Analyzing Media's Influence on Culture and National Identity

This report examines the multifaceted relationship between media, culture, and national identity. It begins by defining cultural industries and media, exploring their roles in national growth, historical contexts, and socio-cultural aspects. The report highlights how cultural industries promote a country's culture, attract tourism, and contribute to economic development. It then delves into media's role in disseminating information, shaping historical narratives, and influencing social and cultural perceptions. The report also discusses how media plays a crucial role in constructing national identity, emphasizing the influence of television and other media platforms in shaping individual identities and promoting a sense of belonging. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of how media functions as a powerful tool in shaping and reflecting national identity.

MEDIA CULTURE AND NATIONAL
IDENTITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of cultural industries and media....................................................................................3
Role of cultural industry in the growth of a nation, history and socio-cultural context..............4
Role of media in the growth of a nation, history and socio-cultural context...............................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
Role of media in creating a national identity...............................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11
2

INTRODUCTION
Media has been evolved with a purpose of delivering any content or information to
people and this includes books, magazines, movies, television, etc. through which the
information is communicated. On the other hand, national identity refers to the sense of
belonging to one state or to the nation (Wodak, 2009). This report is mainly concerned about the
contribution of belief of national identity for the understanding of specific media and also the
way in which media demonstrates the meaning of national identity and culture. Moreover, this
report describes the cultural industries and media in the national, historical and social-cultural
context.
LO1
Meaning of cultural industries and media
Cultural Industries basically refer to the activities which primarily deal with the symbolic
goods. Those goods that have primary economic value are being derived from their cultural
value. The concept of cultural industry was proposed by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer
in 1944 and they both belong to Frankfurt school. They both describes that cultural industry is
the standardization and false-singularity of cultural items and also about the regulations of
cultural items. This concept depicts that people have become standardized due to which now a
days; companies produce those goods and products which satisfy the needs and meet out the
demand of customers in the best way (WANG & Zhang, 2009). Cultural industries include those
products which belong to the category of creative arts such as clothing and decorative materials
for books, movies, music, etc. Overall, it can be explained that cultural industries sell those
goods which have specific attribute, specific purpose and convey cultural expressions. These
products have no link with the commercial value which it possesses.
On the other hand, media refers to the medium which communicates the information to
mass. This includes books, magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, movies, etc. There are numerous
uses of media such as it is used in almost any discipline in order to enhance learning. Moreover,
media also contributes in the understanding of national identity. Thus, it is said that media plays
a major role in the building of notions of national identity (Huddy & Khatib, 2007).
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Role of cultural industry in the growth of a nation, history and socio-cultural context
It is already defined that cultural industries sell those goods which depict the cultural
aspect of nation. Further, it plays a major role for promoting the culture of country in the whole
world (Colley, 1992). Industry sells the goods such as clothes, products of a monuments, etc.
These products show culture of a country and it helps in promoting the nation. Moreover, this
type of industry attracts tourists towards nation and help in growing national economy. This
helps on increasing the national identity of nation due to which more tourists visit that particular
place. Here, the example of America can be taken where cultural industry plays a significant role
in the development of a national economy and national income. It is because; if there is the sale
of goods which shows national identity then there will be an increase in the footfall of tourists to
this place and thus, if more people will visit America then there will be a generation of more
income (Maier, 2009). However, during economic or financial crisis, people would be less
willing to travel to USA. Thus, that time, national income may get reduced and this impacts the
whole economy of a country. At that time, cultural industry will help the nation to grow and thus,
this industry only helps in generating the income for country. Through this, it can also be
conferred that cultural industry is one which attracts a lot of income and employment
opportunities. It is because; this sector is growing at a fast pace and thus, more firms are getting
established under this sector. This is the reason; this has helped the government of USA to create
more jobs in these firms which will contribute in the economy and GDP of a country.
