Quiz-readings & today's lecture
Global Media Flows How & why does media flow across the world? Textually, economically, politically, socially? o Easy to say it all starts in America...but that's only part of the story. What forces act upon those media flows? o Nat'l borders, nat'l identities, gov'ts, economic systems, social values, individual choices? Shifting away from just looking at American system to contrast to other systems Moving beyond comparing one system to another: o Studying international flows of media operating in various contexts of identity, community, and social/political power Globalization: "a social process in which the constraints of geography on economic political, social, and cultural arrangements recede... "..in which PEOPLE become increasingly aware that they are receding. and which people act accordingly" (Waters 2001) Two General Eras mid-1700s-1960s-ish: "formation of world market dominated by economies & cultures of powerful nation-states" nation-state: an area where cultural boundaries (nation) match up with political boundaries (state) represents a change from absolute monarchy & colonial empire, through a gradual one Characteristic of this era of globalization: Bretton Woods agreement of 1944: attempt to create global institutions to manage the global economy Stave off global economic depression by stabilizing monetary exchange & trade around a fixed standard of US dollars & gold Created International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, & the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (which would later become the World Trade Organization) 1980s to present: "global mass culture dominated by...image which crosses and re-crosses linguistic frontiers rapidly & easily, speaking across languages in more immediate way: cultural hybridity of global and local simultaneously
American Media Goes Global : Worldwide regulatory changes: growth of capitalism, reduction of national broadcast quotas around the world o More expensive to produce own show than do reruns of American show Growth of cable & satellite media Concentration & conglomeration of media industries
Mass Media & Globalization Early 2000s global box office secondary to American box office revenues since then it has flip-flopped and Hollywood has become more of a global media producer
American Media Goes Global Why Hollywood? o English-language media attracts large # of affluent buyers Has economies of scale-tentpole strategy..produces so many that its individual films and tv shows etc are cheaper Costs less to produce, means we can sell them for lower price than regional producers o Strong-arm business tactics American dominance of media export business in last 30 years One way flow of media from America to rest of the world? Continued traditions of Western Imperialism? Profit center for American-based media conglomerates Exporting American media=exporting American ideologies? 0 Consumerism o Individualism Gender norms Cultural imperialism: idea that empires could be maintained, if not created, by means other than military conquest and occupation
Media Imperialism Counter-arguments & Complications "Dominant meaning" not a given Popularity of internationally traded shows is highly erratic o International media trade is complex, not a one-way street from America 12/4
Global TV Trade Intermediaries/Gatekeepers: Sales people, programming executives, network schedulers Trade in "ideas" about TV & what