McEmpire

McDonaldisation of society
Source: Bangkok-ok!

Looking at the news media and journalism landscape today, I am extremely worried about its direction. Recent developments in technology and media convergence [what Jenkins describes as 'a situation in which multiple media systems coexist and where media content flows fluidly across them,' (cited in Dwyer, 2010)] has changed the face of ‘traditional’ media and has created a world where entertainment is preferred over hard news. The tabloidisation of the media can be viewed as a process of McDonaldisation, whereby ‘the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world,’ (Ritzer, 2013).

Global media empires are operating under this McDonaldised process and are majorly profit-driven as news is becoming a blend of entertainment and information, which often sells best. Hard news is increasingly coming second to tabloid media.

Ritzer’s book, The McDonaldization of Society, addresses the newspaper USA TODAY, which he says is often called McPaper because of ‘its emphasis on light news and colour graphics, the main function of such a newspaper [being] entertainment.’

Herald Sun cover emphasises Ritzer's 'McPaper'
Source: Crikey

‘McDonalds succeeds because it offers consumers, workers, and managers efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control,’ (Ritzer, 2013). Global empires like News Corporation are using this model to run their media outlets. It’s an efficient way to make profits and control the news with calculable and predictable content. But this is leading to the homogenisation of information available to consumers and is limiting the information flows around the world.

Stevens believes the media has the ability ‘to control and shape the direction of society, the range of content quality and the diversity of audiences,’ (2003). If global media empires continue to create content based on profits, hard news and high quality programming will become a thing of the past, with only tabloid media available.

References

Bangkok-ok! 2006, 'Globalization and Culture: McDonaldization, Jihad vs. McWorld, and or hybridity', retrieved August 9 2012, <http://bangkokok.typepad.com/weblog/2006/10/globalization_a.html>

Crikey 2009, 'Sandilands and scandal: is this the tipping point?', retrieved August 9 2012, <http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/09/09/sandilands-and-scandal-is-this-the-tipping-point/>.

Dwyer, T 2010, Media Convergence, Open University Press, Berkshire.

News Corporation, retrieved August 2 2012, <http://www.newscorp.com/>.

Oxford Dictionaries, 'Homogenous', retrieved August 9 2012, <http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/homogeneous#homogeneous__8>.

Ritzer, G 2013, The McDonaldization of Society, Sage Publications, Inc, California.

Steven, P 2003, The no-nonsense guide to the global media, New Internationalist, Oxford, pp. 37–59.

USA TODAY, retrieved August 2 2012, <http://www.usatoday.com/>.

Wikipedia, 'McDonaldization', retrieved August 2 2012, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonaldization>.