Annotated Bibliography: Global Communication
OPEN UNIVERSITY m a l a y s i a
FACULTY OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES (FASS)
_______________________________________________________________________________
ABCG3103
GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
_____________________________________________________________________
“GLOBAL COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY”
• Semester •
SEPTEMBER 2012
[18 NOVEMBER 2012]
TABLE OF CONTENTS__________________________________________________________
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Global Communication 2 1.1a Forms
1.1b History 1.1c Significance
2.0 Cultural Imperialism 3 2.1 World-System Theory 4
3.0 Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs) 5
3.1 TMCs Impacts On Cultural Imperialism 6 - 8
4.0 CONCLUSION 9
REFERENCES (In Alphabetical Order) 10
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The advent of massively …show more content…
available communication means that the opportunities for learning will be greater than ever. A child in a remote, rural village in India can receive instruction from a great thinker who is thousands of miles away. A doctor who is preparing for a rare operation can watch a narrated video of the same operation that was conducted by the world’s authority in that specialization. A researcher in bioengineering will have efficient access to all the information that has ever been recorded in the field. The potential for “global connectedness” means that we will have the opportunity to interact in a way that leads to the rapid and positive evolution.
However, more information does not necessarily lead to better decisions. As one wise noted, “Leaders in the past could not make decisions because they had too little information. Leaders in the future will be unable to make decisions because they will have too much information.” Editing and efficiently accessing truly relevant information will be a key challenge for the future.
Additionally, there is also little historical evidence to support the assumption that the instant availability of information will lead to long-term quality of communication. Early in its history, television was considered a breakthrough innovation that had the potential to provide positive long-term benefits to humanity. Unfortunately as it turned out, far more television programs deliver short-term stimulation (for example, “sitcoms” or “action” shows) than deliver long-term benefit. Today television addiction is one of the most underrated problems in the United States (with the average child spending thousands of hours watching “junk” and “scrap” on TV). In the future, Internet addiction may well pass drug addiction and alcohol addiction, combined, as a social problem within the global communication.
1.1 Global Communication
Global communication is the collective processes that are developed and used to create and/or improve communication on a worldwide level. In other words, global communication is the ability to provide and access information across cultures through speaking, listening, or reading and writing. Global communication skills are particularly vital in a business environment, where language and cultural barriers can impact efficiency. Thus, the global communication lists of characteristics benefits.
1.1a Forms
Global communication consists of internal and external communication forms. Internal communication relies upon messages delivered from within the business to those associated with it, such as a CEO’s message to employees. External communication is focused on messages delivered outside the business environment, often internationally.
1.1b History
The role of global communication changed in the 20th century. This was particularly evident after the Cold War when technological advances were on the rise and the importance of communication and international relations was just being recognized.
1.1c Significance
Global communication industries have become increasingly significant, as globalization has evolved. U.S. relations with China, for example, have been improved dramatically in the areas of trade and cultural understanding.
In the era of satellite telephones, global CNN and wireless Internet connection almost anywhere, it is hard to imagine a spot on earth that has not been touched by global communication (Stevenson 1992). Global communication networks are furthermore enabling transnational media corporations (TMCs) to conduct their activities virtually throughout the world. Transactions within the emerging global market have become dependent on international information flows facilitated by modern ICTs. Thus, a paramount commodity and access to information and consequently to modern ICTs plays a major role in economic advancement and growth.
2.0 Cultural Imperialism
Cultural imperialism takes place when one culture overtakes another in such a way that the latter ends up following a significant number of values, traditions, beliefs and influences of the former, either completely or in a way which entangles the influences of the dominating culture intricately with those of its own. Such a cultural invasion can either be active or passive. In its active form, the dominant culture forcefully imposes its cultural influences upon the dominated culture. This is a dynamic phenomenon where the secondary culture is compelled to adopt the ways of the invaders. While the passive form is when one culture voluntarily embraces the influences and traditions of another culture. Here, the dominant culture makes little or no forceful efforts in imposing its cultural ideals upon another but the latter gets influenced as a consequence of its receptivity to the former’s cultural impacts.
Most of all, cultural imperialism is the economic, technological and cultural hegemony of the industrialized nations, which determines the direction of both economic and social progress, defines cultural values, and standardizes the civilization and cultural environment throughout the world. The whole world is becoming a cultural common market area in which the same kind of technical product development, the same kind of knowledge, fashion, music and literature, the same kind of metropolitan mass culture is manufactured, bought and sold.
