Media
Introduction
Globalization has become an indispensable part of the modern world. The increasing convergence of technology and the extension of communication modes have pushed toward a global commonality. While globalization is recognized by many people as a trend of development, whether it brings a homogenous global culture has remained to be a critical issue. One assumption that has long been held about globalization is the loss of cultural identity. Cultural globalization raises important concerns on its effects on national and local cultures including their responses to it. It takes the form of a spread in the cultural practices including habits, values and products from dominant places to others.
All processes related to globalization underlie two basic concepts: communication and culture. Media and communications have long been related to the globalization of culture and the society. It has been considered to be the single most influential component in the cultural imperialism. Following this argument, media can either homogenize or heterogenize cultures. However, despite the emergence of new media and the global reach of the mass media, the homogenization of a single people is far from happening.
Media and Cultural Globalization
Globalization is considered to be the process whereby the world becomes similar in some aspects through the spread of the western ways. It is about the increasing mobility of goods and commodities, information and communications, products and services and people across borders. The increasing flow of knowledge especially in the internet is assumed to lead in a homogenized world culture. Indeed, it has become a vehicle for the integration of culture from different countries. As pointed out by (1995), globalization reflects two views of culture (as cited in , 2000, ). The first treats globalization as the extension of a specific culture to its limits though the process of homogenization and unification as a result of the consumption of same cultural and material products. The second treats globalization as the compression of different cultures.
Globalization has become a prominent topic during the recent years because of the extension of systems and modes of communication. The development of satellites and cable services has transformed the television market from national to transnational. This has paved the way for more channels targeted to the global audience. The CNN is an example of a global channel proving news stories across the world. Another is MTV which has also become a global media enterprise. Through these telecommunication networks, people can enter to the global communications easily. Internet and web access has also revolutionized information age by giving access to global databases. The ubiquity of information as well as the instant access to it is turning the world into a global village (., )
Aside from the gathering of goods and information, there is also increasing mobility of people. This has become ordinary in the emerging global order. This phenomenon was described as the start of a third culture, the global culture and the cross over of such cultures. From this concept, globalization is viewed as the process of conjoining hybridization. Part of hybridization is the concept of indigenization which describes the importation of cultural forms to local features.
The encounter between the different cultures also produces tensions and friction arising from confrontations and clashes in values and beliefs. One which greatly exemplifies this difficulty is the relations between the Western and the Islamic countries.
Economic and cultural developments are the results of globalization. While development is inevitably related to globalization, the process does not necessarily mean the replacement of everything that preceded it. Globalization may be viewed in terms of the gathering of cultural phenomenon in which global elements coexist with the existing local and national cultural identities. This emphasizes the combination of the old and new elements in which the culture persist while taking some form of innovation. One of the commonly held perceptions of globalization is that national reference is obsolete in the contemporary world.
Another observation in the logic of globalization is attributed to its complexities and diversities. The process of global change is diverse and is experienced differently by those who face it. The experiences and response to the forces of globalization will determine one’s economic, social and geographical positioning in the world. There are those who detach from national culture to favor cosmopolitan cultures and those who react defensively against the forces of global change. There are different encounters with these forces of globalization. Such differences are brought about by the inequality in terms of human mobility and experience which is at the center of the globalization process. On one side, there are those at the fore front of what goes on and those who are not in control of it.
In terms of the economy, globalization is concerned about organizing economic production and exploiting economies of scale. The development of economies has a long history associated mainly with the expansion of great powers. With these super powers emerged the multinational corporations that shaped the international economy. The emergence of global corporations reflects the continuing aspiration to overcome the national boundaries and global scale advantages (, n.d., ). The success of global corporations such as McDonalds and Coca Cola proves the increasing globalization of the markets.
The global economies operate by conducting instant electronic transactions and accelerated distribution of goods and products. This process is driven by corporations with the technological capacity to operate efficiently in the world market. This transformation is connected to the increasing significance of knowledge and information in the new world economy. The focus is turned on a new global economy in the information age. (1994) emphasized the importance of information as the raw material whereby all social processes and organizations are made (as cited in , n.d., ). The capacity to create information and knowledge and apply it through information processing and telecommunications has become more critical in all economic activities.
One of the crucial factors of these transnational organizations is the development of information and communication technology. New communication and computer technologies enable the harmonization of economic activities while allowing the co existence of decentralization and functional coordination. Thus changing the basis over which the global corporation related to place and territory. The functions of global corporations no longer depend on the national economy but across borders.
However, these global economies cannot simply supersede the existing social and historical realities. This means that adopting and negotiating with local context, conditions and constraints. Globalization is also associated with the dynamics of re-localization or the global-local nexus. The concept of a global-local nexus has become important especially in corporate marketing. Global corporations are operating and competing in the world market in terms of quality, efficiently and the understanding of the market. When it comes to global marketing, they recognize the need to decentralize strategies (, n.d., ).
Levitt, one of the main proponents of standardization, also acknowledged the differences in products between and across different nations. This according to him is the accommodation of fixed local preferences by the multinational corporations. What is clear then is the global-local nexus representing the compromise between market expansion and cultural resistance (, n.d, ). Indeed, globalization encompasses the aspect of localization which raises the question of culture and identity.
