CM1006 Summary EMPHASIS ON INTRODUCTION Literature Week 1: Slides Week 1: Multiple Dimensions in (the study of) International Communication:

: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. History Technology Politics Economics Culture

History: There is continuity and change in international communications Continuity: o Not everything is new. o Centuries of trade, travel, imperialism inter-cultural relations. - Change: o Why is international communications relevant today? Technology: - Changes in transportation & communications - Voice, pigeons, messengers CDs, DVDs etc Politics: Politics, Communication and Power: o Communication used to rule and empire o It is a power tool! Ancient Empires (Egypt, Greece, Rome and the British Empire) Politics, Communication and War: o The Fourth Arm to help win wars. o Mobilization of men was not enough, there had to be mobilization of opinion too. Politics, Communication & Resistance: o Communication used to resist the powerful o Pamphlets, Pirate Radio, Internet, Underground Zines, Twitter Politics, Communication & Law: o Used to protect/regulate (freedom of expression, copyright) o UNESCO created to contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration through education, science and culture. -

Economics: Capitalism is the driver for international communication since the XIX (19th) Century o Dissemination and control of financial information o Free flow of communication (more deregulation to allow private organizations to do whatever they want). o World Trade Organization and Transnational Corporations are KEY players o International Marketing, buying and selling across the world. It is a tool for development

Culture: Media are the cultural industries Communication is across cultures o Causes Homogeneity due to Cultural Imperialism o Causes Heterogeneity or Glocal cultures and Hybrids.

These aspects are all linked together and are necessary to understand each other. Historic Studies of International Communication: 1920s 1950s: International Propaganda. 1960s (Cold War): Media for Modernization 1960s 1980s (Critique): Media Imperialism 1990s: Fall of Berlin Wall = Globalization (Flows and Counter-Flows).

EMPHASIS ON HISTORY Literature week 2: Thussu; 40-46 Pye (1963) Sparks (2007) Slides Important information from Thussu: Theories of communication began to emerge in parallel with the rapid social and economic changes of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, reflecting the significance of the role of communications in the growth of capitalism and empire, and also drawing on advances in science and the understanding of the natural world. Claude Henri (French philosopher): used the analogy of the living organism, proposing that the development of a system of communication routes (roads, canals, and railways) and a credit system (banks) was vital for an industralising society, and that the circulation of money, was equivalent to that of blood for the human heart (one of the first concepts of communication) Herbert Spenser (British philosopher): also used the metaphor of the organism argued that industrial society was the embodiment of an organic society: an increasingly coherent, integrated system, in which functions become more and more specified and parts more interdependent. Communication was seen as a basic component in a system of distribution and regulation The channels of information (press, telegraph, and postal service) functioned as the equivalent of the nervous system, making it possible for the centre to propagate its influence to its outermost parts. At the same time, contemporary commentators were anxious about the social and cultural impact of the speed and reach of the new means of communication and the rise of a mass society fuelled and sustained by them. In the 20th century, theories of international communication evolved into a discrete discipline within the new social sciences and in each era have reflected contemporary concerns about political, economic and technological changes and their impact on society and culture. (e.g. wartime propaganda: the manipulation of public opinion by powerful state institutions) After WWII, theories of communication multiplied in response to new developments

in technology and media (first radio and then TV), and the increasingly integrated international economic and political system.

Two broad but often interrelated approaches to theorizing communication can be seen: the political-economy approach: concerned with the underlying structures of economic and political power relations (roots in the critique of capitalism (Marx), but it evolved over the years to incorporate a wide range of critical thinkers question of relationship between economic, political and cultural power examination of the pattern of ownership and production in the media and communication industries) Cultural studies: focused more on the role of communication and media in creating and maintaining shared values and meanings (started in Britain in the 1970s with the study of popular and mass culture and their role in the reproduction of social hegemony and inequality now more concerned with how media texts work to create meaning, and how culturally situated individuals work to gather meaning from texts discovery of polysemic texts).

After WWII and the establishment of the bipolar world of free market capitalism and state socialism, theories of international communication became part of the new cold war discourse. For the supporters of capitalism, the primary function of international communication was to promote democracy, freedom of expression and markets. On the other hand, Marxist argued for greater state regulation on communication and media outlets. Free flow of information: reflected Western (specifically US) opposition to the state regulation and censorship of the media by its communist opponents and its use for propaganda. The free flow doctrine was essentially a part of the liberal, free-market discourse that championed the rights of media proprietors to sell wherever and whatever they wished. The concept of free flow served both economic and political purposes media organisations of the media-rich countries hoped to dissuade others from erecting trade barriers to their products or from making it difficult to gather news or make

programmes on their territories (arguments drew on premises of democracy, freedom of expression, the medias role as public watchdog and their assumed global relevance. For the businessmen, free flow assisted them in advertising and marketing their goods and services in foreign markets, through media vehicles whose information and entertainment products championed the Western way of life and its values of capitalism and individualism. For Western governments, free flow helped to ensure the continuing and unreciprocated influence of Western media on global markets, strengthening the West in its ideological battle with the Soviet Union.

Modernisation theory: (complementary to the doctrine of free-flow) international communication was the key to the process of modernization and development for the so-called Third World. The theory arose from the notion that international mass communication could be used to spread the message of modernity and transfer the economic and political models of the West to the newly independent countries of the South. Modernisation/development theory: based on the belief that the mass media would help transform traditional societies. Lerner (political science professor): examined the degree to which people in the Middle East were exposed to national and international media, especially radio. proposed that contact with the media helped the process of transition from a traditional to a modernised state, as the media is said to enable individuals to experience events in far-off places, forcing them to reassess their traditional way of life. Schramm (key modernisation theorist): saw the mass meida as a bridge to a wider world, as the vehicle for transferring new ideas and models from the North to the South, and, within the South, from urban to rural areas. Two downfalls: measured by GNP, ignored any discussion of the political, social or cultural dimension of development, and the mass media were assumed to be a neutral force in the process of development, ignoring how the media themselves are products of social, political, economic and cultural conditions. One major shortcoming of the early modernisation theorists was their assumption that the modern and the traditional lifestyles were mutually exclusive, and their dismissive

view of the culture of the indigent natives led them to believe in the desirability and inevitability of a shift from the traditional to the modern. Modernisation requires advanced telecommunication and computer infrastructure, preferably through the efficient private corporations, thus integrating the South into a globalised information economy.

Important information from Pye: The relationship between citizen and polity is never static, even in the most wellestablished country; for individuals are constantly engaged in adjusting and reevaluating, either restlessly and erratically or gradually and persistently, their sentiments, emotions, and judgements about their collective identities: there is alwasy the pulse of life in any nation and the spirit of nationhood is always changing. But in new countries of Asia, Africa, and the Middle-East the thrust of change is different, and the issue is that of whether the essence of nationhood is to be realised. It was the pressure of communications which brought about the downfall of traditional societies. In the future it will be the creation of new channels of communication and the ready acceptance of new content of communications which will be decisive in the determining the prospects of nation building. The process of recreating a coherent modern society rests upon the ways in which people come to accept and to utilize new dimensions of social communication. Communication is the web of human society the structure of a communications system with its more or less well-defined channels is in a sense the skeleton of the social body which envelops it The flow of communications determines the direction and the pace of dynamic social development. Hence, it is possible to analyse all social processes in terms of the structure, content and flow of communications. Communications permeate the social environment and are to be found in every aspect of social life the analysis of processes of communication is one way of studying social life. An assumption underlying this study is that by singling out the communications dimensions of social action, we can gain a new perspective for seeking insight into even the most well-recognised and institutionalised social processes. Example communications processes in which influence and decisions are governed by the flow of information and the control of messages: Cold War/ Telegraph of Ehe The communications approach has provided a more dynamic view of organizational behaviour that can be readily derived from the more conventional concepts of status, hierarchical position or post, and of role, which have usually been used in analysing

bureaucratic structures. The communications approach has been most rewarding in providing deeper and more subtle insights into political behaviour. There is a intimate relationship between the political process and the communications process The communications process also performs an amplifying function by magnifying some of the actions of individuals to the point that they can be felt throughout the society transforming mere man-sized acts into society-sized acts. The difference between private and public affairs is determined by the extent to which acts of individuals are either amplified or ignored by the communications process. Another function of the communications process is to provide the essential basis for rationality in mass politics people can sensibly debate their collective actions only If they share a common fun of knowledge and information And only if they have some minimum appreciation of how others have been informed about the state of affairs can they decide upon the wisdom and the validity of the reasoning behind the actions of their leaders. The communications process informs people as to how farsighted or nearsighted their leaders are. The communications process helps a society establish its rules of political causality and define its domain of the plausible The communications process gives form and structure to the political process by surrounding the politicians on the one side with the constant reminder that political acts have consequences and that people can have greedy expectations of politics, and on the other side with the warning that illusions of omnipotence are always dangerous even among people who have a casual understanding of causality. The communications process with politics either incline for controlling the press, or for encouraging the freedom of the press In the development of the American society, for example, the very concept of democracy has been linked to a belief in the need for the freedom and integrity of the press and the mass media essential for democratic government. The basic processes of political modernization and national development can be conceived of as problems in communication the recognised gap between the Westernised, more urbanized leaders and the more tradition-bound, village-based masses, which is the hallmark of transitional societies, represents a flaw in the structure of the national communications and a fundamental problem in personal

communications among people with grossly different life experiences. The process by which the modern world has impinged upon traditional societies, producing both cosmopolitan leaders and xenophobic nationalists, is in essence a communications process. Impact of media systems/communications process: Political: public viewpoint in politics (e.g. propaganda) Social: Modernisation/Development theory Economic: Free-flow of Information

