Over the years, countless societal issues have been brought to the forefront and discussed relentlessly by the media. The most recent of these issues to take the limelight is social isolation and loneliness. This topic is interesting as a global concern because the improvements in technology and mental health studies have allowed for its awareness to be hammered into society. Unlike many similar topics such as depression and anxiety, the issue of chronic loneliness was quickly accepted by many parties as a global concern because it has been credited to be a contributing cause of many other mental health risks (Bekhet & Zauszniewski 2012). This issue was also picked up by news outlets from across the world, many of which are countries that have not seen leaps in mental health awareness.
The news coverage by the US, Malaysia and India, Forbes, the Star and HindustanTimes respectively, will be used as case studies as it shows how similar and different perspectives can change the issue’s representation. Media from these three nations have been chosen because Malaysia and India’s less advanced mental health studies would be a suitable contrast to the US and how they represent the issue in light of this. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the role of media coverage from these nations promote communication and debate around the global concern of loneliness. This is done by examining the ways this issue was interpreted, the application of intercultural communication in the coverage and the formation of a global village through shared reporting.
Framing of Global Concerns in the Media
Media coverage from various nations promotes communication and debate of chronic loneliness through the different ways it interprets the topic. These global issues are interpreted differently in various nations due to their varying culture and perspectives. By including local perspectives into the coverage, the media is able to form quick relations to the target audience (Pontis & Blandford 2015). This is known as the frame theory which Borah describes as highlighting certain aspects of reality while excluding other elements in normative discourse (cited in Pincus & Ali 2016). For example, Forbes Magazine in the US framed loneliness as an epidemic that is affecting about half of their working population while depicting the UK in a less severe position as only a third of their citizens are affected by chronic loneliness (Howe 2019). This is in stark contrast to the numbers displayed by the UK, claiming that one in four of their youths and even more of their working population suffer from chronic loneliness (Bulman 2019). This is important because positioning the nation as the victim often instigates more debate among the audience. For instance, using words such as “epidemic” and “chronic” in media creates a spectacle on top of the relatability of the issue to gain more attention and generate further discussion. The local governments would also use these audience reactions to gauge the process of their public policies (Pincus & Ali 2016).
However, nations such as Malaysia and India that are not as developed in the mental health field are still able to generate discussion in spite of the shortcomings. To overcome this, news articles from Malaysia and India, the Star and HindustanTimes respectively, consists of statistics and research by the US and UK while inferring that their nations’ rapidly growing social media users may be the next victims (O'Donnell 2019; Sharma 2019). The two media also uses titles such as ‘Teens aren’t socialising in the real world. And that’s making them super lonely’ and ‘Loneliness damages health as much as obesity, smoking’ to create spectacle similar to US media on the issue (O'Donnell 2019; Sharma 2019). This is interesting as it shows that despite their similar application of spectacle in the coverage, the perspectives of the two Asian countries can also be seen along with their framing of chronic loneliness as a western issue that is making its way east. With this, it can be observed that all three nations use frame theory to emphasize and generate discussion based on the narrative they have created, which in turn, renders other facts and opinions invisible (Loke, Bachmann & Harp 2015). The narrative Forbes created is that chronic loneliness is an epidemic that has spread far and wide while the Star and HindustanTimes imply that the issue’s most severe impacts have only begun to affect them, showing that coverage from all three parties is affected by local perspective and values. Hence, the debate and communication of the issue are skewed based on the ways it is framed by the media.
Intercultural Communication of Global Concerns in the Media
Besides that, the role of the media in encouraging debate and communication of loneliness lies in its application of intercultural communication in the coverage. Even though the previous section discussed the framing of chronic loneliness being based on different nation’s perspectives, this issue was able to reach a global level due to the use of intercultural communication in the coverage as well. The concept of intercultural communication was coined by Edward T. Hall which explains that effective communication between different cultures lies in the non-verbal and universal aspects of communication (cited in Hamelink 2015, pp. 198-199). In this case, media coverage from all three nations expressed concern for the wellbeing of their youth through phrases such as “loneliness rates also show revealing differences by age and generation”, “young adults admit to feeling more socially isolated” and “died by suicide at 14” (Howe 2019; Sharma 2019; O'Donnell 2019). As the wellbeing of the future generation is a connection that transcends barriers, it has allowed for the issue of chronic loneliness to have an international appeal.