People incorporate elements from other cultures through localities. Even if there is a homogenization in the supply of products and in the production processes, this does not mean that the consumption is also homogenizing. Moreover, globalization/localization can be interpreted as subjective and interpretative processes. All identities are a mixture of both local and global aspects. People in the local setting reshape their individual and collective identities with the consumption of cultural elements that originated from different levels (, 2000, ).
All cultural movements in the world are not global. They are not about homogenization but about differentiation. Differences exists if there are others and boundaries. Cultures have distinguished themselves from others by emphasizing their differences rather than their similarities ( , 2000, ). Even with the transmission of information across national frontiers does not lead to automatic conformity within the national and cultural level. Globalization forces have changed the face of world culture although the result of globalization is more of diversity rather than conformity. argued the impossibility of cultural homogeneity and domination through his five scapes. According to him, the dimensions of the global culture include ethnoscapes, technoscapes, finanscapes, mediascapes and ideoscapes (, n.d, ). All of these dimensions are unpredictable and act as a constraint in the movement of the other. Moreover, claimed that these scapes influence culture not through homogenous interaction but with their differences and contradictions.
Cultures are also moved through time and space interacting and influencing each other. This is regarded as the process of transculturation that fuses cultural forms. While these cultural syntheses resulted from the geographic movement of people, mass media and cultural industries also play a part. The only way in which these cultural movements can be considered global is through the use of communication technologies. This means that their mode of communication is global but not their goals. Modern technology bridges the gap of cultural distance. It also creates new perception and preserves culture in some ways (, n.d, ).
Another dimension of cultural globalization is one which is promotes the interaction and encounter of cultures. This concerns the active combination and mixture of cultural elements. According to Akbar Ahmed, these processes are a result of both communication and human flows. He argued the mobility of population as a contributing factor in the mixing of images, cultures and the availability of information (, ).
Communication and culture are assumed to be the basic concepts that underlie all processes related to globalization and identity. Communication of course is related to consumption. Though the globalizing identities (globalization) and the linked process of localizing identities are the result of communication/consumption, it is through communication that culture is made public and shared. Secondly, it is through culture that the various forms of media are shaped. Further, the content of communication is culture and culture incorporates different modes of communication. Thus, culture and communication are inseparable processes. Communication is considered to be the action between people, between people and institutions and between people and products. Although such interaction can be highly influenced by culture, communication can also change cultures and identities (, 2000, ).
The cultural sphere is changed by global forces through media. Mass media is a central player in the confinement of macro social domains and the empowerment of the micro social spheres. Along with the globalize economy, it changes the face of culture around the world. The emergence of technological change has led to the new order of media. New media corporations are driven by competition and profit from the largest number of audiences. There is the expansionist tendency that pushes towards the creation of enlarged media spaces and markets. Media are detaching from the national culture towards the international consumers. This trend is explained by new technologies that allow the free flow of information and products beyond the national boundaries. The reality of the media is driven not by national identity but with the opportunities in the market. This form of media globalization can be seen with media giants such as Time Warner and Walt Disney Company (, n.d, ).
Modern communication technologies are creating unprecedented opportunities for cultural contacts between people and communities that live in the remote parts of the world. Transnational television broadcasting is the most prominent although there are other mediums that bring about cross-culture contacts. The opportunities offered by modern information technology resulted to the internationalization of media communication. They are seeking for larger markets other those in the country of origin. While such technologies create potential global media, cultural interests and the logic of the market are fragmenting the global media. The globalization of media has raised important issue particularly in presenting diverse cultures in the programs which they create.
For example, CNN has been considered a global operator but it was faced with accusations of being too American. It is viewed as an expression of cultural domination which conflicts with its credibility as a global news provider. This simply implies the cultural context of communication that ranges form local to global. People interpret images, ideas and views based on their cultural imagination. The assimilation of media content demonstrates the relationship of the structure and agency as reflected in cultural circumstances.
Furthermore, the global village and technology based society does not replaced outdated and local social systems and cultures. Despite the wide reach of technology such as the mass media, people are far from becoming homogenous. It is true that homogenizing forces including media formats affect the people’s consciousness and culture in every part of the world. But such influences do not penetrate the cultural contexts in the same way. Instead they interact with the different local conditions. The power to transmit information in a global scale does not stimulate immediate imitation both in the national and the cultural context.
While the expansion of transnational media is obvious, media globalization remains to be a myth as a concept. Media has become an important dimension of globalization but it seemed to have drifted from the idea of a singular and united global marketplace. Also, the need for localization in terms of reaching a global audience has remained a pertinent issue.
Conclusion
While globalization has been related to development, the process could not replace everything that preceded it. It is rather a combination of local and national cultures and identities. This emphasizes the need to adopt and negotiate with local context, conditions and constraints. Such argument is reinforced by the concept of global-local nexus. Even global corporations operating across geographic boundaries are compelled to take decentralization strategies for them to become successful in other countries.
Media and communications have played a significant role in the trend of globalization. It is the primary vehicle whereby products, values and cultures are transmitted from national to transnational. The emergence of new media through technological change has even increased its power. A trend towards media enlargement and market expansion has also been driven by globalization. Media are detaching from the national culture towards the global market. This new order of media is stimulated by competition and profit from the global audience. Indeed, it has become an important element in influencing cultures. With this, media has been assumed to take part in the homogenization of cultures. However the media globalization has remained to be a myth. The path towards the homogenization of people is far from reach despite the global reach of the mass media.
References
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