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Political economy of media and culture in peripheral Singapore: A theory of controlled commodification
Due to critical flaws in the existing studies, this study advances a new theory--the theory of controlled commodification--for the analysis of media and culture in the peripheral capitalism of Singapore. Since political independence, the state in Singapore has pursued a developmental policy based on the principles of the market economy that has given rise to its newly industrialized status. It promotes the development of the capitalist institutional framework, structures, and practices for the commodification process, yet restricts the process where it pertains to the flow of commodities effected through the exchange mechanism of the marketplace. The critical manifestation of this fundamental contradiction is in the media-cultural terrain. The existing approaches, in failing to grasp or address this contradiction, have provided a theoretically inadequate account of Singapore\u27s media and culture. Thus they are overly narrow or localized (as in the works of media freedom, development media, and communication developmentalism) or overly broad or globalized (as in the cultural dependency perspective) or ahistorical in treating the convergence and conflict of the local-global forces (as in Galtung\u27s structural theory of imperialism). The theory of controlled commodification is premised upon a historical appreciation of the local-global articulation of the commodification process within such peripheral capitalism as Singapore. Constructed from the two Marxian media-cultural approaches of Western Marxism and the Marxian political economy, the theory assumes the centrality of the (Singapore) state--as a managerial state for (global) capital--in the constitution of media operating as a commercial, profit-oriented institution in a market economy. Adopted for the analysis of Singapore\u27s print and electronic media, together with its politics and culture, the theory of controlled commodification sheds the much needed light on the intricate relationship between state control of media and culture, on the one hand, and the commodification process, on the other--i.e., the very contradiction of peripheral Singapore, itself. Although controlled commodification is developed specifically in relation to Singapore, its theoretical thrust is argued to be applicable to other peripheral capitalism as well
Journalists' development journalism role perceptions
Development journalism remains an important concept in the journalism studies literature, but it has, at the same time, suffered from a lack of empirical research. Drawing on a survey of 2598 journalists from eight South Asian, Southeast Asian, and sub-Saharan African countries, which was conducted as part of the Worlds of Journalism Study, this study assesses the importance journalists ascribe to three key development journalism roles—social intervention, national development, and educating people. It also compares these perceptions across the countries, between government- and privately owned news media in these countries, and between these countries and 19 Worlds of Journalism Study countries in Western Europe and North America, which profess to adhere to an objective and democratic press function. Findings suggest that journalists from the eight countries, across government- and privately owned media, considered development journalism important, and detached, adversarial journalism as less important. Their rating of the latter roles differed considerably from those of journalists from the 19 comparison countries. Results suggest that journalists were more likely socialized into their roles rather than being forced into the same by the heavy hand of government