Global Media Flows

ABSTRACT

Through the creating of various new media sources throughout the past century, there have been nations that have asserted dominance in the world of global media. These nations are typically a part of the Western world, one of great significance is the United States of America. These media powers participate in a one-way flow of information, where the voice of smaller/less developed nations are quieted. Then there are "contra-flows" or media disruptors that present different information, ideas, communication, and ideologies and participate in a two-way flow of discourse politics, news, and culture. The dominance of Western media has become so overbearing that the cultures and nationhoods of these individual countries is becoming greatly affected. Though it is beneficial to be exposed to various global countries cultures, the dominance of Western media needs to be halted to allow for other global media entities to take hold.

Paper

Alex Mooneyham

MDST 3201

April 29, 2017

Contra-flows and Xenophobia

            The world of global media is much more complex and difficult to understand than the average media consumer would expect. Global media is composed of two significant forms of media flows; the first being dominant media flows, and then the second being contra-flows (also known as counter flows). Each of these flows have a significant impact on the nationhood and cultural identity of all those exposed to it, yet people do not notice how much these media flows contribute to and shape their daily lives. Dominant media flows are typically associated to the Western world; they are powerful, rich, and well established. These dominant flows have an emphasis on capitalism, using all of their resources, reach, platforms, and connections to spread their information while making a large profit. Dominant flows are criticized to show biased information that focuses on selling major headlines, rather than impartial news and information. These flows are also seen as a one-way flow of information, meaning the Western world sends information to the rest, and the rest sends no information back to the West. This is where contra-flows come in and try to disrupt the typical flow of media. Contra-flows in global media aim to disrupt the global media scape by changing the flow of information from one-way to two-way exchanges. These flows of information, ideas, and culture help to change the discussion about news, politics, and culture by adding a new voice to the conversation; or a different perspective on the topics at hand. This is what makes them “contra” flows, they are trying to counter the typical global flows in order to spark new thoughts and gain traction in their competition between dominant flows. There are many problems that arise with the dominant media flows having greater reach and more control over the mediascape. One would be although these contra-flows exist, they are unable to gain traction to make a legitimate name for themselves in order to compete with the dominant flows on a much larger scale. These "contra-flows" are still not nearly as popular nor as dominant enough to make a significant impact on the global mediascape we have today. The dominance of Western media and culture has become so prominent that Western culture is impacting almost every country around the world in one way or another.  This is problematic for these countries and the Western world as well, because the West is not being exposed to the various global cultures and practices, some of which would improve our own society and enrich each individual exposed to it. With the development of new media formsand possible new regulations and reforms for news entertainment, these contra-flows have the opportunity to grow and assert dominance on a global scale. This will allow for reduced xenophobia globally, something that is much needed around the world today. 

            In order to understand global media flows, it is important to acknowledge the role in which globalization has played in establishing these flows. Globalization has been a process the world has participated in ever since civilizations began to interact centuries upon centuries ago. The idea now is that this is a more recent phenomenon and practice that can be attributed to the rapid advancements in technology made in the past centuries in categories such as communication and transportation. Yet there are many instances that prove that cultures as far back as 1000 A.D collaborated and participated in sharing of ideas and technology. Amartya Sen discusses the idea of globalization in her article “How to Judge Globalism”. In the article she discusses the process of Eastern globalization rather than “Western” globalization. This is where she provides substantial proof that the West is not the only region to have contributed greatly to the advancements in technology, communication, etc. throughout the ongoing duration of mankind. Concrete examples such as how in India the decimal system had been used and perfected between the second and sixth century, but was not used and adopted in Europe until the tenth century (Sen). The decimal system played a pivotal role in the scientific revolution centuries later, and we have the Eastern world to thank for that. Another example in which Sen displays how the process of globalization is not a recent phenomenon is by examining China and its technological advances in 1000 A.D.. China possessed tools such as paper, gunpowder, the crossbow, and the magnetic compass prior to any other country. These tools were exclusive to China at the time, but thanks to globalization and the mixing of cultures, other countries throughout the world were able to slowly able to mix these tools into their everyday lives.

            This thought that one should deny globalization because it derives solely from Western nations has been very problematic. The desire to deny and lack adoption of shared ideas and information by non-Western nations has become a common trend. This is attributed to the fact that these nations do not want their cultures and societies being affected in such a way that their culture and cultural practices are misplaced and forgotten because of exposure to Western ideals (Sen).  The reason in which denying globalization is problematic is because it puts a restriction on the ability to objectively share and gain knowledge in areas such as science and mathematics.

