INTRODUCTION
The global news system experienced significant changes due to historical power dynamics, particularly, due to “news duopoly”; this led to foster a form of media imperialism. The western media outlet such as- BBC, ABC and CNN has set global agendas and they believes in reinforcement of western beliefs and values. Nevertheless, Global South media-CGTN, WION, RT and so on challenges existing hegemony by developing a multipolar media environment and counter-hegemonic framing (Thussu, 2022).The current analysis will be based on implying media theories for understanding the ways in which these narratives are produced, contested and resisted.
Implication of media theory and understanding global news system
Media imperialism theory signifies that dominant western media puts their cultural and ideological influence at top and creates significant impact within global context; this leads to shape perception of individuals and targets individual’s cultural belief (Leroy, 2023). This primarily focuses on controlling agenda framing issues is such ways that fosters Western interest instead of presenting actual facts (Wu, 2019). The news duopoly significantly represented by Western media outlets and this is developing an agenda that highlights Western geopolitical and economic domains; this promotes western narratives and their ideologies on audience (Maier, 2020).
However, south media outlets on global level countering this pre-existing hegemony and persistently counter-narratives are developed for representing the realistic news, local realities, histories and perspectives which are misinterpreted by western media. The contestation by global south media such as- CGTN and WION deploying constructivism journalism by mentioning the issues related to women, climate change, food crisis and media regulations (Fredericks et al, 2022). Hence, global south media counters media imperialism and provides information related to addressing important concerns arising in global south; whereas, west media outlet uses their legacy of colonial power and further connecting it to the north-centric nature of knowledge (Carilli, 2021). The global south media cannot be recognised as completely neutral as it primarily focuses on state driven narratives strategic interests that have set an agenda in global media hence, they often ignore core issues which are important to be highlighted.
Media Practice- Comparative analysis of case studies
1st case study- Climate Change
South- WION: 'What is a cloudburst and why are they more frequent and devastating than ever? The climate change connection you should know' https://www.wionews.com/photos/uttarkashi-cloudburst-what-is-it-why-is-it-frequent-and-devastating-than-ever-climate-change-link-you-should-know-uttarakhand-himachal-rains-weather-1754464386746/1754464386748
West- CNN- What are cloudbursts and why might a warming world make them even more dangerous? https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/19/asia/pakistan-india-cloudburst-floods-climate-explainer-intl-hnk
The report by WION provided detailed explanation comprising with scientific phenomenon leading to cloudburst and reasons associated with climate change. The specific focus integrated on highlighting the local impacts within Uttarakhand in India; the news highlighted how climate vulnerability within South Asia creates urgent emergencies and local community suffers from this. The densely populated areas with no escape routes faces such issues and this signifies about lack of management by government in such places. Whereas, the news by CNN was on same topic however, it was presented in different context; CNN highlighted about sudden and intense burns of extreme rainfall that caused devastation in South Asia. This source targeted specific locations such as Pakistan and India for presenting the facts. However, not a single example from West global was given. Despite experiencing cloudburst in West there is no single report evident in this area which reflects about news duopoly.
Both the reports identified cloudburst as an issue that is impacting local communities and the ways in which consistent climate change leading to these issues. WION focused on determining about the significant influence on ecological phenomenon; the motive of the report was to guide government so they can take frequent action as climate change leading to develop significant threat for local population. Whereas, CNN focused on demeaning certain area such as India and Pakistan and the tone “Another surge of flood water” was used to reveal about the loopholes and how increasing number of natural calamities are avoided in South Asia. The tone used in the source was framing climate change as a loophole in India and Pakistan instead of considering it as a geopolitical complexity. The examples used by CNN were only from Global South and this determines about the extent of patriarchy.
Whereas, WION reflected on realistic concerns and there was no comparison with any other location was done and realistic situation of Uttarakhand was mentioned. The south report has given counter narrative by focusing on local distress and focus was emphasised on regional vulnerability rather than demeaning any other country from West. Whereas, CNN framings significantly aligns with pre-set Western agendas and instead of highlighting local people experience the locations were targeted. Both the reports were agreeing on climate change as an issue whereas, CNN only targeted locations from South despite having multiple cases of cloudburst in west.