We could observe, the western ideologies, political beliefs, western science, western laws and social institutions, western moral concepts, sexual symbols and ideals of beauty, western working methods and leisure activities, western foods, western pop idols and the western concept of human existence have become objectives, examples and norms everywhere in the world. Cultural imperialism is therefore, an intangible form of colonization that was practiced by the western empires that took over the world and exploited insidious and organic link between conquerors and conquered. It is thus a vague concept that is hollow out of the specific context of its territorial and political evolution and we must therefore take a look at the ways in which western culture attempted to dominate foreign societies before the advent of the mass media and westernization.
2.1 World-System Theory
Given example on a most well known version of the world-systems approach, which has been developed by Immanuel Wallerstein who is seen as one of the founders of the intellectual school of world-system theory.
Wallerstein offers several definitions of a world-system. He defined it, in 1974, briefly, as a system is defined as a unit with a single division of labor and multiple cultural systems.
In other words, a social system, one that has boundaries, structures, member groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. Its life is made up of the conflicting forces, which hold it together by tension, and tear it apart as each group seeks eternally to remold it to its advantage. For instance, cultural access will go well beyond the ability to better understand art or music. It will include the ability to better understand people. By being able to study and communicate with people of diverse backgrounds, we quickly learn that negative ethnic stereotypes are
invalid.
In addition, increased access to information means that more and more cultural opportunities will be available to the multitudes of humanity. Historically, many cultural opportunities were limited to the reasonably rich, who could afford to attend the theater, go to concerts, and attend colleges. In the future, many cultural opportunities from around the world will be instantly accessible at the push of a button. Thus, economic political, cultural and scientific forms of interaction all form part of the world system.
However, world-system theorists differ from dependency and imperialism theorists in that they do not necessarily assume that all relationships and forms of interaction between the center and periphery are necessarily unequal, but also make provision for the existence of equal relationships between various levels. They also point to the possibility that dominance can exist between units on the same level. In order to account for inequality in a particular case, it is consequently necessary to analyze the complexity of relationships and interactions. The fact that world-system theory acknowledges both equal and unequal relationships makes it a useful theoretical framework for empirical research into the flow of capital, international relationships, media contents and information in the new global order.
3.0 Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs)
The principal commodity sold by TMCs, the “most powerful economic force for global media today” are, information and entertainment. TMCs are the perfect frameworks for international free market and, consequently for a free flow of information. Most of the major transnational companies did not have a pre-established strategy to grow internationally. As companies get involved in complex and in international operations, there is a need for a global strategy. As a result, if companies become major transnational corporations, it is more due to the fact that they went to a gradual process of evolution that because they established some sort of predefined strategy.
Media penetration is the phenomenon that encompasses three media aspects namely environment, use and content by members of society. As it is, the media has often been seen as powerful shaper and cause of standardization between cultures. The media contributes to social change by being the missing link between culture and personality.
Electronic media has altered the geography of social life allowing people to become direct audiences to performances anywhere in the world and giving them access to audiences that are not physically present. In addition, media has recreated the terms that we use to define ourselves through the blurring of physical settings, social situations and the division between private and public domains. Thus, reconstructing the traditional conception of physical and social space, creating a cultural space that belongs to no one and yet to everyone.
Five giant corporations that had swipe and creating influences in the entire international media market including our country Malaysia are the well known CNN (Cable News Network), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), STAR TV, HBO (Home Box Office), MTV (Music Television) and many others. The global reach of communication technologies enables media corporations to compete in a market space that is potentially worldwide in scope. Media organization is in itself truly global. Giant media organizations have become central to the development of a communications infrastructure that facilitates transnational flows of information and cross-border commercial activities.
3.1 TMCs Impacts On Cultural Imperialism
The ability of TMCs to network across distance has been significantly enhanced by the Internet, which has enabled media corporations to compete in a potentially global market space. On the other hand, increasing digitization of content and the convergence of media and technology have led TMCs to expand their interests across a variety of media, information and telecommunications sectors. These include television and satellite, radio and music, film, print, Internet and others, which are vertically integrated in the leading media corporations to enhance their ability to distribute cultural products widely across a variety of platforms.
It is well known, even in Astro Programming, news agencies from America have been used as a weapon in an ideological war in most Asian countries including Malaysia. It is seems like the Voice of America broadcasts in tremendous amount of hours a week in all sorts of languages and besides that, Hollywood films, cartoon programs are all served up in what is seen as the culture war.
