly.

Preschoolers (2-5 years)

Children in this age group should spend most of their day playing and socializing,

not watching TV. The Canadian Pediatric Society suggests no more than one hour

of television per day for preschoolers. The American Academy of Pediatrics

recommends no television for children under age two, saying that parents should

focus on interacting with their children instead.

Because preschoolers are more prone to exhibiting aggressive behavior after

watching shows containing violence, parents should restrict their exposure to

violent programming, especially cartoons. Avoid buying action toys based on

violent programs.

The good news for this age group is that there is a lot of wonderful programming

for it, particularly on public television. Build up a videotape library of your kids'

favorite shows—because preschoolers love to watch the same programs over and

over again.

School-aged kids (6-11 years)

Because television takes time away from reading and schoolwork it's important to

control TV viewing during the school week. Studies show that even one to two

hours of daily television viewing by school-aged children has a significant

harmful effect on academic performance, especially reading.

Unfortunately, there is a dearth of good programs for older kids, so they tend to

spend their time watching cartoons and adult-oriented fare. Try to find quality

shows that are aimed specifically at this age group, or appropriate general

audience fare such as nature shows, family sitcoms or sports.

Children at this age (as well as preschoolers) like action cartoons, and identify

with superhero figures. Parents should actively supervise superhero play to

minimize the aggressive aspects and maximize the creative, imaginative potential.

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FRIGHTENING TV CONTENT

Because young children have trouble distinguishing make-believe from reality, parents

need to safeguard them from violent or scary TV content. Research shows that children

want to be protected from media images that are disturbing or frightening. A 2000 study

by Ryerson University asked more than 900 kids, between 2 and 12, if they felt they

should be protected from certain kinds of TV shows, Web sites and video games. Over

half (64 per cent) said they needed safeguarding, while only 19 per cent said they didn't.

It's important for parents to understand what is appropriate TV viewing for the various

developmental stages of childhood. In her book Mommy, I'm Scared, author Joanne

Cantor describes the types of media images that children find most frightening at

different ages:

Two-to-seven-year-olds:

visual images, whether realistic or fantastic, that are naturally scary: vicious

animals, monsters, and grotesque, mutilated, or deformed characters

physical transformations of characters, especially when a normal character

becomes grotesque

stories involving the death of a parent or child victims

natural disasters, shown vividly

Seven-to-twelve-year-olds:

more realistic threats and dangers, especially things that could happen to children

violence or the threat of violence

Seven-to-twelve-year-olds:

More realistic threats and dangers, especially things that could happen to children

violence or the threat of violence

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TELEVISION'S IMPACT ON KIDS

Television is one of the most prevalent media influences in kids' lives. According to Kids'

Take on Media, a survey conducted in 2003 by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation,

watching TV is a daily pastime for 75 percent of Canadian children, both boys and girls

from Grade 3 to Grade 10.

How much impact TV has on children depends on many factors: how much they watch,

their age and personality, whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their

parents talk with them about what they see on TV.

To minimize the potential negative effects of television, it's important to understand what

the impact of television can be on children. Below you will find information on some

areas of concern.

Violence

Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming

on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is

difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable

to violent images and messages.

Parents should also pay close attention to what their children see in the news since studies

have shown that kids are more afraid of violence in news coverage than in any other

media content. Fear based on real news events increases as children get older and is better

able to distinguish fantasy from reality.

PROS AND CONS OF MEDIA HAVE ON FAMILTY STRUCTRE

There are different positives and negative impacts made on our family lifestyle due to the

increase of watching television.

PROS

People are connected with the whole world keep sitting at their home.

They watch all types of news of all over the world.

People are aware of about different things on television.

17


Awareness of different diseases, like HIV aids, hepatitis etc.

Family planning programs for the women.

People are aware of new fashions in use.

Due to the advancement of media it will create a lot of job opportunities for the

all the generation s like elder, younger, children men and women.

People are aware of their country affairs.

There are different types of programs being telecast on television for the

recreation of peoples.

People are aware of different social issues regarding their lives.

People can easily pass their time by watching television.

People are aware of different campaigns start in Pakistan related with health,

education.

