CONTEMPORARY WORLD

GLOBALIZATION
AND MEDIA
LESSON 6
KEY DISCUSSION
POINTS
★ Media
★ Globalized Culture,
Globalized Markets
★ Vertical Integration
and Globalization
★ Foreign Markets and
Titanic
★ Media Globalization
★ China and the Internet
MEDIA

Media is the plural form of medium,

which describes any channel of
communication. This can include
anything from printed paper to digital
data, and encompasses art, news,
educational content, and numerous other
forms of information.
The media industry is perfect for
globalization:

➢ the low marginal costs of media

mean that reaching a wider market
creates much larger profit margins for
media companies
➢ information is not a physical good
thus its shipping costs are generally
inconsequential
➢ the global reach of media allows it to
be relevant in many different countries.

MEDIA
❖ However, some have argued that
media is actually a partial cause of M
globalization, rather than just another
globalized industry. E
❖ Media is largely a cultural product, and D
I
the transfer of such a product is likely to
have an influence on the recipient’s culture.
❖ Increasingly, technology has also been
A
propelling globalization.
GLOBALIZED CULTURE,
GLOBALIZED MARKETS

United States culture and media, which is

driven by advertising, have a strong
consumerist bent (meaning that the ever-
increasing consumption of goods is
encouraged as an economic virtue),
thereby possibly causing foreign cultures to
increasingly develop consumerist ideals.
 As globalization takes hold and a particular
community becomes more like the United
GLOBALIZED CULTURE,
GLOBALIZED MARKETS States economically, this community may
also come to adopt and personalize U.S.
cultural values. The outcome of this spread
can be homogenization or heterogenization,
or even both, depending on the specific
situation (Rantanen, 2005).

Homogenization - the local culture

becomes more like the culture of the United
States
Heterogenization - aspects of U.S. culture
come to exist alongside local culture
 VERTICAL INTEGRATION
AND GLOBALIZATION

Because globalization has as much

to do with the corporate structure of
a media company as with the
products that a media company
produces, vertical integration in
multinational media companies
becomes a necessary aspect of
studying globalized media.
 FOREIGN MARKETS AND TITANIC

Worth considering is the

reciprocal influence of foreign
culture on American culture.
Certainly, American culture is
increasingly exported around
the world thanks to
globalization, and many U.S.
media outlets count strongly on
their ability to sell their product
in foreign markets
 FOREIGN MARKETS AND TITANIC

One prime example of this

phenomenon of global culture and
marketing is James Cameron’s 1997
film Titanic. One of the most
expensive movies ever produced
up to that point, with an official
budget of around $200 million,
Titanic was not anticipated to
perform particularly well at the U.S.
box office. Rather, predictions of
foreign box-office receipts allowed
the movie to be made
KEY ● Technology allows for quick
communication, transport, and mass
T marketing, greatly contributing to a
globalized marketplace.
A
● Media economies of scale achieve
K much larger profit margins by using

E digital technology to sell information

instantly over a global market
A ● Foreign markets offer excellent
W profit potential as they contribute to

A
media companies’ economies of
scale. The addition of new audiences

Y and consumer markets may help a

company build a global following in

S the long run.

 READING:

🌐 Technology, and increasingly media, has MEDIA

always driven globalization. In a landmark G
book, Thomas Friedman (2005), identified L
several ways in which technology “flattened” O
the globe and contributed to our global B
economy. The first edition of The World Is A
Flat, written in 2005, posits that core L
economic concepts were changed by I
personal computing and high-speed Z
Internet. Access to these two technological A
shifts has allowed core-nation corporations T
to recruit workers in call centers located in I
China or India O
N
MEDIA
G
L
O
B
A
L
I
Z course not everyone agrees with Friedman’s theory.
🌐 Of
A economists pointed out that in reality innovation,
Many
T
economic activity, and population still gather in
I
geographically attractive areas, and they continue to
O economic peaks and valleys, which are by no
create
N flattened out to mean equality for all.
means
 MEDIA
🌐 It is worth noting that Friedman is an
economist, not a sociologist. His work G
focuses on the economic gains and risks this L
new world order entails. In this section, we O
will look more closely at how media B
globalization and technological A
globalization play out in a sociological L
perspective. As the names suggest, media I
globalization is the worldwide integration of Z
media through the cross-cultural exchange A
of ideas, while technological globalization T
refers to the cross-cultural development and I
exchange of technology. O
N
MEDIA GLOBALIZATION
🌐Lyons (2005) suggests that multinational corporations
are the primary vehicle of media globalization, and
these corporations control global mass-media content
and distribution (Compaine 2005). It is true, when
looking at who controls which media outlets, that there
are fewer independent news sources as larger and
larger conglomerates develop. The United States offers
about 1,500 newspapers, 2,600 book publishers, and an
equal number of television
stations, plus 6,000 magazines and a whopping 10,000
radio outlets (Bagdikian 2004).
 MEDIA GLOBALIZATION
🌐 On the surface, there is endless opportunity to find
diverse media outlets. But the numbers are misleading.
Media consolidation is a process in which fewer and
fewer owners control the majority of media outlets. This
creates an oligopoly in which a few firms dominate the
media marketplace.
🌐 Consolidated media owes more to its stockholders
than to the public. The few companies that control
most of the media represent the political and social
interests of only a small minority. In an oligopoly, there
are fewer incentives to innovate, improve services, or
decrease prices.
MEDIA GLOBALIZATION
🌐Research suggests that the public sphere accessing
the global village will tend to be rich, Caucasoid, and
English-speaking. As shown by the spring 2011
uprisings throughout the Arab world, technology
really does offer a window into the news of the world.
For example, here in the United States we saw
internet updates of Egyptian events in real time, with
people tweeting, posting, and blogging.
 MEDIA GLOBALIZATION
🌐 In theory, technological innovations are ideology-free;
a fiber optic cable is the same in a Muslim country as a
secular one. But those who bring technology to less-
developed nations usually have an agenda. Cultural and
societal assumptions and norms are being delivered
along with high-speed wires.
🌐Globalization can lead to cultural imperialism and the
loss of local culture. It can also lead to censorship by
national governments that let in only the information
they feel serve their message. Criminals use
international media to circumvent local laws against
gambling, child pornography, and sex trade.
 The uneasy link between
Internet freedom and
government control is
illustrated by China. China has
always attempted to conceal
CHINA AND THE what it refers to as "harmful
INTERNET: information," such as political
An Uncomfortable Friendship opposition. With social media
sites like Twitter, Facebook,
and YouTube restricted in
China, the country's 500
million Internet users turned
to local media in 2011.
China's counterpart of Facebook
is Renren.com, while its version
of Twitter is Sina Weibo. This
new kind of Internet
communication will not be
ruled by China's dictatorial CHINA AND THE
government. Foreign businesses INTERNET:
that want to tap into the
An Uncomfortable Friendship
growing Chinese consumer
market have their own accounts.
Tom Cruise's Weibo account has
approximately 3 million
followers, while the NBA has
over 5 million.
 LEONARD M. FIGURACION
TJ FIGURACION
AARON CHARLES B. LAGMAN
KATHLEEN KAYE C. LIRIO
Baldev Kumar S. Nakhwal II

MEMBERS
 LESSON 6:
GLOBALIZATION
AND MEDIA