Similarly, cultural industry also describes the history of country because culture is related
with the history of nation only (Vale, 2014). Example of this type of industry is cultural tourism
sector in which museums and heritage helps in describing the history of country and the
commercial value of these buildings have no link with the culture it depicts. For example, the
history related to Latin America where many museums are there and people mainly visit to those
places in order to gain knowledge and experience about the culture. It is essential for the country
to showcase its history in front of the world so that the nation can attract more visitors to its
nation in order to enhance the knowledge of people.
On the other hand, cultural industry also describes the social and cultural life of people of
that particular country. In this case, way of living and social life of American people can be
described (Sabatier, 2008). Thus, it can be said that products of this industry helps in
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demonstrating the way of living of people. For example, the clothing and decorative items which
are made in America for the US people will be sold in the other country also and thus, it shows
that the social life of natives of USA. Many people get inspired to the culture of US and adopt it
in their own culture. This will help in raising the national identity in the whole world. Moreover,
the American society is of individualism and this can be described through cultural industry that
is when they depict the lifestyle of people through social media, TV, books, etc. When MNC is
developed in other countries, that time the way in which human resources are managed is
understood and this shows a clear picture of the social life of people of the country America
(Transue, 2007).
Role of media in the growth of a nation, history and socio-cultural context
Media have been described in the former question as the measures through which
information and data is communicated to the whole mass. Media is of several types that is books,
magazines, newspapers, TV, internet, etc. These mediums help in gaining knowledge about
several aspects of the information. Moreover, media plays a significant role in the growth of a
nation that is through books for example, “The Exploring Spirit”, “American Exceptionalism”,
etc. which describes the complete information regarding America which enhances the knowledge
of people or reader and also, it attracts the researchers and other visitors to the country that will
ultimately raise or grow the economy of nation (Lizardo & Skiles, 2009). It is because; currency
exchange will be done and moreover, researchers will do more investigation about the nation
which will ultimately showcase the actual wealth and status of country that will lead to the
development of country. This in turn will result in the link with high authority people and
finalization of the deals with the business people that will help in the development of economy
because many new jobs will be created that will maintain the equilibrium in economy. Thus,
there are less chances of economic crisis in the country. Moreover, TV is the high authenticity
media which will show the news related to country America. This will allow people to gain
knowledge about the nation and due to this; many people will visit the country and start doing
business with the US companies. This will help in the inflow in the currency of different nations
in the country and eventually, it leads to economic development.
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On the other hand, media also plays a major role in the depiction of history of a country.
There are many media such as books for example “The Exploring Spirit” which describes the
complete history of foundation of country by Columbus. Moreover, the movie which is also a
type of media also helps in describing the history of a country, for example, “Dances with Wolf”
has demonstrated the epic history of America (Xiaohong, 2008). This attracts more people to
gather knowledge about the US. Also, there are some channels in the TV such as traveler’s
channels which show the complete historical aspect of USA. For instance, many channels shows
historical monuments and museums which are build in the country so that cultural tourism can be
enhanced and people can be attracted towards country by promoting the nation as rich in heritage
and culture. Overall, this helps in providing knowledge about the country and also, it promotes
the nation to the whole world.
Similarly, media plays a vital role in the demonstration of social and cultural aspect of
country. For instance, the book of “Art and Westward Expansion”, “The Western Tradition”, etc.
describes the western culture of country. Along with that, it describes the artistic side of nation to
the whole world (Ndhlovu, 2007). Moreover, the book of Individualism and American
Democracy also describes the individual life style of the society of America. The news channel
and traveling channel shows food habit and other social life of natives. This attracts the people
and they adopt this culture and change their lives accordingly. This helps in spreading the culture
in the whole world and thus, America is promoted likewise.
Thus, it can be said that media plays the most significant role in the growth of nation,
history and social-cultural life of country.
