Learning unit 1

Global Communication Theories

Session 1-4

Module outcome covered

MO1

Evaluate the theories related to global communication.

MO3

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the politics of global communication.

Learning Content:

Normative theories of global communication and their shortcomings.

Comparing contrasting media with specific reference to Soviet Russia and its influence on global communication.

Issues relevant to mainstream media. Globalisation, media imperialism and hybridisation.

Learning Objectives:

Explain normative theories of various media systems using examples to further your understanding.

Discuss shortcomings of these normative theories.

Explain the role and influence the Soviet media system has had on understanding media internationally.

Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the issues relevant to mainstream media.

Define globalisation with respect to its effect on South Africa.

Examine the effects of “media imperialism”.

Explain the term “hybridisation”.

Material to be used :

Prescribed text pp.22-38.

Additional notes are given in the Introduction to this Learning Unit to supplement the prescribed textbook.

Pages to focus on: pp.23-30, 33-35.

How to prepare for this Learning Unit:

Before the first class, be sure that you read Sections 1-4 of this Learning Unit, and pp.22-38 in the textbook.

As you read these sections, see if you can find the answers to the following questions:

1. o What is meant by “samizdat”

2. o Do media really explain economic crises suitably?

3. o Do the media suggest ways of improving economic crises?

Recommended Additional Reading

Branston, G. and Stafford, R. 1999. The media student’s book. London: Routledge. [Chapter 20 only – Globalisation]

Herbst, J. 2005. Africa and the challenge of globalization. Conference paper presented at the Conference on Globalization and Economic Success: Policy Options for Africa. Singapore: 7-8 October.

Introduction

Media theories, also known as the “normative approach”.

Basic understanding of them as well as any shortcomings that are addressed.

The history and role of the Soviet Union with reference to the history of media systems as we know them today. the distinctive features of Western media systems and determine the similarities and differences therein.

“globalisation” is discussed,; media imperialism and hybridization

Normative theories

Explain normative theories of various media systems using examples to further your understanding.

Authoritarian

Soviet

Libertarian

Social responsibility

Development media theory

Democratic-participant

Authoritarian

effectively meant dictatorial.

Can justify advance censorship and punishment for deviation.

Authoritarian principles may even express the popular will under some conditions, such as a nation at war.

Generally designed to protect the established social order and its agents, setting clear and close limits to media freedom.

Soviet

The communist dictatorships at that time in Russia.

Assigned the media a role as collective agitator, propagandist and educator in the building of communism.

Propaganda - form of communication aimed at changing, influencing or maintaining people’s attitudes, opinions or beliefs in a way that is initially aligned with what the sender of the message intended.

The main principle was subordination of the media to the Communist Party – the only legitimate voice and agent of the working class.

It did not favour free expression, but it did propose a positive role for the media in society and in the world, with a strong emphasis on culture and information and on the task of economic and social development.

Prime difference

. between the Soviet bloc dictatorships and “authoritarian” regimes lay in the particular political ideology that served as a foundation for the Soviet regimes, namely Communism, which claimed to show the way to construct a just and equal society

Libertarian

was “free market-based” in which the best would be recognised and the worst would fail.

In one respect it is a simple extension to the (newspaper) press of the fundamental individual rights to freedom of opinion, speech, religion, and assembly.

The nearest approximation to truth will emerge from the competitive exposure to alternative viewpoints, and progress for society will depend on the choice of “right” over “wrong” solutions.

The contrast

The contrast with both of the previous two categories was, clearly, between media systems ruled by state regulation and censorship, and media systems ruled by capitalist moneymaking priorities

Social responsibility

referred to a different order of reality, namely, media operating within a capitalist dynamic but simultaneously committed to serving the public’s needs. These needs were for a watchdog on government and business malpractice and for a steady flow of reliable information to help the citizens of a democracy make up their minds on matters of public concern. This theory involved the view that media ownership and operation are a form of public trust, rather than an unlimited private franchise. For the privately owned media, social responsibility theory has been expressed and applied mainly in the form of codes of professional journalistic standards, ethics and conduct or in various kinds of council or tribunal for dealing with individual complaints against the press, or by way of public commissions of inquiry into particular media. Most such councils have been organised by the press themselves, a key feature of the theory being its emphasis on self-regulation.

Development media theory

Meant that media addressed issues of poverty, health care, literacy, and education, particularly in Third World settings.

Media were defined as being vitally responsible for informing the public.

Held to an important role in fostering a sense of nationhood in countries with highly disparate groups in the population, territories often artificially created by European colonialists as recently as the late 19th century.

.