2nd case study- Women’s issues
South- SABC: Gina highlights challenge of getting women into top science roles: https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/1061131-2/
West- CNN: ‘No such thing as a holiday’: Women in India’s shrimp industry say they face abusive conditions https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/asequals/
The report by SABC underpinning gender discrimination, particularly in science field; the focus was implied on highlighting the systematic barriers creating issues for women in South Africa. Motive of the report is to advocate about the significance of gender equality and women empowerment. The statement made by Deputy Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Nomalungelo Gina was highlighted in the report and both the aspects positive and negatives were presented. On the other hand, in CNN report issues faced by women in South Asia was highlighted by targeting India. The report provided information related to gender violence, labour abuse in Indian seafood Industry. Furthermore, from the report it was evident that in India there is no such thing as holiday are introduced for women and they have to work consistently. The news framed women’s issues in globalized supply chain mechanism and framed it as a form of exploitation of human rights. Both the reports were based on depicting about gender equality however, their presentation seems different; SABC prioritised structural barriers that promotes local empowerment while increasing opportunities for women in science field. The motive and context of the report was clear; it fostered the narrative based on progress and resilience. On the other hand, CNN focused on framing women as a persistent victim of corporate sector; exploitation faced by women within global economic system was the main focus point of CNN.
The report by SABC provides a constructive narrative which effectively focused on promoting agency and solutions. On the other hand, Western framing by CNN revealed about the internationalization pressure while reinforcing stereotypes of victimization. SABC news was specifically for empowering women while CNN focused on only highlighting international pressure that contributes in making women as a victim of exploitation. Both the reports were same as they were based on issues faced by women whist; they challenge each other in the way of presentation. Report by SABC provided alternative viewpoints while highlighting the system loopholes that should be focused out within South Africa instead of targeting international agencies.
3rd case study- Food crisis
South- CGTN Gaza's escalating hunger crisis: From blockade to soaring malnutrition https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-07-23/Gaza-s-escalating-hunger-crisis-From-blockade-to-soaring-malnutrition-1Ffnx8R1PuE/p.html
West- BBC: Famine in Gaza City is 'failure of humanity', UN chief says- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05ed5rgld3o
Two of these reports by CGTN and BBC were based on same context and that is food insecurity. However, their framing seems to be different; CGTN focuses on political conflict and often challenged western narratives by individually focusing on humanitarian aid. On the other hand, BBC highlighted about human suffering and reinforced western humanitarian disclosure. As per CGTN, political crisis and systems blockade found to be major reason behind hunger crisis. The tone used by western media outlet was only targeting the implication of western-centric solution while counter narrative given by south articulated actual issues aligning with regional agency and political factors. BBC revealed that as per UN Israel has been restricting the amount of aid that must be entered in GAZA however, Israel denies on this. The Western media has emphasised on one side of story and only focused on the extent of humanitarian aid whereas; food crisis in Gaza is the result of varied loopholes complies with lack of support from international agencies and political factors. The political cause and regional agency related issues heighted by CGTN were signifying about the systematic barriers and it has further targeted other countries in indirect way that have supported Israel. Whereas, BBC revealed the food crisis is only due to lack of humanitarian aid entered into Gaza and the report was not clear in its context. The actual reason behind restricting humanitarian aid was not appropriately covered in report and prior focus integrated on promoting western-centric solutions.
The need of aid in Gaza directly links with Western-centric solutions and therefore, it can be said that BBC here prioritised the western norms and solutions instead of targeting the actual issues. To some extent this is considered as good as this is focusing on increasing the availability of humanitarian aid in Gaza. However, the media framing found to be partial in the side of western-centric solutions.
