Media Globalization Essay

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This essay will examine academic research in relation to globalization and mainly focus on its cultural aspect. I will argue in favour of the crucial role of media in the process of globalization. Then I will analyse three cultural forms of media globalization – cultural differentialism, cultural convergence, and cultural hybridity – as identified by Lule (2012) - and draw on specific examples.
There is no agreement about when globalization began but some researchers argue that it is a necessary phenomenon of human society (Lule, 2012). One of the earliest concepts of globalization and media was put forward by Marshall McLuhan in the 1950s. McLuhan (1962, 1994) argues that the media makes the world ‘smaller’ and reduces the distance between …show more content…

Lule argues that the village encompasses a range of values, knowledge and experience. The function of the global village is to promote interaction between human beings. However, he admits that media is essential in the process of globalization. Hollows (2015) argues that the process of globalization includes several different aspects such as economics, politics and culture. They overlap and interact with each other due to deep historical roots. For Hollows (2015), large Western media corporations are powerful in international markets. They sell media products to other regions. As a consequence, Western nation-states tend to strength their dominance at a global level. Not only does this spread Western values and promote Western cultural identity, but also attracts profits through selling Western products. Foreign media products have a significant impact on local media markets and so impact on the local economy. This economic and cultural influence enables Western countries to also exert political dominance. The developments of media technology is essential to globalization (Lule, 2012). One of the earliest mediums is considered as scrip. The very first forms of writing allowed people to share information with others across long distance and even beyond their own lifetimes. The development of the printing press permitted the transmission of information across the world quickly. Knowledge and values that are rooted in different cultural bases help humans shape the world. Electronic media (film, TV, radio) is the latest breakthrough to foster globalization and digital media enables people to have the ability to gain a wide range of information. According to Lule (2012), one function of the media is to spread cultures, and so to disseminate media products through television, movies and the Internet and interact with

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