Communications Technology and Media in a Global Environment

Political Cartoon Interpretation Read them as you would a text source in English (left to right, top to bottom) Look for predominant elements Read any text elements Look at facial expressions and body language Look for irony between what is “said” and what is happening Are there any literary elements (metaphors, similes, etc . . .) or allusions? Caricature?

Transnational Media Advantages of Transnationals Concerns about Transnationals • They have too much influence over world culture. For example, if only a few corporations control news outlets, such as websites, TV stations, and newspapers, whose views will be represented? • Smaller, diverse media cannot compete financially with transnationals • Transnationals do not use their power to express voices of diverse cultures. • They have large financial and human resources to create new media. • Many people enjoy the media products created by these corporations. • They can use their control of the media to express voices of diverse cultures.

Universalization of Pop Culture Technology has allowed us to break down time, geographic, and information barriers to such an extent that we now have a sense of global community (“global village”) This global village, combined with modern mass media, has lead to a global pop culture. This has lead to the spread of a consumerist society which focuses on branding people’s consumer choices earlier and earlier in life. Debate Question: Has this shift been beneficial?

Diversification Defn: Increasing sources of information and cultural traditions in the modern world. Ex: While traditional media is increasingly concentrated in the hands of transnational corporations, other media has become increasingly widespread (although harder to verify for accuracy) in the hands of individuals YouTube: Gagnam Style, Romney Style, NRC Twitter: #dayinthelife Blogs Q: Why was the new “Karate Kid” set in China?

Canadian Broadcasting Canada has established a public broadcaster (CBC-RDC) to promote Canadian values while at the same time creating the CRTC to monitor and set Canadian content quotas.

Should we keep the CBC? FOR AGAINST • state that a national broadcaster highlights the shared values of Canadians. • believe that the role of a national broadcaster is important in the face of increased global media and communications. • believe that Canada’s culture is better served by competition among private broadcasters. • believe that public broadcasters portray an elitist cultural view that does not reflect the shared values of most Canadians. • state that there is little chance to fight the current of global cultural forces, and that Canadian cultural identity, if it is to survive, must compete on the international stage without any government assistance.

CRTC The CRTC, Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, was established to regulate and supervise all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system. CANCON is the acronym for Canadian content rules. These rules promote Canadian actors and artists by insisting on Canadian content in programming.

Issue: How does broadcasting affect diversity? Of the 620 television services in Canada: 484 are English language stations 109 are French language stations 27 are third language stations

Problems with Cultural Diversity on Television Stereotyping – ethnic groups or cultures always shown in the same manner with the same characteristics. Negative and inaccurate portrayals – negative characteristics attached to certain groups (terrorists, violent, dependent) Under-representation of minorities – some minorities are not seen much on television Unbalanced portrayal in newscasts – some minorities or ethnic groups named specifically when linked to crimes

Using Television to Promote Identity and Culture APTN – the Aboriginal People’s Television Network offers news, entertainment, sports and children’s programming with an aboriginal perspective using some aboriginal languages TV5 – an international television network that connects Francophone people in many countries

Globalized News Networks CNN and the BBC are both international news organizations that cover world events They are large organizations with millions of viewers worldwide They present news stories from the perspective of their home countries and may have a bias toward their own culture and world view

Americanization/Coca-colonization The cultural dominance of America: Hollywood, fashion, music, geo-politics, food, etc . . . This has also been seen as “cultural imperialism” by those wishing to resist the dominance of American culture and customs. Those wishing to exhibit a multitude of cultures would desire a “cosmopolitan” society instead. Read the Article Discussion: Should we resist Americanization? If so how? POP 101