It will give time to sit together for the families.

CONS

People waste there lot precious time on watching television.

People believe more what so ever is telecast on television.

It promotes sexual attraction between male and females.

It destroys our youth. They move towards fashion and the modernization.

People are adopting others culture means western culture.

Indian media had badly effect our families, their life style and their living patterns

are completely changed.

Indian channels like star plus and other Indian channels badly affect the minds of

our females. After watching dramas on TV wives demand that thing from their

husbands what so ever they watch on television which is a virtually created on the

television and those things are out of reach of the common men of the society.

Our family structure is changed rapidly into nuclear family system or you can say

separate family system.

People learn different types of illegal thing from television.

18


Due to the openness of media in our society there are lots of commercials and

advertisements star telecasting on television which you can’t watch while sitting

with your whole family members.

It promotes lot of unethical things which is against our family norms, traditions

and culture.

EDUCATION

Whether we live in Germany or the United States, we are all aware of the pervasiveness

of new media in our everyday lives. We are surrounded by television, the internet, cell

phones, blogs, blackberries, pod casting, and other digital formats, as well as the more

conventional print media.

These media forms offer educators incredible opportunities for teaching. However, at the

same time they pose an equal number of challenges as we strive to make sense of media

forms and employ them effectively as educational tools.

How can we interpret and deal with these media and their influence? How do these media

directly and indirectly shape our opinions, as well as those of our students and the rest of

the society in Germany and the United States? How do we process the information

presented to us? How does the German media differ from American media? How do our

respective national media portray the other country? What is the role of the newspaper in

the digital age?

Join 10 Illinois and 10 German educators in an important, exciting, and constructive

seminar and cultural exchange in which we consider contemporary media. The seminar

will be hosted by the ministry of education for the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

English serves as the primary language of instruction, but knowledge of the German

language can be useful. The seminar is open to full-time K-12 teachers, school librarians,

and counselors, with three or more years of full-time experience. Special preference will

be given to teachers with German language skills and to IHC seminar alumni (who have

not attended the Germany seminar in the past). Participants pay their own airfare and

19


some incidental expenses. Room, board, group ground transportation, and course

materials are paid for by the host organization.

IMPACT OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

Distance education is distinctively and widely acknowledged for it’s exhaustive

utilization of information and communication technologies for teaching – learning

process. A variety of media such as radio, television, computer and Internet etc are being

used as a part of learning material by many Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

institutions. As a result, course delivery in such institutions is multi-channel; multi-media

mix (Kulandai Swaymy, 2002). The requirements of the distance education for

developing the course material using the multi-media approach has necessitated, apart

from print material, embracing of technologies such as radio, television, audio and video

cassettes. Last decade has witnessed a virtual explosion in the advancements made in

several areas of technology especially those relating to computer, networking and

communications, which have a direct bearing on the distance education system

There are some positive educational implications associated with using technologies in

Distance Education, like the availability of greater variety of learning resources;

improved opportunities for individualities learning; the possibilities of greater control for

students over their learning; more extensive coverage via technologies and therefore

greater access to them; greater flexibility offered by the wide range of technologies;

characteristic fall in the cost of new technologies as they become established; and there is

a higher degree of interactivity as convergence occurs between old and new technologies.

Because of their qualities, such as greater delivery capabilities, contributing to specific

learning activities, promoting participatory learning, motivating the learners to get

involved with learning activities, accommodating individual needs and extending the role

of teacher etc electronic media such as radio, television, computer and Internet etc have

been embraced as a part of learning material by many ODL institutions. However, in

practice, the pattern of technologies use among institutions across the world is varied, and

is commonly influenced by non-pedagogical factors, such as cost, access and availability

20


as much as by pedagogical factors. The ways in which different institutions employ any

one particular technology are also subject to great variation.

Some PROS and CONS of Media on education:

PROS

Education is widespread all over the world.

You can listen to lecture sitting in your home.

The lectures can be stored and than can be retrieved.

Cost of the education is been lowered because of distant education.

Availability of greater variety of learning resources

Improved opportunities for individualities learning

Video conferencing has made education is easier and if you want ot ask question

it is answered on the spot.

