The book explains how mass media crosses international borders and changes societies (e.g. "The Gods Must Be Crazy"). While European colonial powers began using shortwave radio in the mid-1920s, antigovernment forces broadcast via clandestine radio stations. Those operating within the regions they broadcast to are called indigenous stations, while those operating outside the area are called exogenous stations. The BBC World Service started as an external service during World War II. Following Britain's lead, Voice of America started as the United States' worldwide propaganda machine in 1940. President Ronald Reagan established a special division of the VOA in 1985 that acts as a surrogate service, pumping American broadcasts into Cuba via Radio Marti. The latest surrogate U.S. media service is Al-Hurra (pp. 428-429), offered to the Arab world in February 2004. But three years after the fact, the station only garnered 4.1 percent of the market, compared to nearly 80.8 percent of Middle Easterners who tuned in to al-Jazeera. "War has victims from both sides," said Al-Jazeera's editor-in-chief, Ibrahim Hilal. "If you don't show both sides, you are not covering" the war. Why would anyone tune in Al-Hurra if they can get objective, high-quality content from the BBC and other news outlets over the Internet? Even though some claim al-Jazeera is biased, Middle Eastern governments do not like its coverage either -- Iran, Iran, Algeria, Kuwait and the Sudan banned the station. Yet Baran notes its 45 million daily viewers see it as more objective than Western news outlets and traditional Arab broadcast operations. But bigger questions remain: Should America continue spending $400 million to engage in international propaganda, practices not only considered offensive, but that belie the American ideal of free media open to all shades of opinion? Does it concern you that Congress, in exchange for funding Voice of America, requires Voice of America to broadcast U.S. State Department approved editorials? For the sake of comparing the United States to other nations, we can use comparative analyses of the different countries' mass media systems. Western Concept: Great Britain (p. 434) The Western Concept mixes the original libertarian and social responsibility
models. - expectation of public service and responsibility - no freedom of speech (prior restraint) - funded by license fees - goal-oriented Development Concept: Honduras - government and media partner to ensure media assist in planned development of country - content meets cultural and societal needs Revolutionary Concept: Poland - ended government monopoly over information - facilitates organization of opposition to incumbents - destroys legitimacy of standing government - brings down standing government Authoritarianism/Communism Concept: China - strict control - direct government subsidies - media serves government Differences in Programming More physical gags; nudity not a problem; soap operas used to educate Global Media It's easier today to keep up with global media than ever before. People around the world keep tabs on America via media: Hollywood made 122 of the 125 top-grossing films worldwide in 2003; 366 million households worldwide watch MTV (see Table 15.1, p. 432); 200 nations worldwide receive CNN; the Internet allows hundreds of millions of users to listen to radio. To combat this inundation, French law requires 40 percent of all music broadcasts to be in French. The country of Bhutan, near India and Tibet, only allowed its citizens to own televisions in 1999. Sri Lanka forbade foreign movies until 2000. China employs 30,000 e-police to enforce 60 net-related laws. South Korea law mandates that movie houses show native films at least 146 days each year. Why are cultures concerned about losing their identities? Cultural Imperialism: Invasion of indigenous cultures through mass media Formerly, U.S. considered to be melting pot - what about women? - what about culture?
Now, U.S. culture and values are everywhere (p. 447) - McDonald's - Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune - Spiderman transformed in India Global Village Proponents see world community coming together with common culture and economic interconnectivity. Others see the demise of native cultures and loss of democracy in favor of fascism. Images and articles used here under Educational Fair Use. Notes originally produced to accompany Stanley Baran's "Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture." 6th ed. If you don't understand something in this Web note, please e-mail Dr. Sitton.
©Ronald W. Sitton 2009 Revised 110209 — http://www.uamont.edu/FacultyWeb/sitton/crz/mcom/global.html |
