The Efects of Media Globalization

By Mary Hickman
Media globalization cannot be stopped. It is a result of ne
communications technology. It is also the prere!uisite and facilitator for all
other forms of globalization. Multi"national media is critical to global
industries. Many #mericans feel that e ought to en$oy the bene%ts of media
globalization& such as global communication& rather than fearing and
attempting to a'oid the conse!uences(hich ironically include hindrance of
free speech.
)ommunicating internationally has ne'er been easier. Thanks to ne
media platforms& e can ha'e a 'ideo con'ersation ith a lo'ed one ho is
*+&+++ miles aay or keep up"to"date on the stock market ith our cell
phones. The internet can also impro'e our health or sa'e our li'es. ,our
doctor may send an -"ray or M.I to another doctor in India or )hina for a
second opinion and ha'e it ithin hours. /0#n Israeli company is making big
ad'ances in compression technology to allo for easier& better transfers of
)#T scans 'ia the Internet so you can !uickly get a second opinion from a
doctor half a orld aay1 23riedman& 4++56.
Thomas 7. 3riedman& !uoting )raig 8. Mundie& a chief technical o9cer
for Microsoft: /;The <indos"poered =) enabled millions of indi'iduals& for
the %rst time e'er& to become authors of their on content in digital form&
hich meant that content could be shared far and ide>1. 3riedman>s book
underlines his belief that media has the poer to cross cultural gaps& bring
people closer together and generally make our li'es more con'enient as it
ne'er has before 23riedman& 4++56. Through the orldide eb& endless
amounts of information are readily a'ailable to us. ,et it is important to
consider hat the chief technical o9cer of Microsoft did not say: readily
a'ailable information does not necessarily mean e are better informed. #nd
hile ne global media can cross cultural boundaries& this does not alays
bring people closer together. In truth it can deteriorate foreign relations as
cultural barriers are broken don by #merican media 2?iochru& 4++@6.
Aespite the bene%ts& there are also 'ery real conse!uences. # ma$ority
of all media is oned by a 'ery small percentage of ealthy corporations.
7ocal media is being salloed ali'e by conglomerations. 3reedom of speech
is threatened by these multinational corporationsB they dron out the 'oice
of local media ith pro%t"maCimizing formulas. Media moguls ha'e the most
to gain from globalization of media. Their poer is concentratedB they ha'e
merged& often ith companies that are unrelated to the %eld& as hen GE
bought DB) 2=appas& 4++@6. Daturally& the political ideas and bias of GE can
be seen in DB): GE eCpels criminal amounts of pollution. Therefore& pollution
is not a topic co'ered by DB). Imagine& for eCample& hat our local nes
ould sound like if it had been bought by =hillip"Morris 2=appas& 4++@6.
Multi"national media corporations produce products hich maCimize
their pro%ts hile decreasing the cost of production. Globalization has made
it /easy to shift production to lo"age& high"repression areas of the
orld0.and0easy to play of one immobile national labor force against
another1 2)homsky& *EE@6. 8obs hich might usually ha'e been performed
locally are being shipped internationally and performed at less than half the
cost. )orporations are increasing pro%t by cutting costs and selling to an
international audience. Meanhile& the #merican middle class is
disappearing along ith the $obs. .obert Mc)hesney& in a documentary titled
Frell .olls in His Gra'e& stated that the income for the ealthiest *G of
#mericans has risen *@*G o'er the past tenty years. The income for the
#merican middle class& hoe'er& has only risen a pathetic EG. These
statistics ought to appall and frighten& yet they go largely unnoticed by the
#merican people because they are not handed o'er to us by our media
2=appas& 4++@6. )harles Hlotzer of ?t 7ouis 8ournalism .e'ie: /The top 5G is
capturing an increasingly greater portion of the pie hile the bottom E5G is
clearly losing ground& and the highly touted #merican middle class is
disappearing1. Hlotzer claims that the media intentionally ignore these facts
2Hlotzer& 4++@6.