CONS

Miss use of information.

Intellectual property right issues.

Due to physical absence matters can not be discussed thoroughly with the

instructor.

One of the main issues is that the respect of teacher has diminished although not

fully finished but student now don’t respect their teacher as much as wanted. It

may be because of not knowing who is his/her teacher or the distance between the

teacher and student. Like in ancient times teachers were given a high place in the

society which is now absent in our society.

21


RELEGION

By Islamic electronic media we mean that the media should be designed in such a way

that it will present the true Islam. In Pakistan, Islamic media does not exist. In 1977

during Zia’s era there was a process of Islamization in which use of dopatta was made

compulsory for the television announcers, actresses and they were forced to cover their

heads with dopatta. Another step taken by TVBy Islamic electronic media we mean that

the media should be designed in such a way that it will present the true Islam. In

Pakistan, Islamic media does not exist. In 1977 during Zia’s era there was a process of

Islamization in which use of dopatta was made compulsory for the television announcers,

actresses and they were forced to cover their heads with dopatta. Another step taken by

Zia was ban on nudity i.e. ban on display of nude posters particularly on portraying

women as publicity symbols. Display of nude scenes and moving films with nudity were

also banned.

The function and role of Islamic media is very important for a society they should

provide the general public with the knowledge of Islam through informative programmes

about religion they can educate the people as well as able to remove all the

misconceptions regarding Islam. The most important role of Islamic media is to promote

religious sectarian harmony among public by showing programmes and by calling

Renowned Religious Scholars for educating the public. Secondly they have to play an

important role in character building of the public. They have to transmit true Islamic

values among the public related to religion. They have to create a positive image of Islam

in the western world that Islam means Peace and Muslims are not terrorists.

Television

Islamic Channels

QTV-ARY

LABBAIK

ILIM TV.

22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam


These are the list of religious channels which are producing programmes relate to Islam.

QTV Part of ARY Digital group was started in September 2003. It’s a first Islamic

channel in the country. It was started with a purpose to educate the public regarding Islam

and to present the true image of Islam throughout the World. Its targeted audience is the

Muslims around the World. They design programmes for every member of the society

such as man, womam and especially for the children so that they can learn about their

religion from their childhood. QTV also offered certificated courses for the people sitting

in homes they just have to watch the program Q –Campus and in the end of a program

there is a question and answer sessions and they have to answers these questions and if

there answers are correct they will get a certificate. They offered certificate courses for

Arabic grammar, Hadiths, etc.

The structure and policy of Islamic electronic media is to present the true Islam and to

educate, and guide the general public about the right way of Islam. So they design their

policies in way such that they can educate the public and to introduce the modern

enlighten vision of Islam. Their main aim is to remove the misconceptions related to

Islam.

Services provided by the Islamic media are to spread Islam, secondly to remove all the

misconceptions relate to Islam, thirdly they wanted to present complete information about

the religion and also to solve problems of people relate to Islam. For this purpose they

invite renowned Religious Scholars, which help the public in understanding the true

Islam and answer their questions.

Recent statistic shows that the viewer ships of Islamic channels have increased now.

People these days are more interested in getting information about the religion as

television is now found in every house in urban as well as in the rural areas.

Mostly the target of Islamic media is the people who are uneducated and do not have the

knowledge about the religion and also target the Muslims living in the western world.

RADIO

23

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam


Mostly radio channels like FM 100.101,103 only made religious programmes on special

occasions like Ramadan, Muharram, Rabiul-ul Aval, and Hajj. In daily transmission they

broadcast recitation of Quran with translation, Hamd and Naat in the beginning of their

transmission. Radio Pakistan shows programmes related to Islam in order to educate the

public and to create awareness in them regarding religion.

POPULAR RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMES ON VARIOUS CHANNELS

According to a survey programmes, which are popular, are Aalim Online (Geo), Aaj

Aurat aur Islam, Deen Aasan (ATV) AAJ Islam (AAJ TV) Seratay Mustakeem, (TV 1)

Haeya UL fallah (PTV). Aalim Online is a religious program that has tried to tackle the

issues, which were not discussed even behind closed door The program broadcast almost

daily, brings together Islamic scholars from the two main schools of thought, Sunni and

Shia, who answer questions via live telephonic calls from various corners of the world.