            Globalization is seen in a very negative light due to the fact that many people blame globalization for the inequalities that derive from it. Economic, social, and political factors are mainly looked at to identify the the inequality in the distribution of power throughout the world. It is a common critique that globalization favors larger more established nations (typically Western), which results in the rich nations getting richer, while the smaller poor countries continue to be at a disadvantage (Sen). The concept and practice of globalization is not to blame for these inequalities and institutional injustices that exist, but more so how the benefits of this practice are being unequally distributed. Institutional regulations that are present are a large portion of what’s to blame for these uneven distribution of benefits. An example would be regulations that repress exports from poor countries, not allowing these countries to trade or sell their resources.

              In Appiah’s “The Case for Contamination” he states that “the fear is that the values and images of Western mass culture, like some invasive weed, are threatening to choke out the worlds native flora.” In order for this contamination to be avoided, contra-flows need to be more effective and powerful so that their reach can be extended and their influence on the public to be greater. There are several contra-flows that have been very successful in countering the output of the dominant flows.

              Being an American born and raised citizen living in the US, I rarely ever experience(d) alternative media deriving from other nations that are non-Western. I am exposed to large media networks and their articles and stories several times a day. I typically am exposed to dominant news channels such as CNN, Fox News, Hollywood, or MSNBC. These dominant flows have acted in ways throughout my life that shaped who I am, what I believe about myself, and what I believe about the people and places around me. Being exposed to these dominant media flows with no exposure to other flows, was something that has become normal for me and the vast majority of the US population. This is something that is problematic for our nation and our culture due to the fact that these news sources can often be mostly opinion based, biased news. Contra-flows are our only hope to be able to receive two-way flows of information, where fact is being presented to us regarding the information about these foreign cultures’, news, politics, and economic state.

               I believe it is important to show how dominant media flows are able to quiet the voice of contra-flows. One example of how a dominant media source can hush the voices of contra-flows is shown through the conflicts of South Africa in May of 2008. South Africa experienced major conflict during this time that occurred between the impoverished people of South Africa and impoverished immigrants. The conflict had been ongoing for sometime, and when King Zwelithini had made a statement that foreigners “should pack their bags and go home” it escalated (Al Jazeera: South Africa, xenophobia and the media). This resulted in the King trying to blame the media for taking the statement out of context. Since government regulations are set over the state owned news station SABC. Content through them is monitored by the government, but corporate owned newspaper companies are much more critical over the actions of the government. Yet these newspapers are only read by 5% of the population. The majority of the South African nation gets their news from monitored and regulated networks such as SABC (Al Jazeera: South Africa, xenophobia and the media). The voice of the newspapers is more truthful, accurate, and honest, and their content needs to reach a much larger audience. Although this is confined to media sources from South Africa, it is a good example of how dominant media sources can overpower these smaller flows.

             There are several other contra-flows today that have experienced great success. South Korea has introduced the world to the realm of K-Pop. K-Pop is a South Korean music consisting of electronic, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B styles. K-Pop artists are usually combined into musical groups, where they perform alongside their group members, usually in very trendy and fashion forward outfits. The majority of the world was exposed to K-Pop in 2012 when artist PSY released his instant hit Gangnam Style. “ranked number one in the world in terms of YouTube click counts, and reaching more than 1.7 billion hits as of July 21, 2013. The second most hits recorded in YouTube history by Justin Bieber comes in at just 0.9 billion” (Ingyu Oh; 390). PSY and his song were able to extend aspects of their culture and music industry in such a way that the song ranks as the single most viewed video in YouTube history (Billboard).

            Another contra-flow that has seen great success globally is the broadcast network based out of Qatar, Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera is much more than just a broadcast network, it was once seen to be just a propaganda tool but has established itself as a very credible and un-biased source for news. “Al Jazeera appears more a network on a mission, not only to report but to restore Arab dignity and replace muzzled politics with a new culture of civil dialogue” (Echchaibi). Al Jazeera aims to change the perception of the Middle East and its surrounding nations by reporting honestly and without bias about the actions occurring in this part of the world. The success of Al AJzeera in this region was so apparent, that they have expanded their networks to include stations such as Al Jazeera America and Al Jazeera Turk (Al Jazeera to expand digital services in US).

            Though these contra-flows are very successful in terms of expanding their reach and aiming to disrupt the flow of dominant media, it appears that one contra-flow is far more effective than the others. This flow is Bollywood, based out of Mumbai, India.

