Throughout the world, different methods of reporting have been developed. This is largely dependent on the government and socio-economic statuses of the country involved.
In the United States, a generally Libertarian view is taken on broadcasting, meaning that people and non-sanctioned companies are in control. This is due to deregulation of media in general over the last 20 years, though there are still guidelines that are rooted in social responsibility, the idea that the government should play a role in making sure news is portrayed accurately and fairly, at least by Broadcast networks (not cable or satellite networks).
A differing way of deciding what gets broadcasted and what does not is only separated by the continental United States by 90 miles, in the developing country of Cuba. This country likewise operates on two platforms. It is still a communist country, so most programming is State ran, meaning that it made all the decisions of what should be shown to the people. Towards the end of Fidel’s Premiership, he made a lot of sweeping social changes, media in particular. Though the news was still officially controlled by the State, the journalists were allowed to report on national concerns that were critical of the government. Even more surprising, medi began to take a developmental role. The government, for instance, wanted to neutralize its policies regarding homosexuals beginning 15 years ago, but noticed a lot of public homophobia.
They began introducing gay characters on national sitcoms as a result.
Canada is a great examples of Democratic-participant and Libertarian media. Expanding beyond that, much of Europe is ran the same way. This essentially means that the public gets to decide what’s best for viewership. They are able to do this because their rules on freedom of speech limit the freedom of hate speech, which knocks out the ability for coverage of political parties or candidates that promote that type of hateful ideology. Governments throughout the Middle East are still dependent on Authoritarian rule, meaning the coverage given is usually limited to what the dictator deems is okay. This is changing very rapidly in Eastern parts of the Middle East, such as in Oman, the U.A.E., Qatar, Kuwait and Iran, where internet usage is skyrocketing.
Perceptions of American Television
Many countries throughout the world happily broadcast American TV, but more often than not, developing nations are cautious to do so. There are many reasons for this. The single largest reason for not importing American shows is if the ideals portrayed by the show go against those of the country. In some countries, no American TV is imported because of a negative relationship with the United States, including North Korea or Iran, or simply not having any television that is relevant to their culture. All American shows depict women in Western attire, which is unsuitable to most Islamic countries, representative of 1.6 billion of the world’s population.
Shows that depict government in the United States are particularly unsuitable for a wide range of countries, even allies of the United States. Shows like Scandal, Madam Secretary, House of Cards and Veep just don’t translate well, whether it’s because it shows a woman in a powerful role, or because our politics just don’t resemble those of a lot of other countries. Other social issues can contribute to why American TV is not picked up. American TV has a well-known tendency to show Caucasians more than other races. In a country like Nigeria, where darker skin and lighter skin are directly related to how one is viewed, this could be very troublesome. Nigeria’s population is growing so quickly, it is hard to keep an accurate census, but is estimated to be around 150-200 million, and they do invest in their own television and cinema.
Overall, American television seems to be directly related to how similar the other country is to America, with exceptions to China and Japan, which are both widely accepting of American TV and Cinema. It’s hard to pick one television show that would be flagged unilaterally by all third-world nations, but some good guesses would be Modern Family, The Middle, or any doctor show that depicts technology that those third world countries don’t have. The two comedies are so patently American, they probably just wouldn’t garner good rating in African nations, for example.