In addition, the mature media corporations with full practical experience, preplanned the direction, and successful theoretical and economical model, went across national borders to communicate to the local. From the macroscopic view, it shows us the interaction of different cultures, and the shifting of different cultures although from the microscopic view, it shows us the influence of targeting audiences, and the challenge to the traditional communication model. We could obviously see the negative impacts it on cultural imperialism among some of Asian countries, which includes Malaysia.
The best example, “I want my MTV!” the simple cry of a spoiled child who wants his eye-candy is regarded as one of the most successful slogans ever devised. In China for instance, MTV Mandarin’s slogan, is ‘We are MTV.’ (Which means we are unique and no one else can claim it). Being one of the most brand-conscious companies in the world, we could see here that MTV is experiencing an identity crisis in China. For instance, hip-hop culture have been spread widely and seen adapted by most teenagers in most Asia countries.
In Malaysia, we mostly heed the fact that MTV is not just a whacky foreign term for music video but refers to a specific company. MTV in Malaysia is seen as a format of music program with video instead of a symbol of the company Viacom (main operator). The other side of the coin is that MTV has become so popular that it not only stands for a certain kind of music but also represents a new kind of life style. As a result, quite a lot of its audience imitate the videos, dress and behave like the singers in the program with a desire for a life created on screen. The novel and fashionable behavior is never shown in traditional Malaysian music programs.
With the popularity of MTV, young Malaysian audiences had welcomed a new style of dressing, singing, dancing and even behavior. It is not only the behavior but also taste, which have been changed. Significantly, the changes happen mostly among young viewers who will be Malaysian’s mainstream audience in the future.
It is an open secret that the integrity of a cultural and geographical space, “our space” being eroded by the opening up of the frontier lands of the sky to wayward global explorers such as Ted Turner (owner of CNN) and Rupert Murdoch (owner of Sky Channel and, in Asia, Star TV). One of the most outspoken protesters against Murdoch’s acquisition of STAR TV was Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir, in whose speeches the idea of ‘Western cultural imperialism’ has been a recurrent, prominent theme, “Today they broadcast slanted news”, he complained. “Tomorrow they will broadcast raw pornography to corrupt our children and destroy our culture.” It should be clear that ‘they’, in Mahathir’s discourse, is “the West’. (Asiaweek 19 October 1994).
However, there is also positive impact as our local broadcast may learn of the latest method and technology in reporting by these foreign media. Hence, improving the local media industries. Besides, Malaysians are widely exposed to the outside development and progress. Thus, keeping them aware of what is happening around the globe. For instance, CNN breaking news are the fastest news to reach worldwide audiences, regardless of time and distance.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The impact of global communication on international cultural life is perhaps the most visible of its effects. However, technological effects are always socially mediated and constructed. Each new technology has to find its own cultural space in the life of a society before it can have any meaningful impact on social relations. In the case of the media, where technologies range from the simplest to the most complex, and from the readily accessible to those accessible only by a small elite, the effects are even more complex and ambiguous. Thus, the impact resulted from the global colonial of Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs) worldwide, for instance, CNN (Cable News Network), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), STAR TV, HBO (Home Box-office) and MTV (Music Television).
The slippage from ‘American’ to ‘Western’ cultural imperialism in contemporary concerns about satellite TV in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia. The discourse of cultural imperialism has dominated critical perspectives on transnational cultural relations in the last few decades, especially with respect to the overwhelming dominance of Western (mostly American) media in the rest of the world. As an idea, cultural imperialism actively echoes the brutal history of conquest and domination, which so unsettled and disrupted non-western societies in the process of imperial expansion, in this juncture, our own country Malaysia.
The impact that have positive or negatively influence our culture, hence the everyday life of our nation. We are seemingly more engrossed in the expansion of TMCs despite of our own media industries. Thus, our future generations are becoming the loyal followers of the foreign media.
Therefore, it is every individual responsibility to spread the awareness in order to build a nation that will appreciate both foreign and local media industries and learn to benefit from both wisely without jeopardizing or compromising own culture and lifestyle.
[Approximately 2641 words]
REFERENCES
(In Alphabetical Order)
____________________________________________________________________
Arnold, S. D. B. (2004). Global journalism: Topical issues and media system. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Castells, M. (2009), Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Newsom, D. (2007). Bridging the gaps in global communication. US: Blackwell Publishing.
Robert, M. (2006). Comparing media from around the world. Boston: Allyn Bacon.
Thomas, L. M. (2010). Global communication: Theories, stakeholders and trends (2nd ed.). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.
Thussu, D. K. (2007). Media on the move: Global flow and contra flow. New York: Routledge.
