THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA GLOBALIZATION ON COMMUNICATION

A Term Paper Submitted to

Ms. Maria Carmela Balmadres Baloloy
National College of Business and Arts

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Course
in English 2

by
Karen D. Acuario
BEED
Raphael John P. Reyes
BSCS
Marie Antoinette J. Fortin
BSCS
Luise Nymrod B. Manabat
BSCS
Jeff Emerson G. Pagdilao
BSCS

March, 2015

Media globalization is a broad topic, which includes television, radio, film, music,
the Internet, and other forms of digital media. It is a result of new communications
technology. It is also the prerequisite and facilitator for all other forms of globalization.
Multi-national media is critical to global industries. Dominick (2002) has noted that the
production rate of information doubles every eight years. In addition, "information is
being produced at a rate that is four times faster than the consumption of information"
(p. 513). The phenomenon of media globalization along with the increasing abundance
of media-text production has produced various effects which are being researched by
communication scholars. Many Americans feel that we ought to enjoy the benefits of
media globalization, such as global communication, rather than fearing and attempting
to avoid the consequences which ironically include hindrance of free speech. According
to researcher George Gerbner, the most successful television programs are no longer
made for national consumption but rather for international distribution. Gerbner further
noted that content is affected by the desire to increase the marketability of international
television program distribution. Programs that contain violent material are considered to
"travel well" according to Gerbner (Jhally, 1994). In contrast, comedy programs which
may be quite successful in the United States do not necessarily do well in other
countries. Comedy is culturally defined, and what is deemed funny by one cultural group
may in fact be offensive to another. In comparison, violent material has a very simple
story line of good versus evil. It is universally understood and in many ways culturally
transparent.
Researchers have noted a variety of effects resulting from media globalization.
Some of these observed effects are open to interpretation while others are
acknowledged by most communication scholars. Certain researchers tie their
observations to their own theories which attempt to explain certain observed effects.
Robert McChesney is a media historian and political economist. In a recent article by
McChesney (2005), he criticized multinational corporations in a number of ways. First,
that the global media market is dominated by eight multinational corporations which also
dominate U.S. media. These companies are: "General Electric, AT&T/Liberty Media,
Disney, Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom and Seagram, plus
Bertelsmann, the Germany-based conglomerate" (p. 93). Second, multinational

corporations are becoming increasingly horizontally integrated, meaning that these

companies both create content and own publishing companies or broadcasting
networks, and are able to distribute their own product. Third, international deregulation
and free-market policies have created a climate that has been conducive to foreign
investment in media. Fourth, that the World Trade Organization is threatening local
culture by encouraging foreign investment in local media. McChesney has observed a
trend of cultural protectionism form developing nations. In the summer of 1998 culture
ministers from twenty nations, including Brazil, Mexico, Sweden, Italy and Ivory Coast,
met in Ottawa to discuss how they could 'build some ground rules' to protect their
cultural fare from 'the Hollywood juggernaut.' (p. 93)
Fifth, there is a well-defined second tier of media conglomerates which are
increasingly competing on the international level through foreign investment, mergers,
and acquisitions. Half of these corporations are based in North America while the others
are based in Western Europe and Japan. (This observation by McChesney is interesting
since the Trilateral Commission encourages economic trade between precisely these
three regions.) Second tier corporations include, "Dow Jones, Gannett, Knight-Ridder,
Hearst, and Advance Publications, and among those from Europe are the Kirch Group,
Havas, Media-set, Hachette, Pisa, Canal Plus, Pearson, Reuters and Reed Elsevier" (p.
94). Sixth, merger mania seems to be the rule of day when it comes to multinational
corporations. McChesney noted that sixty or seventy first and second tier multinational
corporations control a major portion of the world's media in the areas of publishing,
music, broadcasting, television production, cable, satellite distribution, film production,
and motion picture theater exhibition. Seventh, McChesney concluded that the effect of
the spread of multinational media corporations has resulted in cultural imperialism, a
loss of local cultural identity. McChesney summarized the motivation of multinational
media corporations as such, "The global commercial-media system is radical in that it
will respect no tradition or custom, on balance, if it stands in the way of profits" (p. 95).
Benjamin Compaine (2005) has disagreed with many of McChesney's criticisms
of the effects of globalization of the media. Compaine tackled a number of major
criticisms head on in his article "Global Media." First, Compaine disagreed with the view