Important Information from Sparks: The basic ideas of the dominant paradigm of development communication were developed by US policy scientists who saw themselves more or less clearly as participating in efforts to provide different answers to the problems of poverty than those advanced by their Communist alter egos (Max Weber). It came from the 1947 Truman doctrine and the Four Point Programme of 1949, which made it quite explicit that the USA would offer its own model of the path to the development for the poorer nations. The aim of the dominant paradigm was not to freeze the unequal relations between the rich countries and the poor countries, or the rich and the poor within countries, but to provoke social change. While advancing the interests of the USA was the strategic goal of policy science as a whole, the dominant paradigm was developed expressly to help improve the lot of the poor. Countries would be helped to shift from agriculture based on obsolete technologies, to up-to-date scientific agriculture directed a the production of marketable products. Development is a type of social change in which new ideas are introduced into a social system in order to produce higher per capita incomes and levels of living through more modern production methods and improved social situations Rogers. Modernisation is a multi-dimensional concept which is not to be equated with Europeanisation or Westernisation and which implies no value judgement as to its desirability Rogers. Two basic types of mental structures (Lerner): The traditional: essentially illiterate, and is fixed and orientated towards stability and the past excluded the ability to imagine oneself as being in a different position from where one was now unable to develop as a society, as the population lacked not only the technical skills but also the future-orientated perspective are content with dictatorial and traditional government. The modern personality: literate, fluid, and open to change it is mobile, as it desires change, betterment and self-advancement it is also capable of empathy (it can imagine itself in different circumstances key to development)

The multiplicative property of communication lies in its power to raise and spread empathy among its audiences- Lerner

 The use of mass communication to affect and accelerate the process of social change, depends on a number of key factors: The effect of change at the individual level change in individual social attitudes would lead more or less automatically directly to the transformation of the social structure and the patterns of life experienced by the whole population The main task of development communication was to alter states of minds

Six-point plan for action (Schramm): Communication must be used to contribute to the feeling of nationness Communication has a role as the voice of national planning Communication needs to play a role in teaching necessary skills Communication has a role to play in the extension of the market Communication needs to help people adjust to the social changes brough about by the very success of the plan Communication has the task of preparing people to play their role as a nation among nations

Communication orthodoxy, in the period when the dominant paradigm was being elaborated, believed in the indirect influence of the media upon the mass of the population two step flow model The micro-sociology of change appeared to show that if one wanted to introduce a novelty, then the efforts of the change agent (either an individual or the mass media) should be concentrated upon the social elite who were most likely to adopt it. The proponents of the dominant paradigm specifically rejected the notion that the population of a developing country might spontaneously think independently, identify a problem, decide upon a solution and implement it themselves. Want: Get ratio (Lerner): peoples wants rise relative to what they are able to obtain led to a revolution of rising frustrations and either a regressive stress upon tradition or a turn to aggressive violence.

Slides Week 2: Media and Development

The Dominant Paradigm: The: - Cold War - Decolonization - Mass Media - Communication as a new promising field Led to Modernization The Dominant Paradigm and its relation to Development: A type of social change in which new ideas are introduced into a social system in order to produce higher per capita incomes and levels of living through more modern production methods and improved social organization **Thus, the behavioral change in societies (the dominant paradigm) is the result of development and modernization*** How does modernization work? Diffusion of new ideas and new information that stimulates people to want to change. o E.g. it stimulates the peasant to want to be a free-holding farmer, to have a son that learns to read, the wife to stop bearing children and the girl to do whatever she wants with her hair. New communication methods are endorsing this behavior. It promotes new behavior among the existing generation and prepares the new generation who will go even further with developing themselves 1950s 1960s: Media for Modernization Behavioral Change models were the Dominant Paradigm in the 1950s and 1960s and scholars related it to Modernization

Mechanisms of Modernization: Empathy: o (Lerner, 1958) looked at the middle east, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and noticed that empathy resulted in behavioral change and development. o Psychologically imagining oneself in a different place leads to people wanting to move out of the village, get educated, consume media and take part in political and economic situations. (MODERNIZATION!) The Mass Media: o Speeds up the slow transformation required for economic development. o It is the mobility multiplier o Speeds up the mobilizing of human resources for human development.

Diffusion of Innovation (Rogers) + Two-Step Flow: o **look up the answer! Criticisms of Development through Modernization - Technological Determinism - One-way, top down approach - Structure vs. Agency - One model of development o Looks at it only through evolutionism or linearity o Ethnocentrism, only through Westernization and their cultural dominance o Modern vs. Traditional - Ahistoricism - Modernization in Whose Interests? New Paradigms: 1. Continuity 2. Participation 3. Cultural Imperialism and Dependency Theories The Participatory Paradigm: Participation is a right. A process that provides people with access to appropriate and sustainable opportunities to improve their lives and of others in their communities. They can use their local knowledge to do what they want with development. It highlights the importance of cultural identity It has multiplicity instead of being simply one mode of development Allows decision making Democratization

EMPHASIS ON HISTORY Literature week 3: Thussu: p 46-65 Dorfmann & Mattelart Hamelink Slides Important information Thussu: Dependency theory: aimed to provide an alternative framework to analyse international communication central was the view that transnational corporations (TNCs) exercise control over the developing countries by setting the terms for global trade dominating markets, resources, production and labour. Development for these countries was shaped in a way to strengthen the dominance of the developed nations and to maintain the peripheral nations in a position of dependence to make conditions suitable for dependent development Outcome of such relationships: the development of underdevelopment The dependency theorists aimed to show the links between discourse of modernisation and the policies of transnational media and communication corporations and their backers among Western governments.

Cultural imperialism (Schiller): looks at how, in pursuit of commercial interests, huge US-based transnational corporations, often in league with Western military and political interests, were undermining the cultural autonomy of the countries of the South and creating a dependency on both the hardware and software of communication and media in the developing countries. The sum of the processes by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to, or even to promote, the values and structures of the dominant centre of the system (Schiller) Result: electronic invasion: Western way of life promoted/forced in developing countries for commercial needs leads to the undermining of traditional cultures and the emphasis of consumerism at the expense of community values. One prominent aspect of dependency in international communication is media

imperialism, which examines information and media inequalities between nations and how these reflect broader issues of dependency, and analyses the hegemonic power of mainly US-dominated international media (Oliver Boyd-Barrett)

Criticisms: clear definitions of fundamental terms are absent (e.g. imperialism) lack of empirical evidence to support the arguments ignores the question of media form and content as well as the role of the audience media texts can be polysemic and are amendable to different interpretations by audiences who are not merely passive consumers, but active participants in the process of negotiating meaning (Fiske) does not take on board issues such as how global media texts work in national contexts, ignoring local patterns of media consumption.

Limitation of cultural and media imperialism approach: it does not fully take into account the role of the national elites, especially in the developing world.

Structural imperialism: The world consists of developed centre states and underdeveloped periphery states each centre and periphery state possesses a highly developed core and a less developed periphery. Thus, structural imperialism is a sophisticated type of dominance relation which cuts across nations basing itself on a bridgehead which the centre of the centre nation establishes in the centre of the periphery nation for the joint benefit of both. There is a harmony of interest between the core of the centre nation and the centre in the periphery nation, less harmony of interest within the periphery nations that within the centre nation and a disharmony of interest between the periphery nation of the centre nation and the periphery of the periphery

nation. there exists in the countries of the South a dominant elite whose interest coincide with the interests of the elite in the developed world Five types of imperialism that depend upon the type of exchange between centre and periphery nations: 1. Economic 2. Political 3. Military 4. Communication 5. Cultural form a syndrome of imperialism and interact to reinforce the dominance relationship of centre over periphery Periphery-centre relationships are maintained and reinforced by information flows and through the preproduction of economic activities

The basic mechanism of structural imperialism revolves around two forms of interaction: 1. Vertical: relationships are asymmetrical the flow of power is from the more developed state to the less developed state 2. Feudal: there is interaction along the spokes, from the periphery to the centre hub, but not along the rim from one periphery nation to another

Similarity between structural and cultural imperialism: both maintain that the structure of political and economic domination exercised by the centre over the periphery results in the recreation of certain aspects of the centres value system in the periphery. Concern for scholars working within the political economy approach: the close relationship between media and foreign policy the role of the mass media as an instrument for propaganda for corporate and state power Several filters of mainstream media systems: 1. Size, ownership and profit orientation of media firms 2. Their heavy reliance on advertising and dependence on business and governmental sources for information

3. The overall dominant ideology within which they operate These elements interact with and reinforce one another and set the premises of discourse and interpretation, and the definition of what is newsworthy

Hegemony: The dominant social group in a society has the capacity to exercise intellectual and moral direction over society at large and to build a news system of social alliances to support its aims not instrumented by military force, but rather by building consent by ideological control of cultural production and distribution common sense (Gramsci) In international communication, hegemony is used to explain the political function of the mass media in propagating and maintaining the dominant ideology. It is thus argued that although the media in the West are notionally free from direct governmental control, they nevertheless act as agents to legitimise the dominant ideology

Critical theory: Assembly-line character: cultural products manifested the same kind of management practices, technological rationality and organisational schemes as mass-produced industrial goods (Adorno & Horkheimer) Such production led to standardisation, resulting in a mass culture made up of a series of objects bearing the stamp of the culture industry leads to a deterioration of the philosophical role of culture They argued that in a capitalist economy, cultural products are produced and sold in media markets as commodities and the consumers buy them not just because of their worth but in exchange for entertainment or to fulfil their psychological needs. One-dimensional society: technological rationality/instrumental reason has reduced speech and though to a single dimension, which has abolished the distance required for critical thought (Marcuse)

The public sphere: An arena where public opinion is formed, which is independent of government and also enjoying autonomy and which is both accessible to entry and open to inspection by the citizenry (Habermas). Gives prominence to the role of information and a greater freedom of the press was fought for and achieved with parliamentary reform

Refeudalisation of the public sphere: The growing power of information management and manipulation through public relations and lobbying firms in the 20th century has contributed to contemporary debates becoming a faked version of a genuine public sphere.

