Media globalization and World culture
Globalization has entered the media sector from the 1990s and the world has become an integrated market .The increased use of Internet and satellite technology has revolutionized the way consumers see media today. Media development has been linked on how they have been adjusting to the process of globalization. Globalization can be best understood by listening to a style of music on our radio set or sending a message through e-mail.
The essay would be covering two parts. The first part under the Literature review would be showing how the media destroys the culture fabric of a nation and this part would be also arguing that single global culture is bad. How the media can become global and get attracted to local cultural values will be covered under the head of geographical closeness. In this part of essay ,it will be argued the media should have a proper understanding of market, audiences, and creative content that is tuned to local culture to become truly global by referring to the situations globally.
Literature Reviews
Globalization has been usually driven by the needs and interests of developed countries. The media could not be termed a pure global in nature. The reason for this is that English speaking people globally is less when compared with other national languages like Chinese. Globalization is normally presented as a positive nature in media fraternity by bringing cultures and countries together. The advancement of technology has helped media corporations to enter global market with confidence. The main issues that have been rising out of globalization of media has been cultural imperialism,data that has been flowing through borders and information flow.
The biggest trend today is the increasing disconnect between the media and reality. The small media ,for a hundred years, served a very large social purpose, and tried to speak loud for the masses. Today, paradoxically, the big media baron would be serving a very narrow social purpose, and that would be continuing to narrow everyday. The aim today has been to produce what the market wants and it will be rewarding the producer better. The media have been no longer looking for readers they have started looking for eyeballs only. This can be clearly stated by an example. If the media company is generating 80 of revenue from advertising and rest 20 from sales,then that company would be giving more importance to the needs of advertisers than readers. This is the first cultural shock of globalization of media.
Technology has created an opportunity for global culture. Internet, satellite TV, cable TV, Fax machines, has been sweeping away cultural boundaries. Global media companies has been selling dreams and has been trying to spread Western ideals of capitalism. Global media companies has been also trying to sell English as the common global language. There has been a clear Americanization when it comes to English writing. Writers have started disregarding the proximity of imperial English and has given more importance to Time Magazine style of US.
Number of channels like CNN,MTV,HBO,ESPN,STAR SPORTS,TEN SPORTS,THE CARTOON NETWORK,DISCOVERY channels has been expanding globally thanks to niche content base ( Straubhaar, 2004) .The entry of Star TV to Asian market was with the aim of broadcasting American content to the whole of Asia. Satellite and cable television also expanded in Middle East and Latin American market. In the initial stages ,the viewers had only the privilege to see only CNN,BBC,MTV and so on. That had changed when nations like Saudi Arabia,Brazil,Hong Kong started developing their own satellite channels. Countries like Egypt,Mexico followed suit and the aim has been to tap common culture markets.
Al Jazeera had started with the intention of attracting viewers of Qatar. The coverage of US war with Iraq had attracted many viewers crossing many borders .Al Jazeera has won many viewers when it provided pro- Palestinian view in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Other countries started using Al Jazeera footage after these two incidents (Biersteker, T.J,1998,p.19).
The main drew back with media corporations becoming global was that they were trying to promote a culture that was alien in some countries. Fashion TV has been showing some rude sexy scenes under the context of fashion shows (Held, D,2000) .That had shaken up many conservative culture nations like India and there was strict restrictions on the airing of content of Fashion TV.
Singapore had banned MTV in 1994 and they had to restore it with pressure from young generation (Dumming. J.H ,1998, p.50)That has been a clear example how the western media was influencing the younger generation. There has been fostering of consumerism through western media.
Developing countries have been the sufferer globalization of media imagery and there has been a concrete effort to clone cultures into a single global culture.
CNN had started the process of media globalization when it covered the Iraq war in 1991.Developing countries like India , which were in the process of economic liberation got hooked to the cable TV. In a conservative land like India where sex scenes were not broadcast through television, serials like Baywatch was welcomed by the young generation. Books of Sidney Sheldon has been welcomed much more by the younger generation of developing countries when compared with Charles Dickens .
Western serials had been an instant hit with the younger generation of India and that had influenced the way girls wear their clothes. Teenagers have not been averse to wear clothes showing their navel and that has been breaking cultural dress code in India. Teenage girls in India has been not averse in following alcohol culture like their western counterparts and that has affected family life. Girls have not been averse to try drugs in public places also. Suddenly the conservative nature had changed to modern western culture. The traditional dress moved to jeans and other dresses which were not thought of long ago.
The media had influenced the younger generation to take interest in cola culture and fast food like burgers,pizza and so on. There has been increased sex trafficking through web sites and sites like Adultfriend finder.com has been encouraging swingers globally. Western media have been clearly promoting a consumerist culture globally and that can really affect the values and ethics of countries.