AAJ Islam: AAJ Islam is a programme design to safeguard the beliefs and protect the

theological foundations of the religion by answering the questions in the light of Quran

and Sunnah. Religious leaders of the highest order will take questions and provide the

ideological reasoning behind every aspect of Islam and is its modern application. The

format of the programme is talk show. Aaj Aurat aur Islam: It’s a programme based on

the teaching of Islam with regard to the status and role of women. Dr Sammar Fatima

renowned religious scholar gives answers in the light of Quran, and Hadith.

INTERNET

The most important medium used for communication these days is the Internet. In

Pakistan there are many websites related to Islam but there are so many controversies

regarding these websites because people are of the opinion that some websites are not

educating people regarding the true teachings of Islam and some are doing propaganda

against Islam and encouraging wrong concepts related to Islam some people are of the

views that there are some websites which are owned by non Muslims and are providing

24

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Websites

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajj

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio


the people with the incorrect information about Islam but on the other hand there are

some websites which are providing the people with the complete knowledge of Islam

their main target is the youth but they are very few. There are many websites, which are

in Urdu also, which are working in order to inform the people regarding true Islam.

In terms of credibility and authenticity there are many controversies regarding these

Islamic websites. Some are of the view that these websites are using religion for their

own benefits and exploiting people in terms of religion.

The future of Islamic channels and shows is very bright because nowadays people are

interested more in knowing about their religion and with the help of more and more

dedicated Islamic channels and programmes they will gain more awareness about that

which will help them not only in becoming a good Muslim but also a good citizen. But

the most important thing needed is that the programmes related to religion should be

design very carefully correct and accurate information should be given to the people on

the topic of Islam due to these Islamic channels and programmes those who don’t have

the complete awareness regarding religion will be able to educate themselves by

watching these programmes and by doing this, the media can play a significant role for

the betterment of the society.

Some PROS and CONS of Media on Religion:

PROS

Awareness about Islam as we can see that Islam is the fastest growing religion in

the world.

Image of Islam can be bitterly produced.

Islamic channels show TV Programs which are very useful in the preaching of

Islam.

The teaching of Islam can spread at a high pace.

You can directly contact any “AALIM” without any problem and ask about any

issue you want.

25

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society


CONS

Some Evil minded people are spreading false rumors about Islam and it damage

the image of Islam very quickly as the information spread at a fast speed.

Sectarian conflicts are exaggerated by some forces.

Some channels are trying to make some non Islamic issues legal such as

“KHUDA KAY LEYE”.

The extra freedom that is given to media is damaging the image of Islam and

some forces are hurting the feelings of Muslims. Such as in case of caricatures of

our beloved Prophet (P B U H).

POLITICS

Over the past century we have seen so much changes in the political system of the

world.and media has been one of the most important factor in changing the conditions.

From boosting of the compaign to the coverage of violance or protests agianst

government these all are the result of media.but it has been oue dilema that the

government use media to strenghten their self and if media in any way talk aginst

government the government try to burry their voices. In recent exemple of Lal Masjid

and Case of chief justice the government didn’t let the media to give coverage or

information to general public. And history tell us that the dictators or monarchs use

media in their favour eithier it was print media or elecronic media.

REVIEW OF TRENDS IN POLITICAL CHANGE: FREEDOM AND CONFLICT

POLITICAL GOVERNANCE

During the 20th century, the number of democratic states and number of people living

in democracies increased. In 2000, over half of the world population lives in

democracy, but one third live in authoritarian regimes. Almost all more developed states

are now democracies. Almost 2/3rds of less developed countries are democracies, but

almost 30 percent are authoritarian or totalitarian regimes

26


Table 1

World population living under these Governance types

1900 1950 2000

Popul

ation

(milli

ons)

Perce

nt of

Popul

ation

Popul

ation

(milli

ons)

Perce

nt of

Popul

ation

Popul

ation

(milli

ons)