Cultural studies perspectives on international communication: the Birmingham School : did pioneering work on exploring the textual analysis of media (especially TV), and ethnographic research. influenced by Halls encoding-decoding media discourse model, which theorised about how media texts are given preferred readings by producers and how they may be interpreted in different ways accepting the dominant meaning, negotiating with the encoded message or taking an oppositional view limited in perspective (only British-focused research) Eurocentrism: constituting one dimension of the culture and ideology of the modern capitalist world (Amin)

Theories of the information society: According to its supporters, an international information society is being created via the Internet, which will digitally link every home, office and business in a networked society based on what has been termed the knowledge economy these networks provide the infrastructure for a global information society (Negroponte) Criticism: these changes are technologically determined and ignore the social economic and political dimensions of technological innovation The medium is the message: media technology has more social effect on different societies and cultures than media content, looking at it in a historical context (McLuhan) Global village: new communication and information technologies would help bring people closer together (McLuhan) It is argued that US society has moved from an industrial to a postindustrial society, characterised by the dominant of information and information-related industries (Bell) the information age The information society is the third wave, after the agricultural and industrial eras, of human civilisation (Toffler) Third wave: characterised by increasing interconnectedness, contributing to the evolution of a universal interconnected network of audio, video and electronic text communication, which, some argue, will

promote intellectual pluralism and personalised control over communication (Neuman) Global villigisation: the transnationalisation of media and communication industries has been greatly facilitated by expansion of new international communication networks time-space compression digital capitalism: the growing informatisation of the economy has created a global economy which continues to be dominated by a few megacorporations, increasingly global in the production, distribution and consumption of their goods and services (e-commerce, Internet based trading) It has been claimed that new technologies have contributed to the decline of ideology Disadvantages of growing commodification of personal information: companies can exploit commercially values data on their users, and new technologies can be used for personal and political surveillance

Discourses of globalisation: New information and communication have made global interconnectivity a reality Globalisation is seen as fostering international economic integration and as a mechanism for promoting global liberal capitalism it is to be welcomed for the effect that it has in promoting global markets and liberal democracy (liberal interpretation) Idea of cosmopolitan: emphasises social and cultural life the expansion of information and communication technologies coupled with market-led liberal democracies are contributing to the creation of what has been called a global civil society The economic conception of globalisation views it as denoting a qualitative shift from a largely national to a globalised economy, in which national economics continues to predominate within nations, but are often subordinate to transnational processes and transactions. In sociological interpretations of globalisation, the notion of culture is of primary importance Globalising cultural forces in their encounters with different ideologies and traditions of the world produce heterogeneous dialogues Five scapes: 1. Ethnoscape: denotes flow of people (tourists, refugees, immigrants, students, professionals) from one part of the globe to another

2. Technoscape: includes the transfer of technology across national borders 3. Finanscape: deals with international flow of investment 4. Mediascape: refers to global media, especially its electronic version 5. Ideoscape: suggests ideological contours of culture (Appadurai) The five scapes influence culture not by their hegemonic interaction, global diffusion and uniform effects, but by their differences, contradictions and counter-tendencies Criticism: globalisation is the new cultural imperialism, given the concentration of international communication power among a few dominant actors in the global arena who want an open international order, created by their corporations McDonaldisation of society Also question the assumptions about the process of homogenisation as a result of the diffusion of the Western media and cultural products globally, arguing that the forces of fragmentation and hybridity are equally strong and they all affect societies. Glocalisation: expresses the global production of the local and the localisation of the global (Robertson) Global culture includes the proliferation of media technologies, especially cable television and satellite (creates global village) Models such as globalisation and international communism forget the complexity of the interaction of class with nationalism, religion, race, ethnicity and feminism to produce local political struggles.

A critical international communication theory? Empire: defines the new global form of sovereignty and a type of transnational network of counter-resistance, having the potential to bring global democratisation (Hardt & Negri). The role of new technologies, especially the Internet, in international communication has also informed the critical research agenda including conceptualising the communication distribution/diaspora; the possibilities of resistance and online activism and security-related concerns Solution cultural communication: working towards an innovative, more inclusive and cosmopolitan research agenda, one that cuts across

disciplinary, ethnic, national and religious boundaries to address the emerging cartography of global communication

Important Information from Dorfman & Mattelart: How to read Donald Duck Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic.

It is wrong to assume that Walt Disney is merely a businessman Disney comics reach over one million readers a week in Chile. o Yet there is so much screaming about the trampling underfoot (suppression, intimidation, restriction, repression, curbing etc) of the liberty of the press. o Disney is exempt. A Universal Disney family has been created as Disney characters hang on every wall, and decorate all sorts of objects. Disney has become the great supranational bridge across which all human beings may communicate with one another. Yet government propaganda experts say that Chilean children should not think, feel, love or suffer through animals. o Children and adults should see society as the rough, bitter, cruel and hateful society that is created in todays press. o Scrooge McDuck is the miserly millionaire o Donald is the eternal enemy of work who is dependent of Scrooge o Goofy is the innocent common man, victim of his clumsiness o Big Bad Wolf and Little Wolf teach children the difference between bad and evil. o And Mickey Mouse is Disney in a nutshell, where the mere presence gives a heart swell emotion. There is the implication that politics cannot enter areas of pure entertainment, especially those designed for children of tender years. Animals are exempt from vicissitudes of history and world politics, they are convenient symbols of a world beyond socio-economic realities. Disney has established a moral background, which draws the child down the proper ethical and aesthetic path. Yet! Childrens comics are devised by adults, whose work is justified by their idea of what a child should be.

o Comics show the child as a miniature adult, enjoying an idealized, gilded infancy, which is really nothing but the adult projection of some magic era beyond the reach of the harsh discord of daily life. o It is a safe haven away from harsh realities where the adult has selfgratification in creating something of his own dreams. It is the adults inner refuge. o The adult produces and the child consumes. o It is a closed circuit. Children have been conditioned by the magazines and the culture, which spawned them. In order to properly integrate into society, win affection, acceptance and rewards this literature is essential. o Adult values are projected onto the child as if childhood was a special domain where the values could be protected uncritically. o The imagination of the child is conceived as the past and future utopia of the adult, in an inner realm of fantasy. o This causes readers to find themselves caught between their desire and their reality, and in their attempt to escape to a purer realm, they only travel further back into their own traumas. o The result of mass culture. o Child fantasy, although created by adults, has become the exclusive reserve of the children. o The father must be absent, as the physical presence would be superfluous, even counterproductive, since the whole magazine is already his projection. o There is an authoritarian relationship between the adult and the child, where ideals are reinforced from the adult to the child via these comics. o Children will not only identify with Donald Duck because Donalds situation related to their own life, but also because the way they read or the way they are exposed to it, imitates the way Donald lives out his own problems. o It is a parent-child relationship.

Important Info from Hamelink: The Corporate Village (1977) International Communication has become part of an aggressive strategy that leads its long-range missiles to all corners of the globe. o Hardly any bad feelings in the economic and cultural distortions they create. o Cultural genocide is created. In capitalist conditions this system produces and distributes commodities according to such principles as accumulation, profit, and expansion. Economic poverty is paralleled with communication poverty. Corporate Village: an impersonal economic unit that exploits itself for maximum profits over long distances. o A pyramidal structure where the corporate industry is on top. o National ruling classes are in the middle o Villagers are at the bottom. There is a carefully protected division of power to keep the corporate village alive. People are aware of the negative implications of such a structure but: o Executives are aware and feel as individuals that they should do something about it, but in a system with such fierce competition, this hardly ever translates into corporate policy and action. Even in developing countries, the corporate village system has to be maintained whenever something new happens (such as the introduction of new technology). The protection of the corporate village has led to: o Cultural Levelling: stands for the process in which the corporate industrial ideal of the world as one economic unit is translated into cultural terms. o Makes the UN resolution Freedom of information as a fundamental human right adaptable to the corporate village as they are also a cultural aspect, and therefore they have to right to freedom across borders for their economic benefit. There are downsides to this freedom for the cultural village. o UNESCO has tried to support the development of national communication policies and the establishment of newspools by developing countries to

counteract Western news agencies o This will restrict the free, Western-engineered flow of information to and from developing countries. The South state they have just as much right to thrive in an international climate as the West. Yet they need to proper infrastructure to do so. Communication power includes access to communication infrastructure, to produce and distribute. o Most countries are communication powerless. o Their goal is to rise from the bottom of the pyramid to the top and to redistribute the economic and cultural power upsetting the protected pyramid.

Slides Week 3 Changes in the 1960s and 1970s o Imperialist View: Structural Imbalance Growing gap between rich and poor Developing countries = 70% of population but only 30% of income Dependency: For a developed country to be prosperous it had to exploit the developing world. This led to the New International Economic Order

Culture in the 1960s and 1970s: o Counter-cultures started to form (hippies!) o 3rd World: Increased concerns of cultural imperialism from the west Media Studies in the 1960s and 1970s: o A change in the transfer of electronic media from industrial countries to the third world. o Mid 1960s: US TV Exports were 2x TV exports from all other countries Media Imperialism: o Whose interests do the media serve? o Media Imperialism: the process whereby the ownership, structure, distribution, or content of the media interests by one country are singly or together subject to substantial external pressures from the media of any other country or countries without proportionate reciprocation of influence Shows such as Dallas or Dynasty were all over the world!

o Media went from the Centre to the Periphery which was done with: Affordability Technology Training Media Infrastructure US broadcasting models

Making other countries dependent

Criticized Media Imperialism: o Discarded by the US & UK as pro-soviet consipiration o Only looked it it from a top-down approach Failure of Media Imperialism: o Neglected to look at internal inequalities Exploitation by governments Popular communication in a country was not automatically replaced by western communication and media.

Wrong Assumptions: o Thought to be a hypodermic needle o Thought to be a one-way flow o Due to global media scarcity o Did not assume that there would be reverse imperialism

Media Imperialism today? o YES! Context has changed but problems are still there: Media-cultural industries have expanded and occupy large parts of the globe Cultural Submersion now includes the English language itself American styled Malls Theme parks International (English) music News or Cable news from foreign countries Reading translations of commercial bestsellers Eating in franchised restaurants

o YES! Also from the South:

Cold War ended in 1991 but problems still exist Huge imbalance in communications Not part of structural problems from the East-West struggle They were the result of problems on the North/South axis o Related to a marginalized south silenced by colonial policies, the cold war and economic globalization.