4th case study- Media regulation/ freedom of speech
South- WION: Not Just Nepal! 5 countries that banned social media apps https://www.wionews.com/photos/not-just-nepal-5-countries-that-banned-facebook-twitter-instagram-and-other-social-media-apps-check-here-1757421017505/1757421017507
West- BBC: Nepal lifts social media ban after 19 killed in protests https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp98n1eg443o
The report by WION reflected recent bans on media and it presented facts that along with Nepal there are other five countries such as- China, North Korea, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran has banned social media apps for protecting the spread of misinformation and this reflects about a critical tone towards censorship. On the other hand, BBC linked social media restriction with democracy misuse and threat towards freedom to speech and highlighted drastic incident that took place in Nepal. The media framing was done in such way that targeted Nepal government for banning the apps as they have to remove this ban after 19 people dead in anti-corruption protest. After an emergency meeting the ban was removed and demand of Gen-Z was addressed. However, BBC shifted the attention towards corruption and how Nepal banned social media apps for hiding their corruption so one can post against government. BBC report articulated about the sense of dictatorship and using it in wrong way. Both the report have acknowledged the social media band whilst; their presentation was done in different manner, In this case, BBC presented realistic facts while highlighting the actual situation going on in Nepal.
WION report provided constructive report and supported the bans by highlighting the issues related to spread of misinformation. On the other hand, BBC focused on providing detailed notion related to authoritarian measures where government has been taking steps for protecting their loopholes. The media framing by WION has been providing counter-hegmonic perceptions that led to justified censorship and why it is necessary to some extent whereas, Western narratives linked the ban with oppression and how this creates destructing situation by giving example of Nepal and current incident.
Analysis and discussion
In context of framing, tone and omission this can be articulated that western outlet adopted a security-focused tone that focuses on highlighting crisis and subsequently, they represent issues persisting in global environment. However, their core focus is on western perspective which makes it partial to some extent. On the other hand, global south outlet specifically emphasised on local issues and regional causes that should be consider for taking corrective measures. The motive of this media was to educate audience by clarifying about systematic barriers and local issues. Furthermore, from the lens of media imperialism and contestation; western dominance has been manifested through diverse agenda setting as they perceived global issues from western lens and provides western-centric solutions (Mutsvairo, 2021). They does not consider local viewpoints and voices and thereby the counter narratives by global south media outlet often disrupts monopoly by highlighting local issues and regional causes behind this; additionally, a constructive approach for journalism is used for promoting the realistic solutions that addresses local people concerns.
From the analysis this can be said that Western hegemony often reinforced due to pre-existing structural factors comprehends with cultural influence, geopolitical interest and media power. In order to balance this concern an inclusive and nuanced approach requires to be considered that increases support for Global south media outlets and promotes counter-hegemonic narratives that balances western-centric patriarchy. Moreover, it is highly important to promote an equitable approach that promotes global communication.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMEMNDATION
Conclusively; this can be said that counter-narratives are pivotal for representing alternative perceptions; however, their effectiveness cannot be acknowledged unless this are not integrated into global media systems. Direct contestation found to be challenging as this leads to resist Western master narratives and therefore, a systematic chance is needed related to media power, presentation, production, ownership and distribution. Hence, in such situation a hybrid approach is appropriate as this ensures support to Global south media counter-narratives and provides them opportunity for diversifying their perspectives comprising with hegemonic framing. Additionally, it enables Western Media outlets to focus on local issues and local agencies. Hence, this can be depicted that empowering Global South Media is important for fostering high-quality and realistic news that resist Western hegemony (Takhshid, 2021). This leads to develop an inclusive and equitable global news system.
REFERENCES
- Books and Journals
- Carilli, T. (2021). Marginalized voices in the global media dialogue.
- Fredericks, B., Bradfield, A., Nguyen, J., & Ansell, S. (2022). Disrupting the colonial algorithm: Indigenous Australia and social media. Media International Australia, 183(1), 158-178.
- Leroy, M. (2023). An island under siege: Negative Australian media narratives of asylum seekers and the opportunity for counter-discourses.
- Maier, S. R. (2020). The world view(ed) through the English-speaking media lens: Foreign news coverage steadfastly narrow and uniform. The Journal of International Communication, 26(2), 155-170
- Mutsvairo, B. (2021). Different, but the same: How the Global South is challenging the hegemonic epistemologies and ontologies of Westernized/Western-Centric journalism studies.
- Takhshid, Z. (2021). Regulating social media in the global south. Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L., 24, 1.
- Thussu, D. K. (2022). Decolonizing global news flows: A Historical Perspective. Journalism Studies, 23(13), 1578-1592.
- Wu, D. H. (2019). International coverage. In T. P. Vos & F. Hanusch (Eds.). The International Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 1-7.
