Personal Study

GLOBALIZATION- The Global Media

Prompt One :

How have global media developed, in historical terms, and how inclusive is this trend in reality? The concept of global media has occurred with the process of Globalization. Globalization basically means, global communication networks collapse time and space enabling people and organizations around the world to interact and work together. This ease of communication and knowledge within, and about the world has transformed it into a 'Global Village'. This term, the 'Global Village' was coined by the 1960s theorist, Marshal Mcluhan. It is said that 'global' is the same as 'universal'. Taking the next step to the freedom of the media, the internet and its social networking sites as well as the World Wide Web breaks all walls of knowledge and reach and within seconds we can gather information about whatever part of the world we want, for example, we can talk to some one completely on the other side of the globe now through face to face communication centers like Skype, Viber or face time. However, how the world has become so globalized will be understood by taking a look on the history of the global media and how it spread to what it has become today. Power structures and large scale activities have been present since quite a long time, for example the Roman, Chinese and Persian Empires and the Roman Catholic Church across the medieval Europe and beyond. Now, globalization is rather more modern and slightly different version. It grew from the occurrance and beginning of trade back in the sixteenth century which itself was, to an extent, dominated by the western imperialist and post-imperialist power and language across much of the world. the US president Nixon's conception of an agreement (Bretton Woods) signed in 1944 was another step taken to establish stable systems of monetary exchange and international trade regulation. This brought in the development of computer technology and electronic communication as well as the opening speculative financial markets and went beyond the basic conceptions of free trade, deregulation a corporate capitalism. Globalization itself has been said to occur activities take place in the global arena, when they are deliberately organized on a global scale, when they involve some sort of interdependence so that these activities are shaped by each other to reach different parts of the world and when they involve technologies that make possible instantaneous, as opposed to simply fast, communications. Furthermore, the development of paper and printing in China, which were traded with Europe allowed books and pamphlets to be circulated well beyond the places where they were produced. Later came the expansion of underwater cable systems by the European imperial power which began the cable and wireless establishments of international news agencies. Despite the conventions of the underwater cable systems, til the 1850s, telegraph systems were still land based hence very restricted.By the 1870s, submarine cables were laid throughout South East Asia and along the coast of Africa. Europe was then gradually linked to China, Australia ans America. This was the first time a global system was established that separated the sending of messages from the need to transport them physically. The news agencies on the other hand were doing well in spreading out world news all around to different parts of the globe. And slowly awareness began to grow. Then in 1869 it was finally agreed to divide up the world to separate exclusive spheres of operation. This started the reach of underwater cable systems, to the spheres of influence of the major European imperial powers. Soon the big channels started coming in like the CNN. This process however, was continued around the US power and it was not until some time, when the internet came in, that the US power became more influential  It was then thought to be a new 'global public sphere' where opinions could be given outside national communities. Soon with the Bill Gates Corporation and the world wide web, the span and range of communication, information gathering, news and every social activity grew on a massive scale. Today the world wide web has grown to a number of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google, Viber, Facetime etc. Along with this, the invention of smart phones has made global communication even more global, where internet access is given on phones via wireless networking systems such as wi-tribe and other wireless internet networks. Apart from communication methods, taking a look at the film industry, we get to learn and know so much about other traditions, cultures and ideologies of different parts of the world, for example, by watching movies, we have an idea what the school life of teenagers in the US is, However, the teenagers in the US barely know anything about us. Hence, globalization is heavily influence by cultural imperialism. Now taking the question ahead, how inclusive is the trend of globalization in reality? Yes, we are widely connected t the world, and it brings us along. But who is the 'we' and 'us' in this situation. It is important to remember that even in today's competitive and modern highly civilized world, about 4.5 billion people still do not have access any telecommunication services, let alone the internet. On the other hand, before the expanding trends of cultural imperialism, the third world countries were enjoying an age of indigenous, authentic traditions and cultural heritage without being apposed by values from outside.

