Essay On Capitalism Media And Power

Capitalism, Media, and Power

Capitalism, media, and power have an important role in influencing each other and shaping our society. In international politics, these aspects have shaped a hegemony in which the U.S. had become a dominant power in international affairs. This writing will start with an analysis of how the history of international communication shapes our knowledge, perceptions, and opinions of the role of media. Then, it will briefly discuss several historical phenomena such as conquest and growth of industrial revolution in relation to capitalism and communication. With the information provided by these phenomena, this writing will reflect on some drawbacks of the relationship between capitalism, media, and power in the U.S. as shown by the flaws of the U.S. foreign policy.

Since the establishment of the early political system in the world, people have utilized communication networks and technologies to distribute government, military campaigns, and trade (Thussu, 2010). The role of international communication became much more prevalent with the discovery of technologies such as telegraph and radio.
Although technology has the potential to democratize information, the resources to spread messages have been mostly owned by dominant governments and corporations. Thus, inequalities are inevitable. For example, inequalities have existed between developed and countries in the distribution of the radio-frequency spectrum and the traffic of television programs (Thussu, 2010). These inequalities distort the information presented in the media, so that our knowledge, perceptions, and opinions are often based on the views of the select few who are in control of the media