The younger generation has been also fed with sex stories through Internet and media and serials like Bold and Beautiful has changed the way how sex would be transmitted through television in India. Hindi soap shows in India has been forced to imitate the western counterparts to attract viewers. Hindi films has been also forced to show vulgar dance sequences in songs to attract younger generation. Newspapers,magazines ,novels were also playing an influence in the mind of younger generation in India. Festivals like Fathers Day,Mothers Day,Valentines Day has been celebrated more in India these days.
Sleazy stories of Tiger Woods affairs has been a hot seller globally and it is these types of stories that encourage children to try drugs,alcohol,and sex at young age. Teenage pregnancies have reached an all time high destroying the moral fabrics. Ads of I-pill, a female contraceptive pill that would prevent getting pregnant has eroded the moral values in India (Watson, J,2009)
Child prostitution under the tourism banner has also increased in developing countries and there has been a spread through media that materialism is the best bet in life (Ohuabunwa,1999,p.21). Uninhibited mass media have also promoted the cyber romance and the language style has been influenced by chat grammar.
Media have been projecting an impression that without being glamorous,it is not easy to survive in this world and there has been another projection like weekend parties to relieve the stress. Sadly that had added more to the stress with high drug use and alcohol use.
There has been spread of western culture through games and that has attracted the younger generation forcing them to avoid outdoor games. The children have found comfort in video and Internet games thank to the portrayal of western characters.
There has been nations that has tried to prevent the infiltration of American words into their routine daily life .French government had taken measures to prevent people using drugstore and weekend.There has been cases in which the poor women from African countries has been shown badly in western media ads and multinational media companies has been trying to sell products. There has been television news that would display sponsored ads under the disguise of news and consumers would be fooled to try that product. That could be best described as the cultural domination over poor countries. There has been clear signals from the American media for a homogenized global culture and imperialism has been spreading as a virus that would be flowing from a rich source to a poor source.
Global media are controlled by certain powerful groups and the largest groups could be said as Disney , Viacom ,Time Warner, Dow Jones , News Corporation,VNU , General Electric ,Vivendi, Sony, Bertelsmann,and NBC Universal (Tussie, D,2004,p.36). Their market sizes has increased many times and that has meant smaller players do not have a big chance to fight with them. Most of big companies has been operating from America. Global media have become more powerful with the arrival of Internet and global media have turned to business like book publishing,film production and so onto increase their market value.
There has been spread of hatred against Muslims in popular social networking sites(Khaniki, H. ,2009,p.13).There has been change in the younger generation has been poisoned with hatred .Western culture has able to spread the wings of globalization faster and has been able to create an impression for hegemony of the west. People around the world has been normally connected by brand consumer products. People have been repeatedly bombarded with new images , new music ,new clothes and new ad style. There has been change in the values and the old values are fast changing (Touraine, A,2003,p.547).
The entry of MTV has attracted young viewers and many channels all over the world has been forced to change their content (Mowlana, H,1998,p.26).The new content style has been more of cloned MTV style and that has affected the viewers has been many middle class families all over the world that has been dreaming of a life as shown in American soap operas. There has been increased crime and economic uncertainties that has happened by simply aping the western culture (Sullivan, T,2003)
There has been firms like AOL,Time Warner that has been able to penetrate globally. Time Warner and Disney has been growing faster outside America and that has contributed largely to their income ( Mohammadi, A,1992,p.25) .There has been firms like BBC that has been able to penetrate cultural issues across countries and establish a stronghold when it comes to news. Hollywood and Motion Picture Association of America has been also able to establish a stronghold across borders (Krugman, P,1995,p.865).
There has been recording companies that has been acquired by multinational companies and that has become global in nature. There has been more opportunities that has been presented to the younger generation due to the globalization of media. That had meant more and more students has been planning to do their higher education abroad. Many educational institutions have started teaching in English to attract foreign students.
Geographical closeness
Programming matters more than personalities.The media competition has become stiffer.The competition is slot by slot and show by show.There has to be programming overhaul and regional foray to stay on top.
Geographical closeness helps the media to close borders and culture is also important for media to cross borders. People all over the world would be looking to see programs that would be close to their own culture. Culture proximity would mean the people would desire to see cultural products that are close to ones own language,culture .People would be initially swayed by cosmopolitan view of the media but that in the final run ,it is closeness to their cultural values that would be attracting the media. When Star TV started their operations in India,there was huge response to the media and local Indian channels changed their content in such a way that they could enter back into the minds of Indian people. Local culture would have been rugged by the western media culture but the matchless baritone and articulate reporting ,are still dry gunpowder,ready to explode at a touch and that should not be ignored by Western media.
The other crucial divider in markets would be the language and language has been the main drive behind the media imports. That had forced Star TV to change their marketing tactics in India and come out with Hindi channel. This could be said as globalization making the competition intense and content would be created in such a way that it strikes a chord with viewers of that region. The possible reasons were STAR TV acknowledgement to the Indian salad bowl culture which is different with Americas melting pot culture. India has been famous for its pluralism with all its diverse languages,faiths and ethnicity can live together without surrendering their identity. That has meant that country specific cultures like Chinese culture,a world culture like the Arabic culture,linguistic culture sphere like the French,Portuguese are here to stay.