The UNESCO creation of the NWICO (New World Information and Communication Order) o 1974: Declaration on the Mass Media o 1977: McBride Commission o 1980: All members of UNESCO state there should be a NWICO to: Eliminate imbalances and inequalities Eliminate certain negative effects of monopolies and concentrations Allow equality and justice for mutual benefit Better balanced dissemination of information and ideas. Give developing countries the capacity to improve their own situation and infrastructure Have developed countries help them attain this objective Respect cultural identity for these countries

What happened to the NWICO? o Few measures were implemented o 1984-5: USA, UK and Singapore withdrew with 30% of the budget o 1989: UNESCO drops the NWICO and adopts the New Communication Strategy to: Encourage free flow of info Promote wider and better disseminated info

No obstacles to freedom of expression To strengthen communication capacities of developing countries

EMPHASIS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY Literature week 4: Thussu: p 66-69 Thussu: Chapter 4 McChesney & Schiller Slides Chapter 3 The process of deregulation and privatisation in the communications and media industries combined with new digital information and communication Technologies to enable a quantum leap in international communication, illustrated most vividly in the satellite industry. The new information and communication technologies have helped to create a global communication infrastructure based on regional and global satellite networks, used for telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic commerce For most of the 20th century, the state was the main provider of national telecommunications infrastructure and equipment and regulator of international traffic (e.g. PTT) People began to oppose national monopolies, arguing that a competitive environment would improve services and reduce costs Open skies policy (Reagan): established to break the public monopoly and to allow private telecommunications networks to operate in the national (US) telecommunication arena. Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT): established in 1947 to provide a framework for international trade after WWII included trade in services for the first time on a par with the traditional commercial and manufacturing sectors (reflected the neo-liberal push towards opening up protected markets) However, there was tension between the free-marketers and those who argued for a more regulated system to protect domestic markets and interests The WTO argued that dismantling barriers to the free flow of information was essential for economic growth it is not possible to have significant trade in goods and services without a free trade of information General Agreement on Trade Services: first multilateral, legally enforceable agreement covering trade and investment in the services sector and the one with the

most potential impact on international communication (most significant component: GATS Annex on Telecommunications equal accessibility for both foreign and national suppliers)

Chapter 4 The convergence of both media and technologies, and the process of vertical integration in the media industries to achieve this aim, have resulted in the concentration of media power in the hands of a few large transnational corporations, undermining media plurality and democratic discourse Before globalisation, most media corporations had distinct areas of business. With deregulation and the relaxation of cross-media ownership restrictions, media companies look to broaden and deepen their existing interests which has lead to convergence and acquisitions Media conglomerates: Time Warner (USA; entertainment & infotainment company CNN/Warner Bros) Disney (USA; film & entertainment company Disney Channel, ESPN) Sony (Japan; electronics & multimedia entertainment Columbia Pictures) Bertelsmann (Germany; largest publisher of books and magazines) Viacom/CBS (USA; large entertainment company Paramount Pictures/MTV)

Other players: News Corporation (USA) NBC (USA), Globo (Brazil), Zee TV (India), SMG (China), Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! Synergy: the process by which one company subsidiary is used to complement and promote another Many people have expressed fears about the possibility of so much media power being concentrated in so few corporations, claiming that these few (mainly American) conglomerates may act like an alliance in production and distribution of global information and entertainment (McChesney, Bagdikian) the media may become the mouthpiece for these corporations and their supporters in governments (existent relationship between the media and the government)

 A significant proportion of the revenue of leading media companies comes from television (partly due to establishment of satellite TV) mainly documentaries and adult entertainment TV (easily exported to all nations/cultures), but also sport and popular music Blue Chip partnerships: joint ventures with internationally known commercial companies (strategy used by the BBC to expand into the global market) Global cinema and television screens are dominated by Hollywood, and Englishlanguage publishing is predominant (led by the USA/UK: duopoly) Global news and information networks/News agencies: AP (USA; worlds largest news gathering organisation) Reuters (UK; largest financial information provider) Agence France Presse (AFP) (France; financial provider of news)

Other major agencies: United Press International (UPI, USA), Xinhua (China), ITARTASS (Russia), (WTO, IMF) These players dominate the global financial news services and international television news (especially AP and Reuters)
CNN is the world leader in international news channels (in front of BBC and Sky News) symbolises globalisation of American television journalism, influencing news agendas across the world and shaping international communication

McChesney & Schiller: The Political Economy and Debate on Media Ownership The conventional view of the relationship between the government and the media is the free press. Generated by private citizens and free of government censorship and control. Non-governmental action has resulted in media and communication as a profit-seeking business competing in the marketplace. Yet, the government has always been in conflict with the private media The state has been crucial and necessary in the formation of successive communication systems. o Funding for infrastructure o Formation of copyright laws o Without it, the commercial system would not exist. The massive media conglomerates were built (a majority at least) on the superprofits and leverage generated by having radio, tv or cable monopoly licenses. o Yet, the corporate view sees these privileges as won by Immaculate Conception and natural with no government help. The regulatory and policy-making process is corrupt o The public has no clue that policies are being made in their name without their consent. Professional Journalism was supposed to solve the problem of monopoly capitalist and corrupt control over the media for a democratic society. o Professional journalism does not do this. o Tends to be a tepid journalism that reflects the range of existing elite opinion. Private, corporate media and governments are better seen as partners that are more adept at serving those atop the social pyramid than those who are found closer at the bottom. This is a weak democracy.

NeoLiberalism

 The US Model of communication is being exported across the planet. Global communication policy have almost always been spread out among the elite of the nation-states. Odd ones out are the poorer nations, colonies and semi-colonies. o Communication systems were designed to suit needs of colonial masters Caused the creation of the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). o To insist that industrialized countries provide the resources needed by poorer nations to establish viable communication systems of their own to become independent of the former colonizers. The trajectory has run COUNTER to the NWICO since the 1980s Neoliberalism or corporate globalization has caused the creation of international policies supportive of business domination. o Profit seeking corporations and investors are the heroes of economic development. Reason for this is the collapse of the Soviety Union and Chinas embrace of the market, which motivates this transformation. The conventional explanation of globalized communication is centred on technology. This is misleading, as technological determinism is not the sole reason for this boom. Political forces and neoliberalism have eliminated barriers to commercial exploitation of the media, foreign investments and concentrated media ownership. Neoliberalism has not been unopposed o Strong traditions of protection for domestic media and cultural industries in many countries (Norway, Denmark, Spain) o Caused the building of ground rules to protect cultural heritage Proponents of neoliberalism argue that trade barriers harm consumers and that they have more to gain by opening up their borders. This has caused the creation of a global oligopoly o Few leading conglomerates dominate the larger process of reorganization and aspire to grow larger and more diversified to reduce risk, avoid being

outflanked by rivals and enhance profit-making. Global Media System The global corporate media oligopoly has two distinct facets. o Dominant companies are moving across the planet at breakneck speed to capitalize on the potential for growth abroad without being outflanked by competitors. o Concentration has increased, with fewer players in the market and more subsidiaries of conglomerates starting to form. This is being done for one simple piece of logic: o Get big very quickly, or get swallowed up by someone else. Advertising is also very important in the global media system The commercial media system is the necessary transmission belt for business to market their wares across the world; globalization would not exist without it. We must also not ignore second tier firms. o Companies that control niche markets on a national and regional scale (Reed Elsevier) o They exercise important influence over domestic policy making. A much smaller number of LARGE firms now dominate the media at a regional and national level. Second-tier organizations also reach beyond national borders They are hardly oppositional to the global system o Tend to dominate the regional markets o Have extensive ties with large media TNCs o Work closely with wall street banks o Have pro-business agendas The media market more closely resembles a cartel than a competitive marketplace o Leading CEOs know each other on first name basis

o Have to work together for the greater good o Probably work together to enable price fixing of goods o Makes them very powerful corporations with political lobbying power on a national, regional and global level. With respect to culture: o Global Commercial Media Systems respect no tradition or custom if it stands in the way of profits. o Hollywood films are not merely purveyors of US culture anymore, they are increasingly concentrated, commercialized and globalized. No discernable difference can be made when you look at ownership of a company in terms of shareholders. They can be Japanese, French, US or Australian.

o The film audience is also becoming homogeneous. o If audiences prefer local productions, conglomerates will make local movies (e.g. Bollywood productions and investments). Hypercommercialism has led to a political bias. o Consumerism, class inequality and individualism are seen as natural parts of the commercialized and profit-making market. o Political activity, civic values and anti-market activities are marginalized and hidden from public view. o Journalism provides drivel and crap on TV stations in the interest of these conglomerates. o Censorship in free societies is infinitely more sophisticated and thorough than in dictatorships, because unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without any need for an official ban. The internet has also become part of the media system and betrays no intrinsic or anticommercial logic or principle.

Global Consolidation: A Two-Stage Process (still part of McChesny & Schiller) Two stages of consolidation should be distinguished Stage 1: o Between the mid 1980s and 2000 mergers and acquisitions across the media industry were very visible o Even companies (Rupert Murdochs Sky) that were in trouble due to moving too fast, kept on driving themselves to the limit to acquire other companies o Expensive transactions led to many people making A LOT of money Stage 2: o Technology bubble collapsed in 2001 o No more upward soaring share prices o Companies used inflated stock and overvalued acquisitions to sell bonds leading to enormous debts. o Became a source of instability Has not stopped companies though, and it is slowly rebuilding itself.

