Introduction
Media is a reliable source of information given the fact that it always endeavors to remain impartial and transparent. Any media source that tends to be influenced politically is most likely to lose trust of the public.
As opposed to a hundred years back where media information only reached a few individuals especially in African countries, the contemporary world is dominated by different types of media to extent that every individual is updated with new information on a regular basis.
It is believed that information is crucial when making imperative decisions at individual, organizational, community as well as at national and international level. Supply of information is enabled by various types of media such as social sites and mass media. Other sources of information like such engines are also known for having abundant current and historical data.
Although other communication sites such as face book and twitter are common in the current world, it is apparent that newspapers, magazines, radios and televisions are preferred to social sites for the reason that they provide one with adequate and impartial information.
Culture and media
However, it also evident that different types of media found in dissimilar localities portrays different features. The features include way of advertising brands and presenting news among others. The differences can partly be explained by different cultures practiced by inhabitants of dissimilar regions. In many cases, one would easily identify variation in the way politics, business or sports news are presented in a media.
Moreover, it has come to attention that media are showing disparity with regards to presenting business news especially when advertising and promoting sensitive products. The way advertisements are presented in both newspaper and radio reflect culture practiced by residents of a given locality.
In particular, culture concerns with the way of living of a certain group of people which include religion, dressing code, common food used by a particular group of people in addition to other believes that are normally practiced by people. This paper would like to narrow down and closely compare and contrast two media in different localities.
Specifically, the paper will examine tone and language used by a Los Angeles Times from the U.S.A. and The Standard from Kenya majorly basing on their methods of advertising. This will assist in identifying features of different media that directly reflect culture of a specified group of people.
Los Angeles Times and The Standard
To begin with, it is notable that the U.S.A. is categorized amongst the developed countries in the contemporary world while Kenya is classified amongst the developing countries. In the business world, Los Angeles Times has been the leading newspaper in Los Angeles due to its effectiveness in advertising different products for different retailers and wholesale enterprises.
For instance, it has been pointed out that since San Vicente Boulevard began advertising its products with Los Angeles Times, its volume of sales improved rampantly. San Vicente Boulevard is known for selling variety of food products (Dolan & McGreevy, 2008).
Through the method Los Angeles Times used to advertise San Vicente Boulevard’s foodstuff, it is easy to notice that Los Angeles city is dominated by individuals from different cultures. For example, it was advertised by Los Angeles Times that San Vicente Boulevard offers a great variety of food ranging from Indian and French food to Japanese and Chinese foodstuff.
However, offering a variety of food can also mean that different types of meals from other countries are more appealing to the high end market. Considering that the U.S.A. is a developed country, it is easy to predict that Americans like experiencing cultures of other regions in the world and therefore, Los Angeles advertisement will be more appealing to such regions.
Another categorical feature that is more specific with the U.S.A. media is its unique trait of emphasizing on quality as opposed to price. For instance, an advertisement that was carried out by Los Angeles Times on Full O’ Life Foods Market is extremely emphasizing on the freshness of food products which are delivered on a daily basis from farmers located in Southern California.
Nevertheless, the advert does not touch on anything to do with price. Since sales increased rapidly after the advertisement, it is notable that Americans are so much concerned with quality and healthy products irrespective of prices charged.
On the other hand, The Standard may illustrate a different culture in accordance to the mode of advertising of foodstuff for various supermarkets and groceries in Kenya. Kenya to some extent reflects image of Africa as well as that of developing countries. One of the leading supermarkets in Kenya, popularly known as Tusky’s supermarket, recently appeared on The Standard advertisement’s column.
The advertisement emphasized heavily on the prices of foodstuff including vegetables and fruits. The supermarket was categorized among the leading supermarkets selling products at relatively affordable prices (Ochieng, 2009). A more fascinating event is that The Standard has never advertised pork in the North Eastern part of Kenya which is largely dominated by Muslims.
This means that The Standard respects the Muslim’s religion. However, The Standard does not lay great emphasis on the freshness of the Tusky’s supermarket’s foodstuff. Nevertheless, the two media show some similarities.
For instance, both at least stress on price and quality of foodstuff which means that inhabitants of both countries are rationale. Rationale means that all societies would need to maximize utility by paying the lowest price possible for any commodity.
References
Dolan, M., & McGreevy, P. (2008, June 25). Purchase a healthy organic food: There are many groceries in Los Angeles providing fresh foodstuff. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/
Ochieng, P. (2009, September 14). Tusky’s Supermarket is an affordable supermarket for ordinary citizen: Obtain variety of vegetables, fruits and other foodstuffs. The Standard. Retrieved from https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/