Latin American countries has increased trade with China and the trade has been spreading very fast. Latin American business people has not been reluctant to learn Mandarin rather than do business in English. This has been a welcome change to the global environment. The world has been divided into west and east and the culture has been normally different. The best way to know a culture will be understanding their language rather than forcing to create a common language. Setting up language training institutes by China outside their country has helped cultural exchange.
Globalization has helped many classics to be sold all over the world. The ambassador of Indian culture,Amar Chitra Katha,the comic book series has sold all over the world. The media globalization has created web blog, that can be defined as online periodicals, published chronologically. These online editions will be giving access to readers to comment on various issues of interest.Blogs has been normally networked between several people,situated globally and they post thoughts that would often revolve around a common theme .The postings are normally published in more sizeable form and they have started threatening the existence of academic journals also. The clear advantage of blog are that publishing has been happening in local languages.
Wikis has been similar to the blogs in structure and logic. The best thing about this is that it would allow any one to edit,delete or modify content that has been placed on website.Social Networking sites has enabled people to connect through computer-mediated communication. Social networking sites has not been meant just for youth,but majority of youths consider it as their domain. The social networking sites has become truly global and has become key business models for the next generation.
Intense competition in media globalization has helped in many innovations. STAR TV has not been dominating Indian TV market like before thanks to entry of new channels. That has forced STAR India ,to make entry to local Indian languages and the aim has been to grow the regional pie and make it relevant across target groups .
The other main factors that would be determining the media globalization will be the culture slang ,how jokes are viewed,how gossip about celebrities are viewed and how remarks about current people and strong personalities are viewed. There has been instances in which Latin American countries has been viewing American content more and has been copying American content when it came to television media comedy show. That had changed with more preferences being given to Spanish- Latin American content more. Mexican shows has been in great demand in Mexican country when compared with American English content.
There has been instance in which the famous cartoon show in America , the Simpsons has been shown in the animated version in South Korea and there had been complaints that the Koreans were facing difficulty in understanding the comedy. Hollywood has faced dilemma like this and there has been soap serials like Baywatch that had won accolades outside the America. There has been many programs that has been able to break the barrier of cultural proximity and that would include the genre of sports,sex,action and violence. There has been action oriented films from Hong Kong that has been able to penetrate the American market .There has been some elements of sports that has been able to set universal appeal and that include football,baseball,basketball,volleyball and so on.
Western media have been reluctant to admit the economic power of China and the reasons that has been cited was that China has not been able to come out with success like Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code.Western media have been concentrating more on the human rights issues of Chinese government. Nevertheless the Western media has turned a blind eye to the harassment of American on Iraq war principals.
Western media have been also reluctant to portray China as a soft power when compared with Americas domineering power. Chinese history has been ignored normally by Western Media and to counterattack this,Chinese government has been trying to spread Chinese language globally.
Chinese government has been encouraging, publishing books of high quality in Mandarin language and officials are looking for success stories that would be looking for translation works. Penguin books had set record of sorts after it had purchased worldwide English rights for Jiang Rong The Wolf Totem.China,Japan,South Korea has been successful in culture expressions like art,music and films. This has been a clear counter attack to western media effort to promote a single global culture. Japanese cartoon Chibi Maruko Chan, Korean drama series Dae Jang-geum has been an instant hit. There has been festival rituals that has been protected by countries like China.
There has been cases of reverse colonization and that could be said for example of exporting of Brazilian television programs to Portuguese media companies has been forced to tie up with local partners so that they could improve their base.
Singapore government has been offering broadband information services to almost all the residents in Singapore and that has been a huge achievement .There has been development of two way information services in certain countries thanks to the globalization of media.
Conclusion
The essay has strengthened the viewpoint the media globalization has destroyed the cultural fabric of the world and to become a true global media,it has to adjust to the local culture and strengthen it rather than destroying it. There has been increased awareness of the cola culture and other types of culture with media globalization.
The media globalization market has clearly failed to offer an alternative to communities solidarity when compared with single culture .Cultural globalization has been destroying diversity and displacing the opportunity to lead life with mixture of different cultures. Media have been trying to promote a culture that has been alien in developing countries and conservative nations has been feeling left behind.
There has been development of local satellite channels like Al Jazeera and other type of channels and that has been able to check the wrong impact of media globalization. Countries like China and South Korea has been able to create ripples in Western sector even though western media neglected them for long time. Festivals like Valentines day has been celebrated globally ,thanks to the bad effect of media globalization. There has been a spreading through media that red roses are to Valentines Day what kisses are to love. This type of culture spreading is bad for next generation.
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