Telecommunications Modernization of networks is mainly the result of expansion of transnational capitalism Access has expanded spectacularly The real effects are contradictory to woah, thats great news o Poorer countries still use less capacious satellites despite the production of optical fibres that offer greater efficiency and economy o Poorer countries have to wait longer. o Increased transnational network systems steeply accelerated the speed and volume of international financial capita flows which leads to increased vulnerability on stock markets. o Social priorities are skewed from above to reflect the needs of business

networks and users and investors. Caused national priorities to shift from roads, airports etc to telecommunications.

o Profits are flowing disproportionately towards investors o Quality of Service is low for those who cant afford good service. o This has led to a giant debt as modernization and expansion, as well as poor service provision has cost a lot of money o Has led to debt reduction being the number one priority for major corporations. The communications market is very important for social deliberation.

Slides Week 4: Global Media Marketplace 2 Approaches to (media) economics o Economics: The study of production, distribution, and utilization of scarce resources (including communication resources) The study of social relations that result from the wants that people have.

o Political Economy: The study of the social relations, particularly power relations that mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources There is NO free speech.

The Econosphere Economic Behaviour Regulation The Market Individuals Goal

Traditional Economics Separate and Bounded Individuals follow universal rules of exchange As little as possible Invisible hand (impartial) Consumers Efficiency

Political Economy System of Wealth Social practices, shaped by distribution of power Crucial Nothing natural, biased Citizens Justice

 The Distrusts of the Political Economy: o The economy is natural There is NO invisible hand There is NO alternative (TINA) Bringing politics back into the economy gives back control.

o Concentration of ownership and control Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.

o Freedom free market free flow of information

What is Freedom? o Negative Freedom: Freedom From Obstacles o Positive Freedom: Freedom for (the ability to be free to do something). Freedom of speech is: o Libertarian ((neo) liberalism) vs. Democracy Cultural Industries. o In the cultural industry, organizations manufacture newspapers, advertisements, television that play a pivotal role in organizing the images and discourses through which people make sense of the world. o Unless you have cultural exception that the political economy believes SHOULD happen.

How are the rules of international communication discussed? o 1960s 1980s: UNESCO, UN and ITU o Since 1980s: GATT (general agreement on tariffs and trade, WTO world trade organization,

WTO: Their agenda is Free Trade Want an open trading system based on multilaterally agreed rules based on common courtesy and sense. Technology has allowed more content and trade to be delivered across borders. WTO has agreements in: o Telecommunications (108 members) o Postal and courier services (54 members) o Audiovisual services (30 members) The are putting increased pressure on cultural industries to: o Liberalize trade through negotiations.

o But how do we assess their efforts? Look at the Rich-Poor Gap. The idea is to have a transnational communication system Integrates communities and classes. This idea of the WTO works for Europe, North America and Japan (as well as the elite) But for the rest of the world it remains a fantastic idea but far from reality.

EMPHASIS ON POLITICAL ECONOMY Literaturen week 5: Boyd-Barrett UNESCO Guest Lecture Readings Week 5: News Agency Majors: Ownership, Control and Influence Reevaluated Boyd-Barrett (2008) Global news agencies are organizations who exist for the gathering and selling of news through the world for the benefit of retail media and non media outlets, including businesses, banks, brokerage houses, governments and private individuals. Scholarly research has historically, dedicated a disproportionate amount of attention to Western-based news agencies. o Western journalists regarded TASS and Xinhua as indistinguishable from official information services of their respective countries (The USSR and China), saying that state propaganda is poor news and inferior to Western standards. o But AP, is a cooperate owned by American daily newspapers, served American media. o Yet, from 1985, Xinhua distanced itself from Chinas dependence on government making it more trustworthy. The relationship of state news agency news may be ambiguous: o It reflects an unevenness in the states control over its executive news agencies at nation/regional levels. o Shows conflicts of interest in its internal landscape Anglo-American objectivity is hardly ever realized o Pressures of time, resources and privileging the wealthier elite lead to less objectivity o Western agencies do better with events than with processes, at relating what has happened, not why it happened. The News Agency landscape has become more diverse with a growth in wholesale news services as well as second-tier news agencies forming on a local and regional level.

 But coverage of individual countries, since the 2000s has grown less substantial. Although there are broader amounts of news sources, it s still represented by mainly the West. o The majors are still concentrated in the most prosperous nations. o Even newer nations that are wealthier and more prosperous show little ambition to acquire major status due to the high entry barriers. News agencies have also become more autonomous, or more independent in terms of ownership Historically, news agencies reflected the interests of their host governments. Reuters reflected the British government during the 1900s, but it had a more commercial than political interest Havas and Wolff has more political than commercial interest due to their overreliance on government aid. State Involvement also increased during the de-colonization of many countries in the development of new national news agencies. Todays news agencies however, are very independent. o Most agencies require impartiality and objectivity o Others (AP) are restrained from competing with other interests. Co-operative Ownership Structure: Represents newspapers, journalists and the state. o Seen as more robust, democratic and freer of dependence on political and commercial influences. Commercial interests for revenue are now seen as more important than political reasoning because of 5 factors: o (1) Greater acceptance that political influence of news agencies detracts from their credibility o (2) Privatization and commercialization of broadcasting reduces roe of stateowned broadcasters o (3) Development of financial news markets has reduced the necessity for agency dependence on state-support (Reuters) o (4) Reduction by Reuters and AFP in exclusive distribution through national

news agencies. o (5) Expansion of new media and new media markets. The worlds news system in the 1900s used to be a cartel. o Each top-tier member had the right to distribute their news service for a certain price in a certain place by pre-determined formal agreements. Today, the global news system is no longer a cartel, but still hierarchical. o Kept in place by accumulated benefits of market advantage rather than by formal agreements between majors. o Led to a greater range of suppliers of wholesale news. Still, the most important markets for news agencies are domestic and geo-political regions, as well as North American and Europe.

International Commission for the Study of Communication Problems (UNESCO) (1979) The great difference between news agencies: o A few of them are enormous multinationals that collect and disseminate news all around the world. o Mostly they are national undertakings for the circulation of news inside a country o Some are limited only to national news reporting o Many have been created to collect and supply all kinds of news to those interested o Some claim political or social objectives o Some follow ethical or social norms o A minority is in competition in the national and international market o Most are in competition on international levels, but have a monopoly at home. o A few have exclusive rights to production. The great difference in internal organization of news agencies: o Some are organized according to the rules of ordinary businesses o Others are co-operative, non-profit organizations financed by newspapers/broadcasting organizations o Some are directly controlled by the state o Some are autonomous public corporations, created or owned by the state or in private. Most national news agencies subscribe or arrange deals with world news agencies for foreign news There are agencies and services that produce and supply finished articles with soft news and hard news. There is growing cooperation in regional newspapers in third-world countries. Increased technological developments have increased amounts of news agencies.

 Establishment and Structure of News Agencies: o Basic factors that have prevented establishment of news agencies in some countries: Lack of infrastructure Low priority External news agencies can provide the news Lack of financial resources.

o Some countries pool resources from private firms o Others choose private/public o Others alternative is only state-support.

News Collection o Journalists encounter difficulties in news collecting: Domestically: Denied access to information No opportunity to check news Causes transmission of doubtful news.

Internationally: Opening an office is a lengthy process Easier to obtain a license (but this still takes time) Obtaining a VISA Freedom to travel Red Tape Practice of Secrecy

News Dissemination

o Obstacles: Censorship of communications Restrictions on dispatch of film and photo Refusal for export licenses

o Justifications for such obstacles: Journalists disregard for: Technical Problems: o Lack of facilities Lack of postal services Use of local languages (limited) Transport facilities Lack of vehicles Lack of technology Ethical Norms Disrespect for cultural identity Heed harm to individuals and their privacy

o Factors slowing down efforts to solve this problem: Financial constraints Lack of qualified technicians Competition between suppliers of media Underdeveloped industrial capacity in developing country Lack of information Insufficient readiness in developing country

Arguments from third world countries: o The international news media network is dominated by the west (1979) o News is imperialist

o Pictures of the world are imbalanced and untrue Existing news networks largely follow links of former colonies and economic ties. o Ghana has its news from the Ivory coast filtered through Paris

Claims have been put forward that Western agencies give low coverage of the third world and that it is distorted. There is (1979) little empirical evidence for this claim. News reporters are prone to crisis reporting and distorting the news as they are indifferent when reporting on the Third World. The root of the problem is that the West has a lack of commitment and does not see the Third World ideology, aka, the West is oblivious to the development of the Third World.

Guest Lecture: International news Geography: Then and Now: News, more than any cultural form, carries the burden of defining the world in which citizens operate [Lewis] Unlike news, maps are objective to the most part. News affects our mental maps (how we see the world, and from which angle). o News stories are selected (agenda setting) Certain news however is not reported on. o Africa is the least reported continent in the Western World o Men are 83% of the time, represented as the experts in the field. News Agencies (AFP, Reuters, AP) set news agendas o The institutional gatekeeper are the news agencies. Short History of news agencies: o Pre 1800s: Manual/Physical (people, pigeons) o 1800s: Electro/Mechanical (telegraph, telephone) o 1970s: Electro/Mechanical (2) (TV, Internet) o Now: Digital News Agencies are relatively monopolistic. Decolonization after WWII News Nation States News flows keep mirroring the centre periphery. UNESCO tried to form a contra-flow of news o Idea was that 3rd world countries would receive truthful representations. Yet, news in developing countries is often channelled through London or Paris. There is limited agency is African countries and for foreign news, they rely on world agencies as they have no foreign correspondents . There is no direct communication link between developing countries. o There are 1391 links between the USA and the UK

o There are only 2 links between India and Malaysia.

News Agencies in the developing world: o Rely on the state for economic survival o Depend on the agencies of ex imperial powers for world news o Are told that national news agencies in the national scope are not to be trusted. The New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) Controversy: o Developed during and after the cold war o Developing countries are the victims of domination in information o Subject to imperialism o The motive (is almost) always to control o Trends in mass media led to concentration and monopolization Greater risk of on-sidedness and conformity

o Greater gap between rich and poor o Imbalance in news flows o News is framed (generally negative for third world) This has NOT changed over the years, as news is reported on in ethnocentric ways (where one society feels it is better than all others).