Perce

nt of

Popul

ation

Democracy 0 0% 743 31% 3,439 58%

Restricted_D

emocracy207 12% 286 12% 298 5%

Constitutiona

l_Monarchy299 18% 78 3% 0 0%

Traditional_

Monarchy23 1% 16 1% 58 1%

Absolute_Mo

narchy610 37% 13 1% 0 0%

Authoritarian

_Regime0 0% 122 5% 1,968 33%

Totalitarian_

Regime0 0% 817 34% 142 2%

Colonial_De 503 30% 118 5% 0 0%

27


pendency

Protectorate 27 2% 203 9% 5 1%

Total 1668 - 2,396 - 5,910 -

Table 2

Number of countries with these Governance types

Less Developed

Countries

More

Developed

Countries

1900 1950 2000 1900 1950 2000

Democracies 0% 4.2%53.1

%0%

34.8

%

95.7

%

Restricted_Democ

racies

14.7

%14%

11.2

%

10.9

%4.3% 0%

Monarchies 7% 8.4% 7%45.7

%6.5% 0%

Regimes 0% 13.3 28.7 0% 43.5 2.2%

28


% % %

Colonies52.4

%

40.6

%0% 6.5% 2.2% 0%

Protectorates 14%18.9

%0% 4.3% 8.7% 2.2%

Empires11.9

%0% 0%

32.6

%0% 0%

Number of

countries143 143 143 46 46 46

Democracy's Century: http://freedomhouse.org/reports/century.html

FREEDOM

The Freedom House country ratings also can be combined with census from the

International Database data to show the number of people who were living in countries

with freedom, partial freedom and no freedom. These data show that freedom increased

for both less developed and more developed countries. However, using population to

examine freedom in less developed countries shows

1. Only moderate growth in the number of people in freedom in Less Developed

countries.

2. Significantly less freedom and less growth in freedom than might be indicated by

looking at freedom using countries as the unit of analysis. For example, table 2 shows

over 50% of less developed countries are democracies. However, only 32% of people in

less developed countries live in countries that are free.

Table 3

Percent of people living in countries that are free, partially free, and not free

1980 2000

29

http://freedomhouse.org/reports/century.html


Less Developed Countries

Free 26.5% 31.5%

Partially Free 29% 26%

Not Free 45% 43%

More Developed Countries

Free 88% 99%

Partially Free 5% 0.2%

Not Free 7%

Freedom House ratings available at http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=1

The above analysis does not include many of the countries and satelites of the former

Soviet Union. These countries did not exist until 1990 or so. In 2000, a few of these

countries (e.g., Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, also East Germany) were free. Several more

were partially free, but a few (e.g., Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) were still not free

in 2000. Inclusion of these countries might change the percents above slightly.

A number of less developed countries gained freedom, while a number of less developed

countries lost partial freedom. (No countries went from Free to Not Free).

TERRORISM

Data from the US Department of State shows that, since the late 1980s, there has been a

decline in the number of international terrorist attacks. Data from the Terrorism

Knowledge base show a similar decline since the early 1980s.

The major decline in international terrorist attacks was in Western Europe. On the other

hand, Asia experienced an increase in international terrorist attacks. Other regions

30

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=1


experienced less consistent patterns over time from 1991 to 2003; there was a consistent

increase in the number of casualties from international terrorist attacks in Asia, but few

other consistent trends in casualties from international terrorist attacks. Three different

regions had, in three different years, a few attacks with a large number of casualties.

On the other hand, data from the MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base show that since the

mid to late 1990’s there have been a large increase in the number of total terrorist

incidences, injuries and fatalities. Most of this increase is due to an increase in domestic

terrorism.

The above changes in the political conditions during the last century can be said that

caused by boom in media for instance we talk about freedom then it is media that played

important role in giving the people right and up to date information and awareness about

their rights and responsibilities. Similarly political governance system has been changed

parallel to changes and boom in media. And at last but not the least terrorism which

seems to be the most widely used and misused word now days why it has spread so fast

we can imagine. That’s because of media and especially electronic media which made it

really fast to move.

Some PROS and CONS of Media on Politics:

PROS

People are aware of current affairs.

Freedom of expression.