that a few large companies are taking over the world's media. Compaine has compared
international media mergers to "rearranging the furniture," as companies are repeatedly
sold and re-sold: In the past 15 years, MCA with its Universal Pictures was sold by it
U.S. owners to Matsushita (Japan), who sold to Seagram's (Canada), who sold to
Vivendi (France). Vivendi has already announced that it will divest some major media
assets, including textbook publisher Houghton-Mifflin. (p. 98) Second, Compaine
disagreed that corporate ownership is having a toll on effective journalism. A study by
the non-profit organization Freedom House in 2000 researched 186 countries; it
suggested "that press independence, including journalists' freedom from economic
influence, remained high in all but two members (Mexico and Turkey) of the
Organisation [sic] for Economic Co-operation and Development" (p. 99). Third,
Compaine disagreed that global media can hurt local content. MTV in Brazil plays music
and videos that are selected by local producers. Star TV, distributes satellite TV in India.
Star was initially unsuccessful when it showed American television programs. Star TV
only succeeded after it hired an Indian television executive who created Indian soap
operas. Fourth, Compaine disagreed that the public would be better served by stricter
regulation of the media. Media concentration can be beneficial in the case of two small
struggling newspapers merging in order to survive, as opposed to one of them going out
of business. Licensing and antitrust regulation can act as a barrier to new players
entering the competitive landscape. Relaxing broadcast regulation expands competition.
News Corp. began its investment in American media when the FCC raised the limit of
national television station ownership from seven to twelve, and also struck down the
rule that prohibited TV networks from owning their own programming. As a result,
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. was able to build an audience with a core group of
television stations and purchase 20th Century Fox. Compaine noted, "Fox was thus
able to launch the first successful alternative to the Big Three in 30 years. Its success
also paved the way for three other large media players to initiate networks" (p. 101).
This paper has looked at the phenomenon of globalization from the perspective
of the communication. The effects of media globalization have been discussed as
presented by a variety of communication scholars. Current theories of the mass media
that address globalization have been presented and criticized. Finally, this paper has

noted the need for more theory which specifically addresses media globalization from
an interactive many-to-many model. It is time to break from the traditional one-to-many
model as proposed by Schramm (1954). In addition, current communication theory
needs to address the rise of the multinational first tier players, and to develop models
which take into account the unique aspects of interactivity, which digital technologies
provide. As Pavlik and McIntosh (2005) pointed out, the traditional analog mass
communication model saw the audience as a large, anonymous public, which was
passive in its use of the media. In contrast the new paradigm of digital mass media sees
the audience in a completely different manner. The audience is now fragmented, known
and addressable. This new audience is engaged, and active in participation. It actively
creates media content and new communities of content exchange. This paper is a call
for new communication theory to be created which will address these emerging
phenomena.

Definition of terms
Globalization is the tendency of businesses, technologies, or philosophies to
spread throughout the world, or the process of making this happen. The global economy
is sometimes referred to as a globality, characterized as a totally interconnected
marketplace, unhampered by time zones or national boundaries.
Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the
standard Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link several billion devices worldwide.
Media is an all-encompassing term that refers to a collective of communicatory
mediums used to store or transmit information or data. Media is usually intended to
inform or influence a wide range of audiences.
Media Globalization is a broad topic, which includes television, radio, film, music,
the Internet, and other forms of digital media.
Multi-national Media an enterprise operating in several countries but managed
from one (home) country.
Technology is the collection of techniques, methods or processes used in the
production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as
scientific investigation.

Abbreviations
U.S means United States
PC means Personal Computer

Bibliography
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http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=1809&printsafe=1
https://www.scribd.com/doc/194074201/Impact-of-New-Media-on-Globalization

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