Abstract
The world today is more interconnected and interdependent, thanks mainly to the advances in information and communication technology. In contemporary society, the accompanying free flow of ideas, technologies and people across national borders have led to smooth access to ideas, skills and tools for media and communication scholars and professionals in the Global South. However, one of its more visible impacts is a broad homogeneity in media format and content in different parts of the world.
This access has also provided the right tools for scholars and researchers in developing societies to engage meaningfully with the more significant questions of media, society, culture, power and discrimination and its intersections. As a result, some important perspectives have challenged the American and Eurocentric domination in media and communication. At the same time, the conventional notion of norms is being steadily demolished in the face of newer realities in the media and communication universe. Institutions, too, are challenged both internally and externally.
Steady growth in de-Westernised perspectives is visible in scholarly literature in media and communication worldwide. Despite these positive developments, epistemological and ontological challenges persist. The epistemological practices in our field are still rooted in Western traditions. What is needed is newer ways of identifying and addressing vital emerging questions. This becomes even more important in the contemporary digital ecosystem.
Globally the field of journalism is undergoing massive upheavals. Media content is no longer solely produced by those trained in media and communication studies. Technological affordances have led to newer ways of collecting information and facilitating routine journalistic work. As a result, the traditional gatekeepers have been demolished.
However, there are uniquely local and national challenges even in the Global South. Algorithmic compulsions that undergird the Western media institutions are not as potent in the case of Indian language media institutions, for example, since much of the machine learning applications are designed for European languages. The central problems of the media and communication field here are substantially different from the Global North. This requires an increased thrust on qualitative interpretative methods for one. Hence, what is required is the greater engagement of scholars in the Global South with epistemological and ontological questions. Media Watch has, over the years, attempted to provide a genuinely diverse platform to address these questions. The six articles in this edition, the first to be published by SAGE Publications, reflect our commitment to diversity in content, methodology and presentation.
The first article, ‘Imagined Cities of the World: From Expanded Cinema to Expanded Ethnography’, deals with the cinematic concept of expanded cinema through an audio–visual ethnographic lens by analysing the live cinematic performances of SuperEverything and Invisible Cities. These performances interweave various aspects of Malaysian and world culture together within the limited time of the performance.
The second article, ‘The Development of Celtic Music Identity: Globalisation and Media Influences’, is a systematic review of 84 works from 1975 to 2020 to discuss the developments of Celtic music identity. The article traces the transformation, tension and adaptation to the global world of Celtic Music by investigating its origin, cultural changes and possible sustainable interventions.
The third article, ‘Demographic Effects on TV News Credibility: Perceptions in Bangladesh’, attempts to explore the variations in the perceived credibility of TV news in Bangladesh and how the joint distribution of constructs explaining credibility is affected by different demographic groups. The study concludes that gender and education level significantly impact overall credibility perceptions.
The fourth article, ‘Framing the Representation of Refugee Children and adolescents: A Critical Informant Review of the Italian Media’, adds to the literature of media coverage on migration through the presentation of interviews carried out with organisations directly involved in shaping media content. It focuses on the representation of refugee children and adolescents.
The fifth article, ‘Cartoon Weapons Industry: Prejudicial News Reports and the Terrorizing of Magazines’, investigates cartooning, contextualised as part of ongoing war efforts.
The sixth article, ‘Religious Tweets During COVID–19: Qualitative Analysis of Articulation of Ideas of Netizens’, provides an overview of the messages about the coronavirus by religious leaders, groups and individuals. It also traces the reaction of Twitter users as being critical of the actions of religious leaders.
The final article, ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Online Learning amid COVID–19: A Study on Hearing-Speech Impaired Students of Jammu and Kashmir’ explores the challenges of online classes, the struggles of the student– teacher community and the limitations of technology to make virtual education possible for the hearing-speech impaired students in Jammu and Kashmir. The article also encapsulates how accessible and effective online learning is among the hearing-speech impaired students in the region.
As is evident, these articles represent diverse theoretical perspectives and employ various methodological tools. As we embark on a new inning, we reiterate our commitment to providing a platform for diverse scholarly viewpoints. This is vital to make sense of the increasingly complex contemporary realities.