GLOBAL

MEDIA
CULTURES
GLOBALIZ ATION
AND MEDIA
 CULTURAL IMPERIALISM AND THE
GLOBAL MEDIA DEBATE
Cultural Imperialism – the idea that one culture can
either influence or dominate another.
 Theory that the audiences across the globe are
heavily affected by the media messages emanating
from the Western industrialized countries.
 Media Imperialism only have minor differences to
cultural imperialism
 Cultural Imperialism is firmly rooted in a political-
economy perspective on
international communication
CULTURAL IMPERIALISM AND THE
GLOBAL MEDIA DEBATE
Early Stage of Cultural Imperialism
- Researchers focused their effort on mostly
nation-states as primary actors in
international relations.
- The flow of news and entertainment was
biased in favor of industrialized countries
- Developing nations received scant and
prejudicial coverage in Western Media.
- The rise of New World Information Order
(NWIO) debate, later known as New
World Information and Communication
Order
- Debate among media representations in
1970s among developing countries in
UNESCO
- The debate was first focused on the news
flows between north and south, it soon
evolve to include all international media
flows.
Global Media Debate launched in 1973 during the General
Conference of UNESCO in Nairobi, Kenya
- Strong differences arose between Western
industrialized nations and developing countries
- Free flow of information vs. Concern of imbalance in
international media flow
 The first group, which is led by the United States,
insisted on “free flow of information “ with a doctrine
of advocating “free trade” in information and media
programs without restrictions.
 The second group, concerned on the lack of balance in
international media flow, accused the Western
countries invoking the free flow of information
Second Stage of Research in Cultural Imperialism
- Call to revive the New World Information and Communication
Order debate
- Emphasis on commercialization of sphere of culture
- focused on transnational corporations as the primary actors on
international
relations ; and on transnational capital flows
• Transnational corporation (TNC) - any enterprise that
undertakes foreign direct investment, owns or controls
income-gathering assets in more than one country, produces
goods or services outside its country of origin, or engages in
international production. Variously termed multinational
corporations (MNCs) and multinational enterprises (MNEs),
transnational corporations are formal business organizations
that have spatially dispersed operations in at least two
countries.
• "Culture is not a zero-sum game, so the
greater reach of one culture does not
necessarily mean diminished stature for
others. In the broad sweep of history,
many different traditions have grown
together and flourished. American popular
culture will continue to make money, but
the 21st century will bring a broad
melange of influences, with no clear
world cultural leader." - Tyler Cowen
• Capital flows refer to the movement of money for the purpose of
investment, trade or business production, including the flow of
capital within corporations in the form of investment capital,
capital spending on operations and research and development
(R&D). On a larger scale, a government directs capital flows
from tax receipts into programs and operations and through
trade with other nations and currencies. Individual investors
direct savings and investment capital into securities, such as
stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.
• Media flows is very much a one-way flow, since only about
2% of US TV programmes are foreign imports (compared to
about a third in most countries). Such flows are often more
regionalized, based on shared language and cultural affinity.
Governments often seek to control media flows as a way of
protecting national culture but online media have undermined
this cultural gatekeeper role.
 MEDIA, GLOBALIZATION, AND
HYBRIDIZATION
 The end of cold war as a global framework
for ideological, Geopolitical, and Economic
competition calls for a rethinking of the
analytical categories and paradigms of
thought.

 The nation state is no longer the sale or

dominant player since transnational
transactions occur on sub national,
national, and supranational levels.
 MEDIA, GLOBALIZATION, AND
HYBRIDIZATION
 According to John Tomlinson (1991) Globalization replaced
cultural imperialism because it conveys a process with less
coherence and direction, which will weaken the cultural unity
of all nation -states ,Not only those in the developing world.

 Globalization has emerged as a key perspective across the

humanities and social sciences, a current undoubtedly
affecting the discipline of communication.

 Globalization of culture has become a conceptual magnet

attracting research and theorizing efforts from a variety of
disciplines and interdisciplinary formations such as
anthropology, comparative literature, cultural studies,
communication and media studies, geography, and sociology.
Perspectives in Globalization of Culture
 somewhat reminiscent of cultural imperialism in terms of the nature
of the effect of media in culture, but somewhat different in
conceptualization of the issue is the view that the media contribute
to the homogenization of cultural differences across the planet
One of the Proponent:
Benjamin R. Barber (August 2, 1939 – April
24, 2017) --- American
political theorist and author,
- Known for his book, Jihad vs. McWorld,
(1995)
and for 2013's If Mayors Ruled the World
as well as the classic of democratic
theory, 1984's Strong Democracy (revised
in 2004).
- He became a top-level international
consultant
on participatory democracy as well as an
adviser to Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, and
 Another perspective on the globalization is cultural hybridity or
hybridization. This view privileges an understanding of the
interface of globalization and localization as a dynamic process
and hybrid product of mixed traditions and cultural forms.
 Hybridization means blending of elements from different cultures.
 It advocates the emphasis on the processes of mediations that it
views as central to cultural globalization
Proponents of Hybridization :

Nestor Garcia Canclini (born in 1993)

- Argentinean Mexican Critic known for his
book “Hybrid Cultures” (1995)
- Advocates a theoretical
understanding of Latin American
nations as hybrid cultures.
- His analysis is both broad and
incisive, coving a variety of
cultural processes
 Three Main Features of Cultural Hybridity, according to
Garcia Canclini:
• Mixing of previously separate cultural systems
• Deterritorialization of cultural process from their
physical environment to new foreign context
• Entails impure cultural genres are formed out of the
mixture of several cultural domains
 In media and communication research, it is reasonable
to assume that transnational mass media intensify the
hybridity that is already in existence in cultures across
the globe. Consequently, the globalization of culture
through the media is not a process of complete
homogenization but rather one where cohesion and
fragmentation coexist.