LO2
Role of media in creating a national identity
From the affirmative section, media has been described as a medium for communicating
the information and data related to every aspect. In this report, use of media is for demonstrating
the information about country or nation. On the contrary, national identity is the person's identity
or sense of belonging to one state or to one nation. Media plays a vital role in the building of a
national identity of people (Durham & Kellner (Eds.), 2009). It is said that communication is the
cement of a national identity that is communication provides support in creating a national
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identity. It is because; an individual builds its personality by getting influenced by the media
only. Here, TV is one of the media which is most commonly used and it plays a major role in the
creation of national identity of nation and its natives.
The most important source of a national identity is the shared political culture of public
domain. Every nation has different culture and its own way of living style. Country has their
national society, religion and language which are different from that of the other nation. This
national identity can be demonstrated by the use of effective media that is TV through which
people of whole world comes to know about the culture of particular country. Media aids the
nation in showcasing their living standard, their routine, their way of life, society description,
beliefs, religion, food habits, etc. For instance, American people have high standard of living,
they have individual society, religion is mainly Christian, routine life is working and there is no
masculine and feminine. Also, they eat burgers and pizzas and mainly believe in self dependent.
All these aspects are described by the TV shows and news (Media in the Construction of a
National Identity, 2012). This helps the nation to promote their country and also, tourists will get
attracted towards the culture and will be keen to visit the place.
Moreover, media influence the people to adopt culture and society of America. In reality,
the same is happening in the world. By getting influenced by TV shows and traveling channels,
people in the whole world are keen towards the adoption of western culture which includes food
habits, social changes, routine working life, getting self dependent, etc. This also influences the
business corporations as they get attracted towards the society and do deal with the companies of
USA. This is the way in which media helps in raising the economy of a country by creating job
opportunities for the unemployed people of USA and it helps in maintaining equilibrium in the
national economy (Wodak, 2009). Media let companies to do more business by exporting the
goods to other nations. This allows the inflow of currency exchanges in the economy which aids
in the growth of economy. Overall, it can be said that media helps in building national identity of
a country and its citizen.
On the other hand, media also helps in building and showcasing the culture of a country
so that people would get the intense knowledge about the culture and tradition of that particular
nation. This is the way in which it impacts the country's popularity. In this aspect, media has a
vital role to play that is through TV, magazines, advertisements, books; it displays and promotes
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the cultural tradition of a particular nation (Imagining a Community: Media and National
Identity, 2014). Here, the example of America has been taken where people visit to capture the
knowledge and experience of country because they are highly influenced by their tradition and
rich culture through TV shows, advertisements in magazines, history detailed in books by
famous authors, etc. In the present scenario, people have become highly influenced by the
culture of USA and they have started adopting it in their regular life such as the living style, food
habits, their traditions, etc. All these have been possible through the use of effective media which
has communicated the information through people that are living in the whole world (Xiaohong,
2008).
However, national identity cannot be created without use of media. From past many
centuries, media is playing an essential role in the creation of national identity. Whenever a
person who belongs to America visits other country, his/her identity can be revealed in an easier
manner. Their standard of living, their food habits, their way of speaking, their language, their
culture, their race, their belief, etc. can help in distinguishing the person from that of other nation
(Ndhlovu, 2007). This has been possible through media only because media has communicated
the national identity of American people. In the past years, famous authors used to write books
about the culture and tradition of America and also about the national identity of people of
America. Those books were available at the large libraries of different countries and the readers
would come to know about the lifestyle and tradition of American people. However, this media
has some limitations such as few people can come to know about the traditions, culture and
national identity of US people. Many people use to remain unaware about the national identity of
USA because all people were not readers and also, the books were used to be available at central
library only. Later, radio was introduced and on that media, national identity was depicted and it
has targeted mass people. On the contrary, people cannot view on the radio and thus, it cannot
clearly depict the national identity of US people (Vale, 2014).