The bene%ts of media globalization may make it di9cult to see these
conse!uences& hich are often sub'ersi'e. #fter all& hy should the media
inform us about the negati'e efects of their global dominanceI To do so
does not support their main interest: pro%t. #ccording to Doam )homsky&
/Their %rst interest is pro%ts& but broader than that. It>s to construct an
audience of a particular type0Fne that is addicted to a certain life"style ith
arti%cial ants1 2)homsky& *EEJ6. The ealthiest countries ha'e the
resources to produce the most mediaB therefore& the media deli'ered to the
global audience ill promote the culture of the ealthiest countries. #nd it is
the ealthiest minority ithin these countries ho de%nes the content of the
media& thereby inKuencing culture around the orld.
The multi"national media corporations are not held accountable for
their actions. Fnly the go'ernment has the poer to regulate mediaB in the
past tenty years there has been a rising trend in decreasing regulation for
the media. Beteen *EL+ and 4+++& the M.?. itnessed an /unprecedented
historical eCplosion of mergers1 2Bennett& 4+++6. These corporations ere
alloed to merge at least in part due to free market principles on behalf of
the go'ernment. Hoe'er& one of the conse!uences of the mergers is they
ha'e led to /0loered public ser'ice obligations of media organizations0as
free market ideology has ironically created near monopoly business
practices1 2Bennett& 4+++6. Dot only does the oligopoly ha'e the
go'ernment>s blessingB the #merican media oligopoly is also subsidized by
the go'ernment 2=appas& 4++@6. #nyone ho belie'es in a true democratic
society ought to feel outraged that taC dollars are being gi'en to lobbyists to
fund a lucrati'e oligopoly.
More media is readily a'ailable to us than there e'er has been before.
#s the number of media 'ehicles increases& so does competition in the open
market. This increase in competition has not led to an increase in content
di'ersity. Instead& media content& or media products& ha'e become
standardized to %ll a pro%t formula as the largest media corporations
compete ith each other for audience share. E'en nes stations ha'e taken
up the pro%t formulas. It can be inferred that hat occurs is a loer !uality of
$ournalistic content and an unspoken agreement across the board as to hat
nes is 2Bennett& 4+++6. /There>s $ust a common consensus among
eCtremely narro sectors of poer as to the ay the orld should be
percei'ed and as to hat kind of people there should be1 2)homsky& *EEJ6.
The efect of a self"censored media is thought"control& controlled by
personalized media content.
#ccording to 7ance Bennett in an address presented to the MDE?)F"EM
)onference&
/0The $ournalistic abandonment of the public interest is not dri'en by
changes at the indi'idual le'el in professional $ournalism norms or moti'es.
Dor is it dri'en by0popular demand for less substantial information. To the
contrary& the media& and their nes products in particular& ha'e fallen in
public esteem to the loest le'els recorded in the modern era of polling1
2Bennett& 4+++6.
The pursuit of pro%t& not truth& is at the core of multi"national media. There
ha'e been increases in ad'ertising in media hile $ournalistic !uality
plummets. # memo from )oca")ola>s ad agency to magazines states:
/The )oca")ola company re!uires that all insertions are placed
ad$acent to editorial that is consistent ith each brand>s marketing
strategy 0 <e consider the folloing sub$ects to be inappropriate:
hard nes& seC& diet& political issues& en'ironmental issues 0 If an
appropriate positioning option is not a'ailable& e reser'e the right to
omit our ad from that issue1 2n.d.6.
Media is largely funded by ad'ertising. The )oca")ola memo makes it
eCplicit that media content is afected by the desires and politics of
ad'ertising agencies.Doam )homsky& hen asked hat globalization means
for the press and media& replied: /It means much narroer concentration of
media sources0It ill reKect the points of 'ie of those ho can amass the
huge capital to run international media. Ai'ersity and information ill
decline& media ill get more and more ad'ertiser"oriented1 2)homsky& *EEJ6.
If Doam )homsky is correct and ad'ertising in media increases& e can
eCpect our media to be o'erhelmingly dominated by ad'ertiser interests
and bias. In summary& e can eCpect the !uality of $ournalism to ither.
Media is a uni!ue /product1 in that it shapes ho people think and
beha'e. It is a product of culture hich also shapes culture. ?ean ?iochru
made note of this in an address at the <orld )ommission on the ?ocial
Aimension of Globalization& held in Gene'a: /Media products are diferent&
not least because they are more than mere consumer goods: in important
respects they also ;produce> us1 2?iochru& 4++@6.
