The Rise of International and Local Media Outside the West: Really Helps Counter-hegemonic News?

Abstract

The rise of third world media in recent years seems to be starting to change the monopoly of Western journalism by media outlets like the BBC and CNN. This article critically analyses the current situation of local media through the perspectives of anti-hegemonic journalism, soft power, press freedom and orientalism, with examples such as Al Jazeera, RT and Phoenix TV. The analysis reveals that the local media do have a limited freedom of the press through an independent business model that plays a counter-hegemonic journalistic role. At the same time, however, the complexity of political, economic and religious beliefs still severely restricts its growth.