People have all the coverage to what government is doing and can decide whether

government is doing fair or not.

E-Election or electronic election. Now the process is in the hands of PC’s not men so

least chances of errors.

Faster communication between countries.

Forecast of future projects.

Least chances of corruption as everything is known to the general public and every

common man know what is right and wrong.

31


CONS

ECONOMY

An economy is the realized system of human activities related to the production,

distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services of a country or other area.

The composition of a given economy is inseparable from technological evolution,

civilization's history and social organization, as well as from Earth's geography and

ecology, e.g. ecoregions which represent different agricultural and resource extraction

opportunities, among other factors. Economy refers also to the measure of how a country

or region is progressing in terms of product.

The earliest economic activity centered around food gathering and animal hunting.

During the Stone Age, which lasted until about 11000 years ago, early humans wandered

in tribal or family groups, hunting animals for food and picking nuts, berries, and fruits

where they could. All of this continued until an agricultural revolution occurred. People

realized that instead of always having to hunt for animals and search for berries, they

32

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_extraction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricultural

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_organization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_evolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goods_(economics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_system


could just domesticate them. This meant that they would graze the animals like sheep.

They would domesticate them for milk and meat. They could also grow their own desired

plants. This meant that humans would have a reliable supply of food. This improved

people’s lives and provided leisure time, which could then be used to develop other

activities. The demands of crops and herding animals also encouraged people to remain

in one location, so villages and towns began to develop. That was the first human

economic activity as trading was first performed among people. The food grown by

individuals now would not only be used to feed themselves, but if they had more than

they needed they could trade for other needed equipment. Continued improvement in

agricultural technology—such as the plough, the tractor and better farming techniques—

led to even better lives for people. The new technology improved crop yields and food

quality, and also resulted in better methods for storing, transporting, and selling food.

One result of this technological change was that people had more time to do other things

beside produce food. They could become craftspeople, working with metal wood or

cloth. Or they could host other things, including teaching, developing laws, practicing

medicine, or leading their growing communities. These new crafts and skills that people

developed from the leisure time they created from the new farming techniques, generated

jobs and money. For example metal workers could sell their products to farmers and they

would either barter with food, or would trade with capital (money). The money would

then keep flowing around the community and the economic activity would increase.

Modern Economic Activities—Industrial Revolution and Urbanization The modern era

for economics started around 1700 A.D. It was that time when a second agricultural

revolution took place. Farmers began to apply new scientific knowledge to producing

food, especially through the use of machines and equipment. This drove the development

of manufacturing, and the Industrial Revolution was underway in the 1800’s. This

revolution dramatically changed economic activities. Huge numbers of people were no

longer needed as food producers. Many moved from farms to cities to find work in the

new factories that were springing in there. Cities became the focus of economic activity

during the Industrial Revolution. Urbanization shifted the population from the

countryside to the cities. Cities that were built on manufacturing grew and expanded. By

33


the beginning of the 1900’s, more and more people were working jobs not related to

agriculture and manufacturing. This created the different types of industries (primary,

secondary, tertiary). These jobs were created to provide consumers in the cities with

services such as entertainment, shops and stores, banking and insurance.

All these revolutions and changes in economic system have brought us to today’s

economy. There are 4 types of economic systems: traditional, command, market and

mixed. Economic systems is the way economy works. The 4 basic resources to an

economy are land, labor, capital, and technology. Land refers to all natural resources that

we use to make something such as minerals, energy, water, or land. Labor refers to

human energy, efforts and talents that go towards making something. Capital is money—

money invested in machinery, buildings and the like. Technology includes all resources

that are not natural resources, such as scientific knowledge which allows decisions to

made. These are the world’s economic systems: 1) Traditional economy is an economy in

which decisions are made based on what has been done in the past. People organize their

economic choices by following their religion, custom and tradition. An example of how

traditional economy worked would be if there was a new road to be built, elders might be

consulted and the decision would be made according to the tradition of the people. 2)

Command economy is an economy where decisions are made by a central authority, such

as dictator or a government. Citizens are required to carry out these decisions with few

personal choices. An example would if a new industry was to built there, people in power

decided if it fit into their plans and if it met their needs. The citizens of the country would

have to carry out these commands. A country that follows this economic system is North

Korea. 3) Market economy is an economy where decisions are made by all members of

the society based on their own needs and desires. Citizens make their own choices

through buying and selling in the market place. If a factory were to be constructed,

decisions would be made by a corporation, based on whether or not profit could be made.