The development media theory was intended to recognise the fact that societies undergoing a transition from underdevelopment and colonialism to independence and better material conditions often lack the infrastructure, money, traditions, professional skills and even audiences

It emphasised the following goals: the primacy of the national development task; the pursuit of cultural and informational autonomy; support for democracy; and solidarity with other developing countries.

Because of the priority given to these ends, limited resources available for media can legitimately be allocated by government, and journalistic freedom can also be restricted.

Democratic-participant

Typically designated local, small-scale, and more democratically organised media, such as community radio or public access video, with their staff and producers having considerable input into editorial decisions.

This alone sharply distinguished them from mainstream media of all kinds.

In addition, participatory media were defined as closely involved with the on-going life of the communities they served so that their readers or listeners could also have considerable influence over editorial policies.

Sometimes these media shared the same development goals as the development model but not on any kind of authoritative top-down basis or as agents of government development policies

Public participation and a democratic process were central to their operation.

This democratic-participant media theory supports the right to relevant local information, the right to answer back and the right to use the new means of communication for interaction and social action in small-scale settings of community, interest group or subculture.

Shortcomings

Discuss shortcomings of these normative theories.

Aside from their typical failure to engage with entertainment, their distinction among Soviet, authoritarian, and development models was very blurred in practice.

The chief problem with the six theories approach goes back to the deontic, or normative, dimension of the theories.

The two terms used previously – categories and models – illustrate this problem, for though they can be synonyms, model implies something that ought to be followed.

While media, like any cultural organisation, clearly do follow certain guiding principles, what media executives claim those principles are and how the same media executives behave in actuality may often be light-years apart.

Communist media in the former Soviet bloc claimed their purpose was to serve the general public, yet when the opportunity arose in those countries in the late 1980s, public criticism of the cover-ups and distortions of Communist media became a tidal wave.

In the social responsibility model, objectivity is trumpeted as the journalists’ core principle.

Yet, as media researchers in a number of countries have demonstrated, journalists readily place patriotism above objectivity and define objectivity in practice as the middle point between two opposing views, often those of rival political parties, not troubling to question whether truth may lie somewhere else.

Development media were often steered away from sensitive topics by arrogant, autocratic regimes in the name of national unity and the need to focus on bettering economic production.

Role and influence the Soviet media

Explain the role and influence the Soviet media system has had on understanding media internationally.

Many lessons learnt in media operations

Soviet 1917- 1991

The features persisted-bankers being media bosses

Overlap with media under dictatorship

One party state communism

Impact on media freedom

Taiwan broadcast media governed by the state –national development and unit

World media system ,privatisation, liberalisation

Economically and politically stable countries system (USA and Britain point of reference

Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germans, China, USA and Britain

Now we are busy studying system USA and Britain forgetting Russia

Some stable economies countries not in G8 are stable Denmark , New Zealand have positive but not considered

Even crisis torn countries have positives but their audience might not aware or understand media operations

Issues relevant

Demonstrate a basic knowledge of the issues relevant to mainstream media.

Economic Crises, politics power, dramatic social transition and small scale alternative media

Economic Crises,

Russia collapse of Soviet Bloc

ESAP economic structural adjustment programme-IMF-(1990s)

To sacrifice debts payment –loans and interests accruing

Because of ruthless capitalists logic(no helping but robbing people)

Impact to life expectancy, decline living standards, stagnation of productivity,

2008-9 world recession

In Russia during post Soviet it was easier to point to IMF but now can they or they look for scapegoats like immigrants Gypisies, Chinese Jewish and Muslims

Oil revenues , manufacturing of guns-G8

So what are the strategies in place to correct economic crises

Politics Power,

Communist media seen as the opposite of media in WEST

Communism was like censorship and repression in the name of ideal justice

Capitalist won in the end

State media functioning in dictatorship

Soviet established ideological priorities

Kept close watch over any subversive tendencies, media bosses chose from party executives with loyaly

KBG-political police

Typewrites were licenced by state to travel where material came from

Photocopiers were governed by microscopic detail and bugging technology

New technology in the end made it diifficult

But authentic news was via conversations-rumour, opinion

The official truth that media blarred out was known

Trust in mainstream media?

Dramatic social transition

Read on your own

Small scale alternative media

Radical media-Samizdat-self published

In Russia it referred to hand circulated pamphlets, poems, essays, plays, short stories novels audio and video cassettes from 1960 0nwards

Containing banned material by Soviet regime

Writing or distributing carried a sentence with hard labour

Religious, national, ecological reformist

Collapse of Soviet was un thinkable

Determination, jail terms, shortwave radio software's for radical media worked

BBC world service, Radio Free, radio Liberty and Voice of America

Messages on air in urban cities even though it was jammed by government

Social movement opposing war in Iraq anti Vietnam War,

Media power is no longer in government hands but the people

globalisation

Define globalisation with respect to its effect on South Africa.