Later the evolution of media was done and then TV and magazines came into light. TV
has become the most significant media as it shows audio and video which directly influence the
mind of people and attracted towards the culture, tradition of nation and created a separate
national identity of US natives. Magazines also used to describe the lifestyle and cuisine of this
nation so that people would come to know about the lifestyle of citizens which helped in
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developing the identity of people living there. These types of media used to deliver the
information to the whole mass in the most attractive manner. This has aid the American nation to
develop its economy because many people will visit the country and this will grow American
tourism industry that will contribute in the GDP of national income. Many companies will like to
join hands with this nation for business activities and thus, this will increase the inflow of foreign
currency in the country which will benefit in the decision making about the currency value
(Sabatier, 2008). This is the way in which media helped the American nation to reach at the top
most nations in the whole world. This is the reason, it is being called as “A Gunfighter Nation”.
Media has become an important source of communication about the information of
national identity. None of the nation can imagine their growth without media. The national
growth will become stagnant with the absence of media. Media is considered as a potential force
in shaping the national identity of a country (Transue, 2007). For democratic countries, media
plays a role of powerful instrument for shaping public opinion in context of politics, culture and
economics. The presence of media has been so imposing that native of democratic countries that
is America takes it as a part of life. Thus, the absence of media can be devastating for the citizens
of country. If there will be no media that is books, TV, magazines, etc., the nation would not be
able to communicate about the information based on culture, lifestyle and tradition. In other
words, it can be said that country will not be able to create its national identity in the whole
world. If there will be no media then the economy of nation cannot grow and also, the country's
economy will go down. Moreover, there will be less employment opportunities and morale of the
citizens will go down as well (Colley, 1992).
It can be inferred that media plays a significant role in the creation of a culture and
national identity of a nation and its native.
CONCLUSION
As per the study conducted on media, culture and national identity, it can be concluded
that cultural industries and media have played a major role in the national, historical and social-
cultural context. They have promoted the national identity of people of a particular nation. There
are many types of media which helped the nation to communicate its identity to the whole world.
Moreover, if there is no media then a country cannot grow and thus, it leads to stagnant growth
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of the national economy. It helps in showcasing the culture which invites more people to the
nation for visiting which enhances the wealth of an economy.
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REFERENCES
Journals and Books
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Durham, M. G., & Kellner, D. M. (Eds.). (2009). Media and cultural studies: Keyworks. John
Wiley & Sons.
Huddy, L., & Khatib, N. (2007). American patriotism, national identity, and political
involvement. American Journal of Political Science, 51(1), 63-77.
Lizardo, O., & Skiles, S. (2009). Highbrow omnivorousness on the small screen?: Cultural
industry systems and patterns of cultural choice in Europe. Poetics, 37(1), 1-23.
Maier, C. S. (2009). The unmasterable past: History, Holocaust, and German national identity.
Harvard University Press.
Ndhlovu, F. (2007). The role of discourse in identity formation and the manufacture of ethnic
minorities in Zimbabwe. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 2(2), 131-147.
Sabatier, C. (2008). Ethnic and national identity among second-generation immigrant
adolescents in France: The role of social context and family. Journal of adolescence,
31(2), 185-205.
Transue, J. E. (2007). Identity salience, identity acceptance, and racial policy attitudes: American
national identity as a uniting force. American Journal of Political Science, 51(1), 78-91.
Vale, L. (2014). Architecture, power and national identity. Routledge.
WANG, J. T., & Zhang, R. (2009). Research on Efficiency of Cultural Industry in 31 Provinces
of China Based on Three-stage DEA Model [J]. China Soft Science, 9, 012.
Wodak, R. (2009). The discursive construction of national identity. Oxford University Press.
Xiaohong, Y. (2008). On America's Cultural Industry Investment and Fund-Raising Mechanism
[J]. Reformation & Strategy, 12, 048.
Online
Imagining a Community: Media and National Identity. 2014. [Online]. Available through
<http://cstonline.tv/media-community>. [Accessed on 25th December 2015].
Media in the Construction of a National Identity. 2012. [Online]. Available through
<http://www.thinkingbookworm.com/blog/2012/03/media-in-the-construction-of-a-
national-identity.html>. [Accessed on 25th December 2015].
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