The government might or might not be involved. A country that uses this type of an

economic system is the United States. 4) In mixed economies decisions are made within a

system that has aspects of both market and command economies. Governments,

businesses and individuals are all included in the making of the decision. So, if there was

34


an automobile manufacturing industry to be built there, the decision to construct a road

would be made after discussions among governments, businesses and consumers. The

decision would rest in the hands of any of these groups. Canada is an example of a mixed

economy.

In modern economies, there are three main sectors of economic activity:

Primary sector: Involves the extraction and production of raw materials, such as

corn, coal, wood and iron. (A coal miner and a fisherman would be workers in the

primary sector.)

Secondary sector: Involves the transformation of raw or intermediate materials into

goods e.g. manufacturing steel into cars, or textiles into clothing. (A builder and a

dressmaker would be workers in the secondary sector.)

Tertiary sector: Involves the provision of services to consumers and businesses,

such as baby-sitting, cinema and banking. (A shopkeeper and an accountant would be

workers in the tertiary sector.)

First, the majority of world population has been and continues to be in Asia (except

Japan). Over time, however, this majority shrank from 65% in 1000 CE (Common Era) to

51% in 1950. At the same time, the percent of world population in Western Europe and

its offshoots (including the US) grew from 10% in 1000 CE to 19% in 1950. More

recently, population dynamics have been changing. While the population in the Western

Offshoots (US and others) has nearly doubled between 1950 and 1998, the population of

Asia (except Japan) nearly tripled in that same time. In addition, the population of Africa

has more than tripled.

In consequence of the differences in population growth, the percent of world population

in Asia has increased slightly, up to 57% in 1998, while the percent of world population

in Western Europe and it's offshoots declined to 12% in 1998.

Second, in 1000 CE, economic output per capita was approximately similar across all

regions. As a result, percent of world economic output for each region was roughly

similar to percent of world population. After 1000 CE, output per capita started to vary

35


by region, increasing most dramatically in Western Europe and in its offshoots. As a

consequence, percent of world output from Asia decreased from 67% in 1000 CE to 16%

in 1973, while percent of world output from Western Europe and its offshoots increased,

at the same time, from 9% to 51%.

SOCIAL ECONOMY

Social Economy refers to the economy of the social web and emerging social media

technologies, rather than “social innovation” or “social enterprise”.

The merging together of these definitions and exploration will make very interesting

intersection of social media and social innovation. Or call it new media in the social

economy, if you will.

The use of social media technologies to meet social needs, empower civil society, fight

global warming will have a huge impact on raising citizen awareness and activism.

Already, a number of sites have emerged, with the ability, if not, the express intention to

impact positive social change.

Social media differs from traditional media in that it enables interaction and dialogue its

users, and can be entirely self sustaining through user-generated content. Social media

relies heavily on democratic principles that allow anyone to promote anything from

videos and news stories, to music and photos. Social media is a force to be reckoned

with, as it has the awesome potential to democratize society by placing the power of

information back into the hands of civil society through citizen journalism. It can harness

the wisdom of crowds and create community in unprotected ways.

Some PROS and CONS of Media on Economy:

PROS

Societies learn form their past experiences in case of failures.

Awareness to common men thaw ether economy is growing or not.

36


The type of economic system a country having also determine the state of

common man.

Like the fascist or dictatorship economy bound common men not to raise voice

against government so productivity is low.

Fast communication is there which means productivity will increase.

Economic strategies of developed are available and underdeveloped countries can

learn from their strategies.

CONS

Government use media in their favor which hide the real facts and figures from

general public and there are greater chances of corruption.

It is difficult to maintain law and order when government has given liberty to

general public because some people can use it for their personal purpose.

Threat of hacking or security because of transfer of government’s confidential

data via internet.

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Documents

media in social change.taimoor tk