FACULTY OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES (FASS)
_______________________________________________________________________________
ABCG3103
GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
_____________________________________________________________________
“GLOBAL COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY”
• Semester •
SEPTEMBER 2012
[18 NOVEMBER 2012]
TABLE OF CONTENTS__________________________________________________________
1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Global Communication 2 1.1a Forms
1.1b History 1.1c Significance
2.0 Cultural Imperialism 3 2.1 World-System Theory 4
3.0 Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs) 5
3.1 TMCs Impacts On Cultural Imperialism 6 - 8
4.0 CONCLUSION 9
REFERENCES (In Alphabetical Order) 10
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The advent of massively …show more content…
available communication means that the opportunities for learning will be greater than ever. A child in a remote, rural village in India can receive instruction from a great thinker who is thousands of miles away. A doctor who is preparing for a rare operation can watch a narrated video of the same operation that was conducted by the world’s authority in that specialization. A researcher in bioengineering will have efficient access to all the information that has ever been recorded in the field. The potential for “global connectedness” means that we will have the opportunity to interact in a way that leads to the rapid and positive evolution.
However, more information does not necessarily lead to better decisions. As one wise noted, “Leaders in the past could not make decisions because they had too little information. Leaders in the future will be unable to make decisions because they will have too much information.” Editing and efficiently accessing truly relevant information will be a key challenge for the future.
Additionally, there is also little historical evidence to support the assumption that the instant availability of information will lead to long-term quality of communication. Early in its history, television was considered a breakthrough innovation that had the potential to provide positive long-term benefits to humanity. Unfortunately as it turned out, far more television programs deliver short-term stimulation (for example, “sitcoms” or “action” shows) than deliver long-term benefit. Today television addiction is one of the most underrated problems in the United States (with the average child spending thousands of hours watching “junk” and “scrap” on TV). In the future, Internet addiction may well pass drug addiction and alcohol addiction, combined, as a social problem within the global communication.
1.1 Global Communication
Global communication is the collective processes that are developed and used to create and/or improve communication on a worldwide level. In other words, global communication is the ability to provide and access information across cultures through speaking, listening, or reading and writing. Global communication skills are particularly vital in a business environment, where language and cultural barriers can impact efficiency. Thus, the global communication lists of characteristics benefits.
1.1a Forms
Global communication consists of internal and external communication forms. Internal communication relies upon messages delivered from within the business to those associated with it, such as a CEO’s message to employees. External communication is focused on messages delivered outside the business environment, often internationally.
1.1b History
The role of global communication changed in the 20th century. This was particularly evident after the Cold War when technological advances were on the rise and the importance of communication and international relations was just being recognized.
1.1c Significance
Global communication industries have become increasingly significant, as globalization has evolved. U.S. relations with China, for example, have been improved dramatically in the areas of trade and cultural understanding.
In the era of satellite telephones, global CNN and wireless Internet connection almost anywhere, it is hard to imagine a spot on earth that has not been touched by global communication (Stevenson 1992). Global communication networks are furthermore enabling transnational media corporations (TMCs) to conduct their activities virtually throughout the world. Transactions within the emerging global market have become dependent on international information flows facilitated by modern ICTs. Thus, a paramount commodity and access to information and consequently to modern ICTs plays a major role in economic advancement and growth.
2.0 Cultural Imperialism
Cultural imperialism takes place when one culture overtakes another in such a way that the latter ends up following a significant number of values, traditions, beliefs and influences of the former, either completely or in a way which entangles the influences of the dominating culture intricately with those of its own. Such a cultural invasion can either be active or passive. In its active form, the dominant culture forcefully imposes its cultural influences upon the dominated culture. This is a dynamic phenomenon where the secondary culture is compelled to adopt the ways of the invaders. While the passive form is when one culture voluntarily embraces the influences and traditions of another culture. Here, the dominant culture makes little or no forceful efforts in imposing its cultural ideals upon another but the latter gets influenced as a consequence of its receptivity to the former’s cultural impacts.
Most of all, cultural imperialism is the economic, technological and cultural hegemony of the industrialized nations, which determines the direction of both economic and social progress, defines cultural values, and standardizes the civilization and cultural environment throughout the world. The whole world is becoming a cultural common market area in which the same kind of technical product development, the same kind of knowledge, fashion, music and literature, the same kind of metropolitan mass culture is manufactured, bought and sold.