Prompt Two :

What kinds of audience behavior and consumption are increasingly global? Just as everything else, globalization comes with its advantages and disadvantages. Easy wide communication, world wide knowledge  long distance fast communication and all those things can be seen as the perks of globalization. However, globalization comes with cultural imperialism and this can be seen in human behavior and consumption. It is easy to understand. First, lets take a look at how representation of culture, fashion, traditions and 'life' is done in the media  Taking film as the main example. What is the world's biggest film industry? Hollywood. Who owns Hollywood? America. Hollywood produces way over a hundred films yearly. How many of those films represent the culture of Pakistan, or India, or Persia, or any other part of the world? Barely. Most of the films represent the culture of the USA. This is where cultural imperialism begins. Their films are so influential on other nations, specially the third world countries, that the idea of them being superior and better is automatically delivered. We buy every film they produce, and become their fans. We try to gasp their style of dressing, the way of living, their culture, everything. Majority of the people in Pakistan and India wear jeans and T-shirts, which is a symbol of the US culture, but how many people can one spot  in parts of America wearing Shalwar Kameez or saris. Ever since birth, children are tuned to watching American cartoons, playing with culturally imperialised toys like barbie dolls, hence, as a result, the US culture is injected in the minds and actions of those kids and once they grow up, they dress up, talk, act and pretend like the people in the US. The US entertainment giants operate out of huge accumulated experience in making successful products, and from the start these had an international aspect. Hollywood cinema is an example of the hybridizing as well as the homogenizing drives within the growing dominance of US forms. The decision was made to use English as the language of the US basically made English the world's most widely spoken and studied language in the world since it is used in everything as the US products are widely used by the world and are all referred in English. Earlier on, the US exporters began to use different price strategies for different parts of the globe. This means that, for example, once a US television series has been distributed in the North American continent, it will be offered to every broadcaster in the world., however, at different rates. In the developed countries the charges are based on the population size, but in places like Africa the prices can be lowered down dramatically  so that the program me can be delivered at little cost and overall profitability and habits of enjoying US-style entertainment forms, usually advertising related can be ensured. Basically, in everything, the US has such a high level of influence that the culture, traditions and values of the under-privileged parts of the word are starting to vanish as everyone is too blindly busy in adapting the style of the american people and their culture. keeping media aside, consumption itself is completely culturally imperialised these days. The US franchises of food items such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, KFC etc, have not only caused a fall in demand for local food items and places but have also taken away the admiration and desire for traditional food of those countries where these franchises exist, which is almost everywhere in the world. Even in education, we study all sorts of subjects in their language. English, since it is a basic nessecity to be able to read and write in English now. We apply to universities in the US because we believe they are the best. Overall, we are not only amused by the US culture, but are now dependent on it. In other words, we are totally and completely culturally imperialised.

QUESTIONS-

1. List five media sectors and one profit-making company for each.

Media is the word given to all the means of mass communication around the world. It is divided into sectors that cater to a particular sort of entertainment and information. Example of media sectors are, radio, newspapers, magazines, television and the internet. Here are some profit making companies for each sector.

-Radio- Station playlist ( creator and studio ) on-air braodcast studio.                

                Montana Radio Company ( reaches around 40, 000 listeners )

-Newspapers- Chicago Tribune,

                              The tribube (India-Pak)

-Magazines-  Company Magazine UK

                           The Best Magazine

-Television- Walt Disney Pictures

-Internet- Earthlink

2. Name two independent film companies.

Independent film companies cater to unknown short films and media texts that are not aimed to hit the box office. An example of these is The Soulkitchen Productions. This is a company placed in Portugal  It is a full production line company that has specialized mainly in the production of film and music videos. It has also created a small casting company within its self known as Cast Casting. Another example is Elysian Pictures, based in Los Angeles as an independant film company followed by Sundial Pictures that is another placed in Ne York.

3. What is OFCOM ?

Ofcom is a communication regulator. It regulates TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which wireless devices operate. It is basically an independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. By its help the UK has a wide range of high quality television programmes, electronic high speed services such as broadband, 3 universal postal services, radio n television organizations  as well as spectrum, the air waves for wireless devices.

4. What is MP4 ?

The MP4 is a container format, allowing a combination of audio, video, subtitles and still images to be held in the one single file. It also allows for advanced content such as 3D graphics, menus and user interactivity.The enhancement of the speed of various types of Internet connections also helped to make MP4 more accessible to a greater audience. MP4 works in a similar although much more complex way to MP3s, by compressing the files without losing any of the quality. MP3 technology revolutionized the way in which music and audio files are used and it's looking like the MP4 format will do the same for the video market.Movie or video clip that uses MPEG-4 compression, a standard developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG); commonly used for sharing video files on the Internet. The MPEG-4 video format uses separate compression for audio and video tracks; video is compressed with MPEG-4 or H.264 video encoding; audio is compressed using AAC compression, the same type of audio compression used in .AAC files.