Even so, the intercultural communication of these topics can be muddled by the tendency for journalists to give a perception of the event rather than objectively narrating it (Santana & Correia 2008, pp. 44-52.). As stated by Hijri and Karim (2009), citizen journalism often comes at the expense of the locals in the reported nation which allows for the relatability of content but also the exclusion of context. Examples can be seen with Forbes’ US-based data claiming that there is a 32% chance of dying for people living alone as well as HindustanTimes’ worry that the rapid increase in India’s social media users will lead to the same issue (Howe 2019; Sharma 2019). This further propagates the fallacies in international communication which are often the result of different patterns of discourse between different communities (Jucker 2009). To overcome this, media articles should facilitate the coverage instead of being the story and talking on behalf of the people (Hijri & Karim 2009). Regardless of the tendency for subjectivity in reporting, the media coverage by the three nations was still able to generate global debate through intercultural communication with the universal concern for the future generation.
Facilitating Debate and Communication Through a Global Village
Furthermore, the role of media in promoting debate and communication of these issues invokes the concept of a global village. This concept was coined by Marshall McLuhan in 1968 which describes the interdependence that develops in contemporary society aside from physical or traditional ties (Tremblay 2012, pp. 561-575). The idea of a global village allows for different nations and communities to share and receive information that might otherwise be hard to obtain (Tremblay 2012, pp. 561-575). The media from these three countries contribute to this by following the “bad technology and millennial” narrative that is common all around the world. For instance, Forbes from the US, Star from Malaysia and HindustanTimes from India all sparked the discussion of how technology and the youth are the major contributors and victims of chronic loneliness (Howe 2019; O'Donnell 2019; Sharma 2019). By approaching the articles from such an angle, it can be analysed that a global village seeking to protect and criticize the youth and the rapidly improving technology has formed. As described by Kunelius et.al (ed. 2017), a global issue such as climate change, and in this case, chronic loneliness would no longer just be about the matter at hand but everything else that surrounds it, such as the internet, social media and the millennial’s apparent lack of social skills.
Even though the articles set out ways to remedy this issue, inclusive global problem-solving for global concerns has never been effectively implemented as it is nearly impossible to coordinate and account for solutions that would apply to different cultures and ideas (Kunelius et.al ed. 2017). The efforts of global problem-solving also align with McLuhan’s fears of nations losing its individuality as the global village expands and the world becomes more interconnected (Ballard 1995). This interdependence can be seen in the transfer of information and solutions between nations through shared reporting as seen in the use of US and UK data in the Star’s and HindustanTimes’ articles (O'Donnell 2019; Sharma 2019). However, allowing the media to cover issues as part of the global village helps nations who lack mental health awareness such as Malaysia and India to be cognizant of the global concern and take steps to approach it. Therefore, the role of the media in communicating issues is aided by the ability to provide information as part of a global village.
Conclusion
To conclude, the media coverage by Forbes in the US, the Star in Malaysia and HindustanTimes in India were all able to promote debate and communication of the global concern that was chronic loneliness. They were able to carry out this role by framing the issue based on local perspectives, which allowed for more relatability to the audience. Besides that, the three media also appealed to the universal aspect of concern for future generations by providing both express and implied intercultural communication. Lastly, the role these three media and many others played in generating debate for the global concern of chronic loneliness has lead to the creation of a global village in which technology and the young should be better facilitated as a possible solution. Therefore, the role of media in promoting debate and communicating the issue lies in its ability to not only create relatable content for the locals but represent the issue with a wide appeal as well as utilizing and establishing the interdependence with other nations in the global village.
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