We could observe, the western ideologies, political beliefs, western science, western laws and social institutions, western moral concepts, sexual symbols and ideals of beauty, western working methods and leisure activities, western foods, western pop idols and the western concept of human existence have become objectives, examples and norms everywhere in the world. Cultural imperialism is therefore, an intangible form of colonization that was practiced by the western empires that took over the world and exploited insidious and organic link between conquerors and conquered. It is thus a vague concept that is hollow out of the specific context of its territorial and political evolution and we must therefore take a look at the ways in which western culture attempted to dominate foreign societies before the advent of the mass media and westernization.
2.1 World-System Theory
Given example on a most well known version of the world-systems approach, which has been developed by Immanuel Wallerstein who is seen as one of the founders of the intellectual school of world-system theory.
Wallerstein offers several definitions of a world-system. He defined it, in 1974, briefly, as a system is defined as a unit with a single division of labor and multiple cultural systems.
In other words, a social system, one that has boundaries, structures, member groups, rules of legitimation, and coherence. Its life is made up of the conflicting forces, which hold it together by tension, and tear it apart as each group seeks eternally to remold it to its advantage. For instance, cultural access will go well beyond the ability to better understand art or music. It will include the ability to better understand people. By being able to study and communicate with people of diverse backgrounds, we quickly learn that negative ethnic stereotypes are
invalid.
In addition, increased access to information means that more and more cultural opportunities will be available to the multitudes of humanity. Historically, many cultural opportunities were limited to the reasonably rich, who could afford to attend the theater, go to concerts, and attend colleges. In the future, many cultural opportunities from around the world will be instantly accessible at the push of a button. Thus, economic political, cultural and scientific forms of interaction all form part of the world system.
However, world-system theorists differ from dependency and imperialism theorists in that they do not necessarily assume that all relationships and forms of interaction between the center and periphery are necessarily unequal, but also make provision for the existence of equal relationships between various levels. They also point to the possibility that dominance can exist between units on the same level. In order to account for inequality in a particular case, it is consequently necessary to analyze the complexity of relationships and interactions. The fact that world-system theory acknowledges both equal and unequal relationships makes it a useful theoretical framework for empirical research into the flow of capital, international relationships, media contents and information in the new global order.
3.0 Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs)
The principal commodity sold by TMCs, the “most powerful economic force for global media today” are, information and entertainment. TMCs are the perfect frameworks for international free market and, consequently for a free flow of information. Most of the major transnational companies did not have a pre-established strategy to grow internationally. As companies get involved in complex and in international operations, there is a need for a global strategy. As a result, if companies become major transnational corporations, it is more due to the fact that they went to a gradual process of evolution that because they established some sort of predefined strategy.
Media penetration is the phenomenon that encompasses three media aspects namely environment, use and content by members of society. As it is, the media has often been seen as powerful shaper and cause of standardization between cultures. The media contributes to social change by being the missing link between culture and personality.
Electronic media has altered the geography of social life allowing people to become direct audiences to performances anywhere in the world and giving them access to audiences that are not physically present. In addition, media has recreated the terms that we use to define ourselves through the blurring of physical settings, social situations and the division between private and public domains. Thus, reconstructing the traditional conception of physical and social space, creating a cultural space that belongs to no one and yet to everyone.
Five giant corporations that had swipe and creating influences in the entire international media market including our country Malaysia are the well known CNN (Cable News Network), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), STAR TV, HBO (Home Box Office), MTV (Music Television) and many others. The global reach of communication technologies enables media corporations to compete in a market space that is potentially worldwide in scope. Media organization is in itself truly global. Giant media organizations have become central to the development of a communications infrastructure that facilitates transnational flows of information and cross-border commercial activities.
3.1 TMCs Impacts On Cultural Imperialism
The ability of TMCs to network across distance has been significantly enhanced by the Internet, which has enabled media corporations to compete in a potentially global market space. On the other hand, increasing digitization of content and the convergence of media and technology have led TMCs to expand their interests across a variety of media, information and telecommunications sectors. These include television and satellite, radio and music, film, print, Internet and others, which are vertically integrated in the leading media corporations to enhance their ability to distribute cultural products widely across a variety of platforms.
It is well known, even in Astro Programming, news agencies from America have been used as a weapon in an ideological war in most Asian countries including Malaysia. It is seems like the Voice of America broadcasts in tremendous amount of hours a week in all sorts of languages and besides that, Hollywood films, cartoon programs are all served up in what is seen as the culture war.