              An example I discovered of how contra-flows are effective at changing the perceptions of Indian culture thus decreasing the amount of xenophobia felt by Americans towards people of India origin is present in Bollywood. Bollywood is a Hindi film industry who is one of the major competitors for the Hollywood movie business. It is a multi billion entertainment company, and “in terms of production and viewership, is the worlds largest [entertainment company]” (Daya Thussu; 26). In these terms, this means that Bollywood is able to produce more films than that of Hollywood, and their films are watched by larger audiences. Yet, these successes do not come without explanation. The reason in which Bollywood is able to produce more films is due to the fact that they are producing much cheaper, less complicated and advanced movies in comparison to Hollywood. But their success and achievements are notable enough for it to counter the concept of Hollywood being the only dominant global entertainment flow. “Their films have been increasing in popularity throughout the US. Not only are video rentals from ethnic stores growing in numbers; occasional showings in second-rate—and often derelict—theatres are also decreasing (Brosius 2005; Dudrah 2007)” (Matusitz and Payano; 72). This proves that American people are wanting to see these Bollywood films. One would expect that with the great popularity of Bollywood film “Slumdog Millionaire” played a part in the growing interest by Americans to watch Bollywood films. “Winning eight Academy Awards and grossing more than $100 million in revenue, Slumdog Millionaire is being acknowledged as bridging the cultural gap between key elements of Indian pop culture (for example, poverty, survival, love and triumph) and the inclusion of Western elements” (Matusitz and Payano; 72). Slumdog Millionaire was able to show to their Western viewers how the two countries and cultures are more similar than they are different. Bollywood was able to counter the flow of Hollywood very successfully, and even created a richer cultural experience for all of its viewers. 'This re-imagining process has a specific resonance for US audiences which are, like any audience, members of an ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 1991). Through shared cultural practices and media, they establish a new fan base of a movie genre (Kao and Do Rozario 2008)” (Matusitz and Payano; 72). Imagined communities is they key term here that exemplifies how this consumption of the Bollywood contra-flow has decreased the amount of xenophobia felt about Indian people and Indian culture by Westerners. An imagined community is the belief that a nation is a community socially constructed, imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of a group. Perceiving another group of people, from another country and of a different race is a perfect way to exemplify this decrease in xenophobia. One would not consider someone they did not like or did not relate to to be a part of the same “group” as them. Bollywood and their successful films such as Slumdog Milionaire are proof that contra-flows are able to erase xenophobic thoughts about different cultures and people, while dominant media flows fail to do so.

            In the article “Media, Culture and Society,” the authors state “the concept of contra-flow is not only a mere geographical shift of production capacities towards peripheral locations. More important is the appreciation of contra-flow content in Western locations and a certain degree of interaction with dominant media — be it of an appreciative or confrontational nature” (Manuel Adophsen and Hartmut Wessler). This quote accurately depicts what contra-flows aim to do in the world of global media. It aims to make impressions on the people and cultures of the Western nations by giving an accurate representation on their culture, news, politics, and economy. Contra-flows have already expanded their reach and made impressions on many global audiences, even making strides to help decrease xenophobia felt by Western nations. Making it apparent that contra-flows countering the content and flow of dominant flows, has the possibility to significantly decrease the amount of xenophobia felt on a global scale.

Works Cited

Adophsen, Manuel, and Hartmut Wessler. "Media, Culture & Society." Sage Journal 39.3 (2016): n. pag. Web.

"Al Jazeera to Expand Digital Services in US." Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera, 13 Jan. 2016. Web. 01 May 2017.     <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/al-jazeera-160113151725873.html>.

Appiah, Kwame Anthony. "The Case for Contamination." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Jan. 2006. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/01/magazine/the-case-for-contamination.html>.

Echchaibi, Nabil. "Al Jazeera and the Promise of the Arab Revolution." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 09 Feb. 2011. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nabil-echchaibi/al-jazeera-and-the-promis_b_821105.html>.

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Matusitz, Jonathan, and Pam Payano. "The Bollywood in Indian and American Perceptions." Sage Journals 67.1 (2011): n. pag. Web.

Oh, Ingyu. "The Globalization of K-pop: Korea's Place in the Global Music Industry." Korea Observor 44.3 (2013): n. pag. Web.

Sen, Amartya. "How to Judge Globalism." The American Prospect 13.1 (2002): n. pag. Web.

"South Africa, Xenophobia and the Media." South Africa, Xenophobia and the Media - Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera, 26 Apr. 2015. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2015/04/south-africa-xenophobia-media-150425082223674.html>.

Staff, Billboard. "YouTube's 10 Most-Watched Music Videos." Billboard. N.p., 2 Mar. 2017. Web. 01 May 2017. <http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/7709247/youtube-most-watched-videos>.

Thussu, Daya Kishan. Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-flow. London: Routledge, 2007. Print.

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