Chapter 5: Communication and Cultural Globalization

Chapter 5: Communication and Cultural Globalization

The West leaded by US has influenced the world by dominating the flow of information in media. The monopolization of media has created a common culture. One of the media mediums that has tremendously contributed in creating this culture is Television. Television is “a global mass culture” dominated “by the image, imagery, and styles of mass advertising” this mass culture has changed the way people see their own regions and countries.

This common culture was used to get financial revenue; taking the example of McDonalds, Coca-Cola and other products. Also, the worldwide cartoons for children has opened another industry; taking the example of “Sesame Street” that has been podcasted in many channels around the globe. After a while Desiny launched its first channel in Britain and Taiwan in 1995 then

opened many channels worldwide. From Television, they moved to children’s magazines then to toy’s industry

The flow of international television programmes

The hegemony excised by US was seen as cultural imperialism. The US was smart enough to benefit from its soft power to promote for its own interest and implicitly colonize other countries. The use of soft power was cheaper and more effective than that of hard/ physical power.

cultural diversity

The cultural diversity was one of the secrets to make the programs internationally known. Every citizen should see the reflection of its environment in these programs. The cultural diversity was taken into consideration in order to protect the national cultures; however, I think that the culture of the leading companies in the industry meanly United States are the one who fully benefit from promoting their own cultures. Not all the cultures are promoted equally. English and French are promoted and used more than Arabic or any other language. I think that there is a huge gap between what the media should be and what it is.

Regionalized advertising:

Advertisement was seen as a local product that should be adapted to the local culture and mentalities. It should also take into consideration the way that will be interpreted and understood locally. They use

regional and national languages to sell consumer and other products through the various media.