Globalization and Information Poverty

Globalization is the transference of culture and information from one society to another. Culture includes many different aspects including technology, means of communication, customs, and ways of living. Globalization allows some countries that are not as advanced or wealthy as countries such as the United States to learn and experience the luxuries that they have been missing out on. Recently, advances in technology and the Internet have allowed information and culture to spread to many areas of the world, regardless of where the news or events are occurring. However, not all countries are as fortunate as the United States. There is an information gap between the top countries and the third-world countries that is creating a divide between the two groups and preventing globalization from reaching its full potential.

This gap causes a result known as information poverty. Some countries are unable to gain access to the news that is spreading throughout many other countries.

“In the emerging Internet age, this information revolution has transformed

communications in postindustrial states like Sweden, Australia, and the

United States that are at the cutting edge of technological change, reinforcing

their lead in the new economy. But this far in the twenty-first century, the

benefits of the Internet have failed to reach most of the poorer nations in

sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.” [1]

First-world countries are pulling away with their lead in technological advances leaving third-world countries in the dark. It is unfortunate that some countries are not sharing in the modern means of communication that allow news to spread faster than ever. Shared information is the key to globalization reaching its full potential.

[1] Norris, Pippa. "Information Poverty and the Wired World." The Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 5 (2000): p. 1.