In addition, the mature media corporations with full practical experience, preplanned the direction, and successful theoretical and economical model, went across national borders to communicate to the local. From the macroscopic view, it shows us the interaction of different cultures, and the shifting of different cultures although from the microscopic view, it shows us the influence of targeting audiences, and the challenge to the traditional communication model. We could obviously see the negative impacts it on cultural imperialism among some of Asian countries, which includes Malaysia.
The best example, “I want my MTV!” the simple cry of a spoiled child who wants his eye-candy is regarded as one of the most successful slogans ever devised. In China for instance, MTV Mandarin’s slogan, is ‘We are MTV.’ (Which means we are unique and no one else can claim it). Being one of the most brand-conscious companies in the world, we could see here that MTV is experiencing an identity crisis in China. For instance, hip-hop culture have been spread widely and seen adapted by most teenagers in most Asia countries.
In Malaysia, we mostly heed the fact that MTV is not just a whacky foreign term for music video but refers to a specific company. MTV in Malaysia is seen as a format of music program with video instead of a symbol of the company Viacom (main operator). The other side of the coin is that MTV has become so popular that it not only stands for a certain kind of music but also represents a new kind of life style. As a result, quite a lot of its audience imitate the videos, dress and behave like the singers in the program with a desire for a life created on screen. The novel and fashionable behavior is never shown in traditional Malaysian music programs.
With the popularity of MTV, young Malaysian audiences had welcomed a new style of dressing, singing, dancing and even behavior. It is not only the behavior but also taste, which have been changed. Significantly, the changes happen mostly among young viewers who will be Malaysian’s mainstream audience in the future.
It is an open secret that the integrity of a cultural and geographical space, “our space” being eroded by the opening up of the frontier lands of the sky to wayward global explorers such as Ted Turner (owner of CNN) and Rupert Murdoch (owner of Sky Channel and, in Asia, Star TV). One of the most outspoken protesters against Murdoch’s acquisition of STAR TV was Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir, in whose speeches the idea of ‘Western cultural imperialism’ has been a recurrent, prominent theme, “Today they broadcast slanted news”, he complained. “Tomorrow they will broadcast raw pornography to corrupt our children and destroy our culture.” It should be clear that ‘they’, in Mahathir’s discourse, is “the West’. (Asiaweek 19 October 1994).
However, there is also positive impact as our local broadcast may learn of the latest method and technology in reporting by these foreign media. Hence, improving the local media industries. Besides, Malaysians are widely exposed to the outside development and progress. Thus, keeping them aware of what is happening around the globe. For instance, CNN breaking news are the fastest news to reach worldwide audiences, regardless of time and distance.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The impact of global communication on international cultural life is perhaps the most visible of its effects. However, technological effects are always socially mediated and constructed. Each new technology has to find its own cultural space in the life of a society before it can have any meaningful impact on social relations. In the case of the media, where technologies range from the simplest to the most complex, and from the readily accessible to those accessible only by a small elite, the effects are even more complex and ambiguous. Thus, the impact resulted from the global colonial of Transnational Media Corporations (TMCs) worldwide, for instance, CNN (Cable News Network), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), STAR TV, HBO (Home Box-office) and MTV (Music Television).
The slippage from ‘American’ to ‘Western’ cultural imperialism in contemporary concerns about satellite TV in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia. The discourse of cultural imperialism has dominated critical perspectives on transnational cultural relations in the last few decades, especially with respect to the overwhelming dominance of Western (mostly American) media in the rest of the world. As an idea, cultural imperialism actively echoes the brutal history of conquest and domination, which so unsettled and disrupted non-western societies in the process of imperial expansion, in this juncture, our own country Malaysia.
The impact that have positive or negatively influence our culture, hence the everyday life of our nation. We are seemingly more engrossed in the expansion of TMCs despite of our own media industries. Thus, our future generations are becoming the loyal followers of the foreign media.
Therefore, it is every individual responsibility to spread the awareness in order to build a nation that will appreciate both foreign and local media industries and learn to benefit from both wisely without jeopardizing or compromising own culture and lifestyle.
[Approximately 2641 words]
REFERENCES
(In Alphabetical Order)
____________________________________________________________________
Arnold, S. D. B. (2004). Global journalism: Topical issues and media system. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Castells, M. (2009), Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Newsom, D. (2007). Bridging the gaps in global communication. US: Blackwell Publishing.
Robert, M. (2006). Comparing media from around the world. Boston: Allyn Bacon.
Thomas, L. M. (2010). Global communication: Theories, stakeholders and trends (2nd ed.). United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing.
Thussu, D. K. (2007). Media on the move: Global flow and contra flow. New York: Routledge.