Ideological Shifts within UNESCO o 1950s: Free flow was key for the Western world. Info available for those with the necessary resources o 1960s/70s: Free flow actually seen as one-way flow. National news agencies in the developing world seen ideological support for politics o 1984: USA and UK leave UNESCO due to one way flow.

News Agencies Today:

o 3 Leading News Agencies o AP, Reuters and AFP o Fewer corporations are providing information using fewer resources o Age of hyper-commercialism and infotainment o Western Societies decline in the amount of quality of foreign news reporting. News agencies are forming CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera Still too western Agenda Setting and Imperialism Increased homogenization

Today is no different than 100 years ago If we can relate to something, we will find it more interesting. IPS news focuses on minorities

Traditional Model: o News coverage: reliable news on national and international level for customers o Distribution: distribute it via global networks telex or satellite Todays Model: o Everybody can publish o Everybody can distribute o No longer single agency of news

Perceived economic value of content is approaching zero

EMPHASIS ON CULTURE Literature week 6: Thussu Chapter 5 Fursich Slides Chapter 5 The general pattern of media ownership indicates that the West, led by the USA, dominates the international flow of information in all major media sectors Some argue that such globally transmitted programming will promote a shared media culture, a global village based on the English language and Western lifestyles and values It has been argued that international communication and media are leading to the homogenisation of culture, but the patterns of global/national/local interactions may be more complex Hybridity: how global genres are adapted to suit national cultural codes Television has a much wider reach than the print media, as millions of people still cannot read or write Television is thus central to a global mass culture dominated by the image, imagery and styles of mass advertising (Hall) Globalisation of consumerism: Coca-Cola-isation, Disneyfication, McDonaldisation One reason for the global appeal of US popular culture is its openness and mingling of a multiplicity of cultures, many of which are themselves imports from outside the USA. Three reasons for the worldwide success of US television (Katz and Liebes): The universality of some of its themes and formulae (makes programmes psychologically accessible) The polyvalent/open potential of many of the stories (their value as projective mechanisms and as material for negotiation and play in the families of man) The sheer availability of American programmes in a marketplace where national producers cannot fill more than a fraction of the hours they feel

they must provide The fact that particular television programmes have had such worldwide success (e.g. Star Trek, Baywatch), is not necessarily due to their entertainment quality or interest, but rather because they were promoted by the huge media conglomerates (global branding and the internationalisation of the advertising industry) With the proliferation of television globally (more channels/networks) dedicated childrens channels have become an integral part of the international television market (also linked to global toy market) Advantage for childrens TV channels: animation translates well in overseas market (minimal need for cultural interpretation) The global flow of consumerist messages through international television has been seen by some as evidence of a new form of cultural imperialism, especially in the nonWestern world (Schiller) mainly due to the extensive reach of the US-based media, helping the USA to use its soft power to promote its national interests UNESCO studies have proven that there is generally a one-way traffic, mainly in entertainment-oriented programming, from the major Western-exporting nations to the rest of the world One key result of the privatisation and proliferation of television outlets, and the growing glocalisation of US media products, is that American film and television exports have witnessed a massive increase between 1922 and 2004 (Europe continues to be the largest market for American film and TV content). US presence on European television has increased substantially, but are often dubbed into local languages/contexts (content is based on American-style popular entertainment forms, but have nationally specific themes and setting) The British lead the European television scene In non-Western nations (e.g. sub-Saharan Africa), the poverty existent makes it difficult for local television channels to make their own programmes, forcing them to depend technically and financially on international organisations or Western media corporations One key reason for US dominations of the global entertainment market is its film industry (Hollywood) One of the most contested issues in global film exports has been the trade of films between the USA and Europe (EU is dominant by American productions, while

European films only cover 2% of the American film market) In developing countries, many of whom have no film industry of their own, Hollywood films account for a majority of their film imports Concerns have been raised about the imbalance in global flows of media products asymmetries in flows of ideas and good The standardisation of programmes on the worlds cinema and television screens risks the disappearance of cultural and linguistic identities which many societies consider to be a basic component of their national sovereignty risks cultural diversity (UNESCO) Many countries have regulations on maintaining a certain level of local programming on TV (e.g. CBC Canada, TWF Europe) global TV companies are against this Uruguay Round of GATT: recognised the role of audio-visual products in reflecting national cultural values and identities permitted governments to impose national screen quotes (USA against this: like other sectors, the media sector should follow free-market principles) Concerns about the impact of the US domination of international communication and media on culture and linked with the question of language and cultural identity and the rise of English as the global language. English has become the main language due to the British domination of the global in the 19th and first half of the 20th century, including the domination over the telegraph. Only those authors who can write in English, or whose works are translated into English, are considered international, and have success in the international market International media organisations are increasingly becoming conscious of the varying tastes of their consumers in different parts of the world increase in trend towards the regionalisation and localisation of media content Wherever one looks one can find similar types of programmes being broadcasted, although the language and the context may be localised The globalisation of certain television formats may give the impression of homogenisation, but television is simultaneously global and national, shaped by the globalisation of media economics and the pull of local and national cultures Many global media corporations also produce regional editions of their newspapers and magazines to provide a regional perspective on issues relevant to their respective

readers Advertising is also being regionalised to cater national and regional priorities The flow of music culture is an example of cultural movement Routine viewing in one particular cultural and political context may vary considerably between and within nations, also in terms of rural/urban, male/female and class distinctions Western programming is still watched by a relatively small percentage of the population in much of the non-Western world yet the people who do watch it have significant power and influence thus it is promoting a globalised, Westernised elite which believes in the supremacy of the market and liberal democracy, as defined by the West Rather than creating a homogenised culture, globalisation of Western culture may be producing heterogeneous disjunctures: the global-local cultural interaction is leading to a hybrid culture, which blurs the boundaries between the modern and the traditional, the high and low culture, and their national and global culture glocalisation Glocalisation: cultural fusion as a result of adaptation of Western media genres to suit local languages, styles and cultural conventions, using new communication technologies (e.g. Zee TV mixes English and Hindi content).

Reading week 6: Between Credibility and Commodification: Non-fiction entertainment as a global media genre Frsich Global media expansion is connected to other trends such as the fragmentation of audiences, industry consolidation (merging) and greater profit expectations This competitive climate favours a non-risk approach to programming, more conservative managerial tactics and lean management strategies (outsourcing and shared financing) One the genres fitting these new programming demands is non-fiction entertainment (Discovery Communications Inc.) There is not a direct inevitable relationship between media commercialisation and preference for entertainment versus information, but a complex process involving strategic institutional decisions and marketing considerations in a competitive market creates this new type of genre distinction Programmes that are non-critical and non-political, combined with a focus on celebratory worldwide understanding, are representative of this programming model content that contradicts this jeopardises a shows longevity as a global non-fiction programme. Political motivation for deregulation: Neoliberalism (and capitalism) has motivated an increasing number of countries to deregulate their media industries allowing commercial stations as competition to the more traditional public service systems and permit foreign ownership of media outlets. Economic motivation for deregulation: it has increased the competition among television programmers in many countries an escalation of conglomeration of the media industry Technological development motivation for deregulation: it has been driven by technological developments ending the scarcity of frequencies (satellite television) Digitalisation has lead to convergence of technologies and blurred the boundaries between previously separate media and providers Two distinctive developments (through trends in TV industry): - Fragmentation of audiences (narrowcasting) due to access to an everincreasing amount of channels - Commodification of the TV landscape (assigning value to goods that were not first seen as valuable price competition) due to increasing competition among providers Blockbuster mentality: the reliance on time-proven formulas and genres, on celebrity casting and on developing a few global hits that can be marketed across different media outlets as opposed to many small projects with lower profit margins (riskaverse management strategies) Marxist approach: increasing competition and commercialisation of the TV landscape lead to more commercialised programming

 Three driving forces behind global branding same-genre extension (e.g. CNN CNN International/Radio/Online, etc.) (in economic terms): - The difficulty of launching a new product in a saturated market - The need for audience loyalty across media platforms in a multichannel TV environment - The potential of savings through synergy effects across borders and technologies

Slides Week 6: Media Flows from the Center to the Periphery Culture in International Communications o Continuum has formed as a result of communication across cultures and their intercultural influences. o There is homogeneity and heterogeneity. Culture in the Modernization Theory o There is a modern vs. a traditional mindset o Diffusion of the modern world culture (scientific, rational, urban, industrial etc) Media Imperialism is a threat to national authentic cultures The Old Theories: o Cultural Essentialism (Theory) Uni-dimensional categories of belonging Culture and ethnicity as fixed and impermeable Purely authentic, and pure. o Intercultural Communication is: Zero Sum Game: The winnings of one player must equal the losses of the other player to equal zero. One-way flow from north to south. Media is an instrument for cultural change Audiences are the subject of diffusion or imperialism Causes homogeneity. Arguments VS Cultural Essentialism: The world and culture has changed Deterritorialization: mobility of capital, people, ideas Hybrid is new form. Theories of culture have changed. Culture is a complex form Changes in the world define and help us understand culture.

o o o o o

Other views: o Cultural Pluralism: There are multiple dimensions of culture Gender Race Ethnicity Religion o These are flexible and dynamic o Creates a hybrid form that is not pure. o Cultural Hybrid: Cultural identities that are in transition, between different

positions, which draw on different cultural traditions and which are the product of those complicated crossovers and cultural mixes common in a globalized world. How cultural pluralism sees media o Cultural pluralism pays attention to how media is read locally o Sees media as being culturally bound o Sees global flows of culture occur through ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes and ideoscapes. o Places emphasis on heterogeneity o Rethinks media flows from the center to the periphery o BUT it ignores structure and power. Critique of Cultural Pluralism: o We see the danger in reducing the reception of multinational cultural production to the passive act of consumption, which leaves no room for the active role of creation by agents of disjunctures and dislocations between the flow of industrial products and cultural products. o HOWEVER, we also see the danger in celebrating the inventiveness of these consumers of the culture industry, as there is a temptation to use scattered examples of cultural flows dribbling from the periphery to the chief centers of the culture industry. This causes us to dismiss the big picture of capitalism.