Because of the societal inKuence demonstrated by media& it is
imperati'e to regulate it diferently than other commodities 2?iochru& 4++@6.
)urrently& #merica enforces 'ery little regulation o'er media for the sake of
an open and free market 2=appas& 4++@6. <hile the free market principle
orks for most other goods and ser'ices& the theory as applied to media has
been detrimental to society 2Bennett& 4+++6. The media falls 'ictim to strong
consumerist desires& hich they encourage #merican citizens to eChibit. /3or
capitalism>s cheerleaders& like Thomas 3riedman of the De ,ork Times& all
this suggests that the human race is entering a Golden #ge. #ll people need
to do is sit back& shut up and shop and let markets and technologies ork
their magical onders1 2Mc)hesney& 4++*6.
The truly frightening aspect of the consumerist philosophy is that
#merica is not the only country afectedB globalization has alloed us to
share our culture of greed ith the orld.
<hen multi"national corporations are granted free speech rights& the 'oice of
the people is stiKed. The authors of the )onstitution intended to guarantee
these rights for indi'iduals onlyB indi'iduals do not ha'e the same 'oice as a
global media corporation 2=appas& 4++@6. 3urthermore& hen one considers
that media shapes culture and that #merican oligopolies are largely in
control of media globalization& one could come to the conclusion that media
globalization is an imperialistic efort on the part of media conglomerates
2)homsky& 4++@6.
Thomas 7. 3riedman& author of the best"selling book The <orld is 3lat
and an opinion editorial columnist for The De ,ork Times& noted the
signi%cance of the recent eCplosion of media. ?ays 3riedman&
/NMedia globalizationO 0 ill be seen in time as one of those
fundamental shifts or inKection points& like Gutenberg>s in'ention of
the printing press& the rise of the nation"state& or the Industrial
.e'olution(each of hich& in its day& noted .othkopf& produced
changes in the role of indi'iduals& the role and form of go'ernment& the
ays business as done and ars ere fought& the role of omen& the
forms religion and art took& and the ay science and research ere
conducted& not to mention the political labels that e as a ci'ilization
ha'e assigned to oursel'es and our enemies.1
3riedman acknoledges that media globalization currently does& and
ill continue to ha'e a profound impact on the ay people conduct their
li'es. <hile media globalization is in itself more helpful than harmful&
#merican media corporations are setting a dangerous trend in their media
/products1. If e assume that the eCample that #merica is setting as the
forerunner of media globalization ill be imitated on a global scale& the
conse!uences are beyond frightening: they ill threaten democracy by
silencing the 'oice of the people.
.eferences
Bennett& 7ance. 24+++ Do'ember6. Globalization& Media Market Aeregulation&
and the
3uture of =ublic Information. MDE?)F"EM )onference.
)homsky& Doam. 2*EE@ 8une6. =ro%ts of Aoom. De ?tatesman and ?ociety.
P.Q+5.
)homsky& Doam. 2*EEJ 8uly6. Media and Globalization: #n Inter'ie ith
Doam
)homsky. )orp<atch. .etrie'ed 3ebruary *@& 4++P& from
http:RR.corpatch.orgRarticle.phpIidS*L+ETprintsafeS*
)homsky& Doam and Edard Herman. 24++* #pril6. 3iltering the Des. De
Internationalist. =. *Q
Hlotzer& )harles 7. 24++@ Fctober6. The *+ Best")ensored ?tories: Hey Issues
that the
Mass Media 7argely Ignore. ?t. 7ouis 8ournalism .e'ie. Q@.4P+& =. Q+
Mc)hesney& .obert. 24++* March6. Global Media& Deoliberalism and
Imperialism.
Monthly .e'ie. 54.*+& =. *
=appas& .obert Hane. 24++@ Do'ember6. Frell .olls in His Gra'e.
=eterson& Aa'id. 2*EEP 8une6. The Global Media: #n Inter'ie ith Edard ?.
Herman
and .obert <. Mc)hesney. UMagazine.
?iochru& ?. F. 24++@6. ?ocial conse!uences of the globalization of the media
and communication sector: ?ome strategic considerations. Gene'a:
International 7abour F9ce.