Five Time Periods in the Study of Globalization and Media

1. Oral Communication
Globalization as a social process is characterized by the existence of
global economic, political, cultural, linguistic and environmental
interconnections and flows that make the many of the currently existing
borders and boundaries irrelevant.
Of all forms of media, human speech is the oldest and most enduring.
Humans are allowed to cooperate and communicate through language.
Human ability to move from one place to another and to adapt to a new and
different environment are facilitated by the sharing of information of other
peoples . Languages as a means to develop the ability to communicate
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across culture are the lifeline of globalization. Without language there would
be no globalization; and vice versa, without globalization there would be no
world languages . (147)

2. Script
Writing is humankind’s principal technology for collecting, manipulating,
storing, retrieving, communicating and disseminating information. Writing
may have been invented independently three times in different parts of the
world: in the Near East, China and Mesoamerica. Writing is a system of
graphic marks representing the units of a specific language. Cuneiform
script created in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, is the only writing system
which can be traced to its earliest prehistoric origin.

This antecedent of the cuneiform script was a system of counting and

recording goods with clay tokens. The evolution of writing from tokens to
pictography, syllabary and alphabet illustrates the development of
information processing to deal with larger amounts of data in ever greater
abstraction . (148)

Humans communicate and shared knowledge and ideas through script- the
very first writing. The origin of writing was in the form of carvings such as
wood, stone, bones and others. The medium that drove humans to
globalization was the script of Ancient Egyptian written in papyrus (plant).
Written and orderly arrangement of documents pertaining to religious,
cultural, economic and religious practices are done through script for
dissemination to other places. These can also be
handed down from generation to generation. Script is an important tool for
globalization as it considers the integration of economy, politics and culture
to the world. The great civilization from Egypt to Rome and China were
made possible through script . (149)

3.The Printing Press

The printing press is a device that allows for the mass
production of uniform printed matter, mainly text in the form of
books, pamphlets and newspapers . It revolutionized society in
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China where it was created.

Johannes Gutenberg further developed this in the 15 century with his
th

invention of the Gutenberg press.

 The following are the consequences of the printing press :(151)

1. The printing press changed the very nature of knowledge. It preserved

knowledge which had been more malleable in oral cultures. It also
standardized knowledge.

2. Print encouraged the challenge of political and religious authority

because of its ability to circulate competing views. Printing press
encouraged the literacy of the public and the growth of schools.

Lands and culture were learned by people through travels.

News around the world were brought through inexpensive and
easily obtained magazines and daily newspapers. People learned
about the world. Indeed, printing press helped foster globalization
and knowledge of globalization.

4. Electronic Media

It refers to the broadcast or storage media that take advantage of

electronic technology. They may include television, radio, internet, fax, CD-
ROMs, DVD, and any other medium that requires electricity or digital
encoding of information. The term electronic media is often used in contrast
with print media . (152)

On going globalization processes such as economic, political, and cultural

are revolutionized by a host of new media in the beginning of the 19th
century. These electronic media in the likes of telegraph, telephone, radio,
film, and television continously open up new perspectives of globalization.
In the 20th century, the only available mass media in remote villages was
the radio while film was soon developed as an artistic medium for great
cultural expression. The most powerful and pervasive mass media is
television as it brought the visual and aural power of film with the
accessibility of radio. The introduction of television was a defining moment
in globalization . Thus, the world is proclaimed a global village because of
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television . (154)

5. Digital Media

Phones and television are now considered digital while computer is

considered the most important media influencing globalization. Computers
give access to global and market place and transformed cultural life. The
following are the companies involved in globalization: Microsoft, Apple,
Google, and Facebook.
 Our daily life is revolutionized by digital media. People are able to
adopt and adapt new practices like fashion, sports, music, food and many
others through access of information provided by computers. They also
exchange ideas, establish relations and linkages through the use of skype,
google, chat, and zoom.