Globalisation shortens the distance between people all over the world by the electronic communication (Flew 2002).

This word refers a phenomenon through which individuals are no longer constrained in communicating by physical distance.

economic problems.

Inter-connected economies;

This era had seen an unprecedented opening of the market.

Globalisation has led to a deep interconnected freedom of trade between nations.

E-commerce has meant more economies of more countries interact and react to each other. This cointerconnected freedom of trade between nations. nstant connection with every part of the world could lead to

E-commerce has meant more economies of more countries interact and react to each other.

This constant connection with every part of the world could lead to negative consequences.

Should there be economic collapse in one (1) part of the world the results of this are felt worldwide. Consider how markets rise and fall on the back of news events worldwide, due to the immediacy of communication.

Outsourcing Outsourcing

now common practice of first world multinational corporations manufacturing goods in an environment that facilitates cheaper production costs and usually less restrictive labour policies for sale in first world nations. ―sophisticated sweatshops‖ (Friedman, 2008).

Market Flooding

More trade in imported goods, consider the clothing industry in South African which has been virtually shut down by foreign exports.

Countries are losing more and more in the manufacturing sector due to cheaper imports being sourced.

This in turn creates an uneven job market, whilst the trained and educational qualification holders (doctors, lawyers, journalists) can compete for jobs in this global arena, the factory worker who is out of a job due to imports being cheaper, cannot.

CulturalProblems

New Media have become associated with the process of cultural globalisation because it allows interaction between people with very different lifestyles and from very different cultures

. Language has ceased to become a barrier with the advent of picture sharing.

Homogenisation of World Culture

The largest problem created is the homogenisation of world culture, this refers to the act of making same.

Globalisation has led to the loss of small indigenous culture and languages.

Fourie talks of how this process is inherently skewed in favour of the country that enjoys greater economic advantage and greater technology; he speaks of the concept of cultural imperialism.

Cultural Appropriation.

individuals from outside a particular indigenous cultural group appropriating and utilising aspects of that culture’s language, (2) art, rituals etc. without understanding the value and meaning thereof.

Cultural Imperialism

act of a nation imposing its cultural values onto another, usually weaker, nation; new media facilitates this by allowing ideas, art and thought from the so called first world countries to be more readily available than that of the third world.

Most of the technology supporting new media (has originated in first world countries.

Homogenisation of World Culture;

Explain the term “hybridization/Cultural convergence

A fusion of cultures; a melting together of different authentic cultures.

this refers to the act of making same.

Globalisation has led to the loss of small indigenous cultures and languages.

This is a crisis as more niche crafts arts and languages are rendered extinct in the pursuit of new media interaction with the world.

The growing similarity between national cultures, including their beliefs, values and aspirations

Izimvo Exchange 1

Working within groups, discuss the merits of globalisation. Is globalisation something that has helped South Africa in terms of development, or is it a process that has done more harm than good? Give specific examples of both the positive and negative consequences of globalisation on South Africa.

Izimvo Exchange 2

As a class, debate the notion mentioned in the textbook (Kamalipour, 2007, p. 33) that “globalization more or less means Americanization”. Do you agree with this statement?

media imperialism

Examine the effects of “media imperialism”.

A theory that suggests that dominant media coverage from large, developed countries can cause smaller, developing countries to lose their identities due to the dominance of the media from the developed country

A broad concept that can encompass a wide range of issues – such as global media flow and international trade in services.

With specific reference to the practice of promoting and imposing one country’s electronic products (such as films, television etc.) on others.

Activity 1 Purpose:

The purpose of this task is for you to become familiar with what is meant by an “economic crisis” and to what extent South African media portray such crises.

Task:

Within small groups, do some research online to determine how South African media present economic crises, both of a local and international nature.

How well do you think these crises are presented and explained?

Do you think local media portray economic crises differently to international media; and if so, why do you think is the case?

Recommended Digital Engagement and Activities

What South Africa Thinks about Globalization:

http://www.globalization101.org/what-south-africa-thinks-about-globalization-2

Priorities of the South African government regarding Globalisation:

http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/2007pq/pq1243.htm

Revision Exercise

Module Guide

A taxonomy (classification system) has been proposed to organise and compare media internationally, which is commonly referred to as the “normative approach”.

1.1 Briefly discuss the theories of global communication that represent the normative approach.

1.2 Discuss the shortcomings of these normative theories.