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Concept
Western media
Summary
Western media is the mass media of the Western world. During the Cold War, Western media contrasted with Soviet media. Western media has gradually expanded into developing countries (often, non-Western countries) around the world.
The roots of the Western media can be traced back to the late 15th century, when printing presses began to operate throughout Western Europe. The emergence of news media in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with the spread of the printing press, from which the publishing press derives its name.
In Britain, newspapers developed during a period of political upheaval that challenged the absolute rule of the British monarchy. In 1641, newspapers were allowed to publish domestic news for the first time. Despite strict controls placed by the political elite on the print media to restrict the expansion of the press, the print industry continued to grow. By the late 18th century, over 10 million newspapers were distributed annually in Britain alone.
Bosah Ebo writes that "during the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union engaged in an intense media diplomacy aimed to create international image of each other." Voice of America and Radio Free Europe were established by the U.S. as counterpoints to the Communist-dominated news media in the Eastern Bloc. Scholar James Schwoch writes, "Western-inspired television programming and development in Cold War Germany and Europe began as not so much a case of the unfettered free flow of information from West to East, but rather as a strong counterbalance preventing, or discouraging, the Soviet-sourced first flow of the European television landscape."
During the Cold War, Western media outlets were gradually accepted as a trustworthy and reliable source of news. In former East Germany, surveys showed that over 91% of migrants from East Germany perceived Western media outlets to be more reliable than East German media outlets.
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