EMPHASIS ON CULTURE Literature week 7: Thussu Chapter 6 Iwabuchi Slides Chapter 6 The globalisation of Western media has been a major influence in shaping media cultures internationally While there are forces for convergence and homogenisation, the spread of the US model of professional/commercial television has also brought beneficial changes to some national and regional media industries (e.g. revival of culture and creative industries) Westernisation has parallels with Easternisation and South-South flows (e.g. Japanese animation, Indian films, etc.) Factors: The availability of digital technology and satellite networks has enabled the development of regional broadcasting A privatised and deregulated broadcasting and telecommunication environment has enabled an increasing flow of content from the global South to the North

The availability of myriad television channels has complicated the national media discourse (viewers can have simultaneous access to a variety of local, regional, national and international channels, thus being able to engage in different levels of mediated discourse) In countries where the medias systems were tightly regulated by the state apparatus, globalisation has brought a fresh and more international perspective (e.g. enhanced media professionalism and more freedom of the press) Global television has also created the phenomenon of global media events (e.g. Olympic Game, natural or human disasters) The use of television for political purposes is on the increase, as visual media can have tremendous power to influence political and social attitudes (e.g. spin) Advantages of the globalisation of Western television:

created jobs in the media industry it has a liberatory potential that can contribute to strengthening liberal democratic culture, through its modernity its promotes gender equality and freedom from the national strait-jacket

The Western style of professional television journalism has influenced programmemaking in many countries (e.g. current-affairs structure) The growing Western cultural presence has also produced discontent in some countries (e.g. Islamic World; due to 9/11 anti-American and anti-Islamic sentiments) clash of civilisations/fundamentalisms Westoxication: the adoption and flaunting of superficial consumerist attributes of fads and commodities, originating in the USA. Non-Western countries have tried to restrict the reception of Western satellite TV by introducing licensing regimes (often banned on the grounds that the content is inappropriate to that particular culture) Partly as a reaction to perceived Westernisation of their culture and partly as a reaction to the alleged distortion in representations of non-Western cultures in the global media, many countries have experienced a cultural revival, often influenced by religious groups and encouraged by political establishments, acting as a barrier to the flow of Western media products Fears of a global harmonisation of culture, due to the globalisation of Western television forms may not be entirely justified the cultural interactions between Western media products and non-Western societies remain complex (e.g. MiddleEastern countries have their own version of Barbie, and despise the Western version) Most imported programmes rarely make it to prime-time slots, as people prefer entertainment in their own language, catering to their own cultural priorities Anti-Western/anti-American sentiments are partly related to the broader geopolitical and cultural changes in the international environment in the post-cold war era (e.g. 9/11 attacks) Evidence shows that new trans-border television networks are appearing from the periphery to the centres of global media and communication industries The deregulation of broadcasting, which has been a catalyst for the extension of private television networks, has also made it possible for private satellite broadcasters to aim beyond the borders of the country where the network is based (in contrast to state/public broadcasters)

 Reason for the proliferation of transnational channels: the physical movement of people from one geographical location to another, carrying with them aspects of their culture ethnoscape (Appadurai) The Southern presence in the metropolitan centres of the world has been brought about by deterritorialisation: the loss of the natural relation of culture to geographical and social territories. The nature of culture mixing can lead to a hybridisation of cultures Diasporic communities use different types of media to keep in touch with their culture, nowadays through satellite television channels The demand for such channels also reflects the lack of provision for minority communities by mainstream media and national broadcasters Significant media developments in the arena of international communication: 1990s: pan-Arabic television (more channels led to questioning of suitability of media content) 20th century: the rise of China as a major economic power (significant role in globalisation makes sure its viewpoint is visible in the global media sphere)

Examples international players of contraflow from Global South: Latin American telenovelas, Al Jazeera, Phoenix (China) and the Indian Film Industry (Bollywood) These examples do not show that the Western media domination has diminished the emergence of regional players contributing to a decentred cultural imperialism is not likely to have significant impact on the Western hegemony of global media cultures Nevertheless, there does exist a blurring of boundaries, mixing of genres, languages and a contraflow of cultural products from the peripheries to the centres transculturation, hybridity and indigenisation. The desire to experience the new is balanced by that to protect cultural sovereignty (relates to Gandhis quote I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any)

Reading Week 7: Contra-flows or the Cultural Logic of Uneven Globalisation? Iwabuchi Media globalisation is often discussed in terms of the further penetration of American cultures and worldviews yet such a view would be unproductively US-centric; it namely disregards the increase in non-Western exports and intraregional, non-Western flows In many parts of the world, media and cultural flows have been significantly deAmericanised or de-Westernised evidence of the relative demise of the Western cultural hegemony as well as a corrective to a West-centric analysis of media and cultural globalisation The question to be examined is whether and how this development testifies to the deterioration of uneven global media structure and power relations Three decentring trends of media globalisation: The rise of non-Western players The prevalence of glocalism The activation of non-Western regional connections

These developments are not seriously challenging but in fact constitutive of the restructuring process of uneven cultural globalisation, as opposing forces are working simultaneously and interactively rise of non-Western players (e.g. Japan) Japan especially has success in games and cartoons/animation films (Pokemon, Sailormoon , etc.) cultural exports Difference to American cultural exports: they do not aim at selling own way of life free from any association with particular national, racial or cultural characteristics Trend of media globalisation: the increasing centrality of localism based on cultural adaption glocalisation: the strategy of tailoring cultural products to local conditions (market strategy for transnational media corporations) The Japanese media industry is also successful in selling television formats Japanese media culture is especially successful in East Asian media markets said to be due to cultural proximity (close to own culture) Globalisation has been experienced unequally around the world in the context of a modern history dominated by the West cultural, political, economic and military hegemony People have discovered that many of the worlds cultures are becoming

simultaneously similar to and different from their own due to a complex perception of cultural distance and unequal global cultural encounters (through the media) The increase in Japanese cultural exports can be viewed as a sign that some changes are occurring in the structuring force of cross-border cultural flows and connections It is no longer possible or desirable to view the uneven structure of global cultural connections as dyadic, with one-way transfers of culture from the centre to the periphery cultural power still does matter, but it is being dispersed through the web of corporate alliances taking place in various parts of the world (the power structure is being decentred at the same time as be recentred in this process) The efficacy of the nation-states boundary policing in the modern constitution of politics, economy and culture is problematised in the globalisation process The term transnational more productively directs our attention to a new perspective of the flows, disregarding the boundaries set up and controlled by the nation-states (most important flows: capital, people and media/images) Transnational connections do not fully displace national boundaries, thoughts and feelings Transnational media flows highlight the fact that it is no longer tenable or any country to contain its cultural orientation and agendas within clearly demarcated national boundaries. The media are stimulating cosmopolitan awareness among the inhabitants of the global village With the border dividing countries and cultures becoming porous and burred, and the power structure fragmenting and dispersing, exclusion and imbalance are being violently institutionalised on a number of levels. It is becoming imperative that public dialogue with all citizens be promoted to discuss how culture can be used for the maximisation of social interests. Critically attending to how contra-flows seem to be collusive in (re)producing cultural asymmetry and unevenness on various levels (local, national, regional and global) has become more important than ever before.

Slides Week 7: Local Flows and Counter Flows How the local also influences other/global cultures The decentering trends in counter-flows: o Rise of non-Western players o Glocal Production o Non Western Regional Flows o Diasporic Audiences Telenovelas o Provide a contra-flow (to an extent) o An example of reverse cultural imperialism. o Biltereyst & Meers (2000) saw telenovelas as: Cheap serial entertainment to keep hold an audience captive for an extended period of time They fill TV schedules at low prices

Have a marginal and decreasing presence in Europe European countries prefer safe vs. exotic content There is less cultural proximity to the telenovela than there is to American Sitcoms. Thus, there isnt a real contra-flow

Diaspora: Displaced ethnic/national communities that are hybrid identities, with people at the intersection of cultures. Minority Groups: o Carry media with them Transnational Minority Media

o Negotiate their new identities through the media o Interact with the mainstream community (mainly) through the media

o Minority media grows as a result of: Large minority groups moving to a certain country Dissatisfaction with current mainstream media Deregulation, allowing for all types of media to form. Commercialization

Asianet (a cable TV channel) indicates that globalizing strategies may affect the process of identity formation of ethnic communities as they affect perceptions of the local and the global among members of the community. o Furthermore, it affects the perceptions of self and others due to the media. A Dutch Study in 2002 showed that : o People who were more integrated: use Dutch TV, news, magazines and internet o People who were less integrated: Use TV retransmissions, newspapers from another country and rely more on the home country. o Yet the Dutch know less about Dutch society than the allochtonen.