5. Why does sound regularly disappear on the live Big Brother feed ?

The Big Brother Live Feed is where you can watch the housemates actually live. When they do something it is actually happening. You do get audio with Live Feeds, however, at times the audio disappears because they silence it out. This happens mainly during evictions when Julie Chen is talking in order to keep the clearity of dialogue constant.

6. How do websites make money after offering content for free ?

Most free websites make money by selling advertisements on the sites. Advertisements of branded items can make good money. Which is why free websites tend to show a great number of advertisements on their sites. At times these sites can make money by selling out products also, but free sites barely do that. Another way of making mney is by getting donations. Free sites tend to make a lot of money through donations. (At this way you actually may not use the money for yourself since your visitors gives it to the site, except if you say clearly "this money won't only be used for the site").

7. Who decides on age classifications for films ?

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is an independent, non-governmental body funded through the fees it charges to those who submit films and video works for classification. Here, and throughout the Guidelines, video works are taken to include video games, and films and programmes released on DVD or Blu-ray, or distributed by means of download or streaming on the internet. It also classifies films by age groups. Categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. Works classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them.An adult may take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. In such circumstances, responsibility for allowing a child under 12 to view lies with the accompanying adult.

8. Who is BARB and what do they do ?

BARB stands for broadcasters audience research board. This is the organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the UK. This lets us know which programmes are more in demand by the audience and which programmes are not running very successfully.

9. Who owns counter strike ?

Valve corporation- video development company.

10. How do you think audiences have changed since the 1960s to 2012 ?

Audiences have changed over time mainly due to changes in technology and the scope of media as a whole. Earlier on, people were more immune to simple feature films, but now more audiences feel attracted to 3D cinema. This happened before too when television transormed from balck and white to colour. Audiences also change their types when institution grow their scope of production. For example Disney, initially used to attract children by it classic cartoons, however now it has been engaging more into feature films that are liked by grown ups and teenagers.

11. What is the difference between public media institutions and non public media institutions.

COMMERCIAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL COMPANIES

By the term 'companies', here, we are referring to those companies or institutions that cater to media text. Catering is done in terms of finance, distribution, production and promotion. These companies are also called media houses. Every media text needs to generate money and help from these companies in the process of making the product. For example, a film has to be released and distributed after being produced.

Other than being divided into sectors such as finance, distribution, promotion etc, these companies can also be divided into commercial and non-commercial companies. So what are these and how are they different? Non-Commercial Companies (public companies) are those companies that have to follow accepted business practices in order to make a profit but is not a financial company or institution. A good and most successful example of a non-commercial media institution is BBC. How is BBC  a non-commercial company? This is mainly because BBC  caters more towards public purpose in all means other than just entertainment and profit making. BBC dos not only finance and distribute films, documentaries and shows but also the news and environmental knowledge via different headlines and programmes. It is one of the few Media institutions that are also shown on television as a complete Channel. Not only that, but is the world's most biggest and famous new channel, catering to a wide range of the worldly occupation  and is definitely the most authentic and trusted news channel. The BBC has six public purposes. For starters, sustaining citizenship and civil society (The BBC provides high-quality news, current affairs and factual programming to engage its viewers, listeners and users in important current and political issues), promoting education and learning ( The support of formal education in schools and colleges and informal knowledge and skills building), stimulating creativity and cultural excellence (Encouraging interest, engagement and participation in cultural, creative and sporting activities across the UK), representing UK, its nations, regions and communities ( BBC viewers, listeners and users can rely on the BBC to reflect the many communities that exist in the UK ), bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK ( The BBC will build a global understanding of international issues and broaden UK audiences' experience of different cultures) and delivering to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services (Assisting UK residents to get the best out of emerging media technologies now and in the future). The BBC is run on the basis of certain laws and guidelines  These are created by individual official bodies such as OFcom, BBC trust and fair trading. These policies help BBC obtain the designed public purposes. In other words, institutions like BBC are more socially friendly whereas non-commercial companies are just the opposite.

Commercial companies however, are companies that work more towards making money by financing, promoting and distributing medis texts, mainly feature films in order to make money through audience feedback and box office ratings. The main difference between commercial and non-commercial companies is the concept of ideas and purposes, since commercal companies want more of sovial welfare and non-commercial care mainly towards their profit maximization. Non commercial companies tend to choose a particular genre type of films that they cater to. Examples of non-commercial companies are Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Bros, Paramount, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Fox etc. Taking Warner Brothers as an example, this is one of the world'd oldest and respected motion pictures organization. It not only finances films but also produces them as well as promotion and distribution.