Globalization and media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Globalization and media - Essay Example In an important 2006 article, Schiller asserted that we should reassess any notions we have that the era of cultural domination is over. He looks back over the last quarter century, and draws parallels between the situation faced then, and that with which we are now confronted. On the whole, he concludes that very little has actually changed. Revisiting this comparison is a worthwhile exercise in attempting to distil the essential nature of the debate between those who hold cultural imperialism to be a relevant concept, and those who would have it dismissed as archaic. Schiller noted that in the 1980s, there was a clear division between the western and industrialized ‘First World’, a ‘Second World’ made up largely of the countries aligned to the socialist blocs led by the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, and a ‘Third World’ made up of those countries which had gained independence in recent decades (295). Across all of thes e categories, the United States was, politically and culturally, the most powerful state, with the Third World deliberately being targeted with American cultural exports, and a vision of an American lifestyle to aspire to. As Schiller himself concedes, there have been some important alterations to the global cultural landscape in the intervening decades. For one, the Second World has practically disappeared. Those countries which might still be grouped in this category, such as China and Vietnam, are increasingly open to American and other Western cultural imports, while some, such as the countries of the former Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, became an area in which American-style cultural norms flourished after the collapse of government from Moscow. Furthermore, we are now consciously witnessing the political and economic decline of the United States, in relative terms, when compared to the fast-growing economies of China and India. The Chinese economy, for example, has just over taken the Japanese in order of size. This raises pressing questions about whether American cultural dominance can be sustained in a world where its political dominance in diminished. Schiller argues that ‘Cultural submersion’ to American norms remains powerful, and this term has in fact been broadened beyond just watching American television programs and movies, to shopping in American-style malls and going to theme parks. There is, of course, a change in the cultural sphere which has been even more important than all of this, and that is the broadening of the definition of media, to cover what we now collectively refer to as the ‘social media’ – including the blogosphere and the social networking websites which have proliferated in the past decade. This issue will be discussed in more detail below, but Schiller argues that despite the rise of new media, television retains its former importance. He claims that the emergence of satellite and cable net works has prevented this happening (297). At this point his argument becomes less powerful. In the early 1990s, as the Soviet bloc collapsed and American culture seemed triumphant all over the world, Schiller’s contention stands firm, but in the present decade, with revolutions and uprisings, as well as broader internal debate and opposition being fuelled by websites and forums that are independent of any political authority, the