EMPHASIS ON TECHNOLOGY Literature week 8: Thussu Chapter 7 Lessig WSIS Declaration Slides Chapter 7 International communication has been shaped by technological innovation fibre optics, satellites and the Internet have enabled the trade of information instantly across the globe The origins of the Internet lie in the US Department of Defences APRANET, created in 1969 during the Cold War threats. The explosion in the use of Internet took off with the establishment of the World Wide Web in 1989 The Internet has been the fastest growing tool of communication The unprecedented growth in the volume of international communication and the conduct of business through the Internet has made it imperative for transnational corporations to demand the harmonisation of standards of equipment and frequencies so that telecommunication and broadcasting equipment can be used across national borders. It is in the interests of the countries and corporations that dominate global trade to ensure that electronic commerce operates in a free-market environment. Technological developments, combined with the liberalisation in trade and telecommunications, have acted as catalysts for e-commerce made possible because of the opening up of global markets in telecommunications services and information technology products (due to the WTO agreements) One of the biggest potential growth areas for e-commerce is Asia, due to its rapid growth in Internet users and its booming economy Googlisation of global communication: the rapid rise of search media which arranges the worlds information and makes it universally accessible and useful focuses on the issue of access and to the relations between commercial interests and media

 Major newspapers have started a web edition and all major broadcasters have a presence on the Internet (first seen as a supplement to the main media source) In this media environment, the boundaries between advertising and programming are constantly blurring The international media survive/depend more and more on advertising By being able to monitor and record patterns of Internet use, governments can control citizens political activities, while businesses can have access to private information (back accounts, insurance details, etc.) which can be traded for marketing purposes this type of information has security and privacy implications, since it can also be misused by governments and corporations. A significant proportion of e-commerce (music, video, publishing, etc.) involves the sale and licensing of intellectual property. International agreements to establish effective copyright, patent and trademark protection are necessary to prevent piracy and fraud. Digital technologies make the tracking of copyright infringements more difficult as any intellectual property encoded as a digital data stream can be copied perfectly via the Internet. Industrialised Northern countries hold more than 90% of all patents/copyright laws worldwide can block access to new technologies innovation and knowledge diffusion and restrict the competitive power of developing countries (UNESCO) Another major area for concern is the possibility of conflict between Internet domain names, which function as a source identifier on the Internet, and trademark rights, if the same or similar trademarks for similar goods or services are registered in different countries. UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS): questions Internet governance Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG): (set up after first phases of WSIS) governments, corporations and NGOs set up by the UN to define Internet governance Issues on agenda: The control by the US government of the Internet backbone, including the distribution of domain names through ICANN The uneven distribution of costs that Internet service providers based in developing countries had to pay to access the international circuits Online security and stability

Data protection and privacy rights Multilingualism on the Internet Access to the use of the Internet

The commercialisation of the Internet is perceived by some as betraying the initial promise of its potential to create a global public sphere and an alternative forum. The Internet was once seen as a mass medium whose fundamental principles were based in access to free information and a decentralised information network opened up possibilities of digital dialogues across the world Unlike traditional communication (top-down, one-to-many model), online communication was seen as a many-to-many dialogue and thus more democratic However, the Internet has also provided a platform for extremist organisations (hate propaganda) Internationally, the most significant political role that the Internet has played is in promoting links between community groups, non-governmental organisations and political activists from different parts of the world. The Internet has influenced the mass media in a substantial way: not only has it provided a new platform for media organisations to reach consumers, but it has also changed the timeframe of news production, distribution and speed (24-hour broadcasting and accessibility) The Internet has also become a great source for journalists, which allows them to include different perspectives and background information in their news reporting Power is moving away from journalists as gatekeepers over what the public knows citizens are assuming a more active role as assemblers, editors and even creators of their own news (e.g. blogs) In many countries the growing use of the Internet and its potential power to provide alternative viewpoints and exchange of information beyond national borders have generated anxiety In the digital era, filtering software and protocols may in fact make censorship easier (they can simple route all Internet traffic through electronic gateways) The struggle over the control of international information has been a main tenet of international communication (international means of communication have always has important strategic functions in war information battlespace)

 Despite its exceptional expansion, the Internet has accentuated the rich-poor divide (the information-rich North vs. the information-poor South) Many developing countries lack affordable access to information resources and their telecommunication systems need technological upgrading Supporters of communication technologies argue that information poverty will be reduced with the deployment and distribution of new tools and technologies Restrictions of new technologies in developing countries: they are too expensive for developing countries they are most often state-run (controlled content) many countries lack the infrastructure to all wide-scale data transmission (e.g. over phone lines) English is the primary language of the Internet (those unable to understand it are disadvantaged)

Distortions in the medias coverage of crises in developing countries can affect they understanding of the South in the North and among countries of the South, since most of the news flow continues to be from North to South and limited South-South news exchange takes place. Reasons why Southern-oriented news agendas have not emerged: Much of the developing world governments have sought to use the media to promote their viewpoints, in the name of providing positive news state owned.

To improve South-South news and information traffic, regional exchange mechanisms were established in the late 1970s (e.g. regional news agencies) decolonisation of news: placing emphasis on using local journalists to reflect local perspectives rather than the outsiders view provided by most of the transnational news agencies. An alternative to corporatised global communication is a moral imperative and a necessary democratic requirement. Media agendas in most developing countries are set by an elitist, urban-based professional class, with an emphasis on entertainment defined by the growing commercialisation and privatisation of state-controlled media, increasingly being bought by global conglomerates as a result of deregulation in broadcasting. Digital connectivity has become largely a medium for commerce rather than a social

tool to eradicate mass illiteracy and promote health care for the worlds underprivileged

Continuity: the Western-world/technology setting the global agenda and promoting its dominant ideology to the rest of the world Change: the emphasis on the powers of the market and its use of mediated entertainment rather than coercion to propagate the message of capitalism

Reading Week 8: The People Own Ideas! Lessig Free software carries four promises (and one by implication): The freedom to run the programme for any purpose The freedom to study how the programme works and adapt it to your needs The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour The freedom to improve the programme and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (Access to the source code of the programme)

Stallman wishes to create a free operating system (GNU) with copyleft license: some rights reserved eventually became Linux The parallel between free software and free culture is strong, though it has some distinctions: Culture has always had an element of proprietary control (proprietary culture has encouraged free culture) Proprietary culture is rendered by a system of regulation: copyright laws Limitations on copyright: Fair use: allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as for commentary, criticism, news reporting, research, etc. Formalities: the work needed to be done to actually get copyright laws on ones work

Copyright is now unconditional: reaches all work / simplifies copyright law Consequences of abolishing formalities: Moved from regulating a minority of creative work to regulating all of it The default in the analog world was freedom; the default now in the digital world is regulation

Why also not advantageous to copyright holders?: the expansion of copyright regulation has been offset by an equally radical diminution of its effectiveness (the freedom of digital technology). Digital Rights Management (DRM): the restoration of control to the copyright holders

 Complaints against DRM: The exclusivity of markets: the cost of both proprietary code and proprietary culture is widely beyond the means of people in developing nations It reduces our personal freedoms and restrains cultural transmission

Remixing: obtaining information from a source and sharing it with others is part of how culture gets made (previously textual/through words, now a lot more digital/through other technological tools) Under todays rules, remixing copyrighted digital content is infringing the rights of the copyright holder Link between free culture and free software movements: There was a practice that was essentially free Both witnessed a change in the environment of the practice removed that freedom. (free software: rise of proprietary code/ free culture: radical expansion of the reach of copyright regulation) Each seeks a world without the controls that the extremes of proprietary assertion produce

If technology permits the most extreme interpretation of existing copyright law, remixing will not become merely difficult. It will be effectively impossible.

Important Information from the WSIS Declaration

A Common Vision of the Information Society Organized by the United Nations and the Inter Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2003-2005 o To democratize the world communications o Allow communication for development o 11,000 participants in the government, private and civil sectors. Made in the: o Context of: Globalization o Organized by: ITU o Main Focus: technology and infrastructure o Actors: States + Civil Societies + Corporations To build a people-centered, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge to achieve their potential in promoting sustainable development and quality of life. The challenge is to harness the potential of information and communication technology to the goals of the Millennium Declaration, the eradication of poverty and hunger, promote primary education, gender equality, empowerment of women, get rid of child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure sustainability and attain a more peaceful and prosperous world. The whole article talks about how technology can and should be used to help society and that they reaffirm, promote are aware of, and committed to all these ideals to create a perfect information society that we can all live happily ever after using ICT and technology. Criticisms: o Technology without politics: Built on an information technology approach that is too narrow and shallow for any serious analysis.

o Lack of historical context:

Lack of historical depth in facing contemporary communication challenges to understand the true extent that is needed to take on such challenges, in the world scene, in the public institutions and in the public approach.

o Limited Views of Media: Information and media are not limited to just the internet.

o Right to Communicate (R2C): This is missing in the whole declaration. Implies access to infrastructure AS WELL AS content.

o Internet Governance (ICANN)

Pavovani Interview with Nordenstreng (2005) CP:How can you research activists contribute to developing more awareness to the challenges and potentialities of this process? KN: No one (teacher, student, bum on the street) should pass this by as something for just politicians and diplomats. Everyone should know about it in some way and reference to it in their writings. Not just affirmative praise, but solid scholarship as it is a perfect case to prove communication scholarship is living in this world and that we are actively trying to do something.

Slides Week 8 Digital Technologies: Challenges & Opportunities Technological Opportunities: o Socio-Political Aspect: Technology allows for a global civil society Global interconnectedness

o Economic Aspect: A global marketplace Webonomics

o Cultural Aspect: Challenges: o Socio-Political Challenge: The public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has shifted from national to global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. BUT: Unequal Access to digital communication networks Digital Divide. Creativity and Innovation revolution

o Economic Challenge: A BOOM in e-commerce and webonomics BUT: E-Commerce is part of the digital gap. There is a gap between: o Connectivity o Access o E-Commerce If there is not enough progress in connectivity and access it may

hurt e-commerce. o Culture Challenge: There is an enormous potential for creativity and innovation BUT: There is a counter revolution Increased piracy of goods on the internet Piracy: unauthorized use of intellectual property o Copy of goods, ideas and creative work.

 Who is trying to do something about it this piracy? o International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA): Improve international protection and enforcement of copyrighted materials and open up foreign markets closed by piracy and other market barriers. o World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO): Encouraging creativity and innovation o Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN): Keeping the internet secure, stable and interoperable. o International Telecommunication Union (ITU): Committed to connecting the world. 191 Member States 558 Sector Members 155 Associates. Founded on the principle of international cooperation between governments and the private sector, the ITU is a global forum where governments and industry can work towards a consensus on a wide range of issues affecting the future direction of this vital industry.

o World Social Forum (WSF): Parallel to World Economic Forum An open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or any other form of imperialism can come together to pursue thinking, debate for action.

Media democratization is inseperable from social, political, economic and cultural struggles New Media is a KEY topic