MS114 Weeks 1-8: Global Media & Theories

• MS114 course notes from Week 1 to Week 8

Week 1 Notes

• First class meeting was Tuesday, January 21st
• Second class meeting was Thursday, January 23rd
• Main subjects were global media and the theoretical approaches to globalization
• Reading assignments include "Globalisation and Culture: Three Paradigms" and "Media Representation and the Global Imagination, Introduction" by Orgad
• Course activities include introducing course questions and weekly focuses
• Key terms include homogenization, differentiation, hybridization, global imagination, and new visibility
• Discussion on whether cultural hybridization is assimilation or appropriation

When Did Globalization Begin?

• The Silk Road represents an early phase of globalization
• The 1500s marked globalization's beginning with exploration, colonialism, migration, and slave trade, considered by some economic historians as the start of capitalism
• 1989 as the year Tim Berners Lee "created the internet" and gave it away for free
• 1858 saw the Transatlantic Cable laid, enabling almost instant electronic communication compared to the weeks ships took
• 100 BCE in Mesopotamia, a trading hub, showcasing intertwined culture and commerce through architecture

Globalization Today

• The start of globalization is defined differently based on chosen criteria
• Information technology, the main class focus, due to being in media studies
• Other criteria include commerce and trade, migration, and political empire (Rome)
• The class focuses on the 20th and 21st centuries, the age of electronic mass media like radio, TV, and the internet

Key Questions

• Emphasis is placed on whether international media increases intercultural understanding
• Consider if international media fosters a greater/better knowledge of the world
• Deliberation on if international media generally fosters homogeneity, differentiation, or hybridization
• Differentiation involves growing sameness while a hybridity emerges and a new identity is formed

Analyzing Media

• Media is analyzed for its effects
• Media can be Utopian, showing the best possible world through media
• Media can be Pessimistic, showing only the worst-case scenario

Appadurai's Five "Scapes" of Globalization

• The migration of people across political and cultural borders, with climate change accelerating migratory patterns and diaspora dispersing people from their homelands
• Finanscape: Global market expansion, transportation improvements boost economics
• Factories across the rio grande in Mexico illustrate cheaper manufacturing and capital investments sometimes fuel nationalism, like tariffs
• Interdependent economies act unilaterally without consequence for others
• Technoscapes define Tech moves across borders
• China is accused of intellectual property theft
• Ideoscapes describe political and ideological views can easily cross across borders
• Mediascapes describes the Movement of media around the world
• Mediascapes involves Representation of other countries

Pieterse's Three Paradigms

• Concerns a fear of cultures lost with Irish language preservation as protest of British colonialism
• Hopes for convergence in modernisation and democratisation and modernized techniques is not always bad
• Capitalism spreads and conforms to its needs
• Theories about a clash of civilizations, like Huntington's model of global cultural conflicts is an example of Differentiation
• Othernesses are established through Huntington's model
• Theories of cultural relativism (p. 1390) are rigid
• Hybridization is blending and mixing - Gisele in an Indian sari as example
• Sampling is perceived almost like a costume
• Japanese in Cholo-style illustrates complexity of hybridization and complexities

Orgad's Approach

• Focuses on images
• The global cultural studies approach studies media
• The global imagination is a collective and nebulous way of seeing, not statistics-based
• Exposing people to stories is key to imagination and television serves as "armchair columbus"
• TV can make audiences feel present

Media Reflection or Construction?

• Media can act as a mirror for the world - Reflectionist appraoch
• Accurate reflection in media is often curated and the World = News but not its reality
• Media representations are constructed, and audiences should be aware - Constructionist approach
• News, TV, and films exclude elements of reality
• Social power is derived from representation and is unevenly distributed worldwide

Globalist Terms and Orgad's "New Visibility"

• Symbolic dislocation takes place in mediated story
• Media Representation is a contest between individuals, groups, and economic classes
• There is a battle over mediated intimacy at a distance, with real world consequences

Media Representation

• Activists advocate for better media representation becoming a symbolic power battle ground
• Media "scripts" activists respond to individual and collective imaginations from TV
• Not everyone understands media scripts and may accept them at face value
• "Atlas of Prejudice" parodies how regions view each other via media "scripts"

Week 2 Notes - MS114

• Subject: Global Media: theoretical approaches II
• Skim: Wikipedia entry for “The Public Sphere.” and Fraser, Nancy. “Transnationalizing the public sphere: on the legitimacy and efficacy of public opinion in a post-Westphalian world.”
• Read: Castells, Manuel. Communication Power, “Cultural Change in a Globalized World," pgs. 116-125.
• Optional reading: Calhoun, Crag J. “Imagining solidarity: cosmopolitanism, constitutional patriotism and the public sphere,” Public Culture, 14 (2002)
• In-class Viewing: NY Times report, Chicano Culture in Japan
• Key Terms: public sphere, transnational public sphere and Cosmopolitanism

International Media and the Public Sphere

• Nancy Fraser questions the possibility of a transnational public sphere that serves as a system for public opinion formation
• The concept of sovereignty and agreement between states not to invade each other's territory is known as the Post-Westphalian framework
• UN assembly is a global public sphere with right wing concerns, while a global public sphere needs action
• The public sphere has European and roots of liberalism

Public Sphere Concepts

• Idea of national communication in Habermas in the 1960s, in European social contexts (England, France, Germany)
• Political, technological and social transformations took place from 1500s to 1800s
• In 1500s-1800s, there was a feudal economic order where the Kings own everything
• From 1500s to 1800s, 80-90% of people are serfs with no rights/property and non literate.
• From 1500s-1800s, there was also the invention of the printing press
• 1800s marked an important economic transformation
• More people gained wealth making people from the taxes are paying envision themselves as members of a community with needs that the king should listen to
• There was an Expansion of the middle class with literate family members
• Civilians like the cobblers in France(Parle) have the desire negotiate with government and ask what the government do for us?

National Transformation

• Involve change from peasants to parliaments
• National transformation includes change from serfs to bourgeois citizens
• National transformation emphasizes Meritocracy over fixed situations in life
• In late 1600s-1700s, Europe spoke on “rights of man” with philosiphers and John Locke including inalienable rights and liberty
• Enlightenment ideals pushing back against clergy fixed beliefs as Private property was seen as a protection from government.

Public Sphere Theory

• A normative political theory of democracy in space for the "communicative generation of public opinion" (Fraser, p. 7).
• The public sphere provides Communicative spaces in town meetings, coffee shop, and online forums
• Habermas was interested in Salons (France), table houses (Germany), and coffee houses (England)
• Global warming, Nuclear war, terrorism and internet regulation are Social issues that overflow the state model?

Media Beyond The Nation

• Web addresses ended up English
• Coordinate on a political level to make decisions with a democratic forum?
• Until 1950, nations were mostly self-contained
• First satellite to enable constant communication between Europe and America
• Technological progress creates an international public sphere
• Public Sphere : 6 presuppositions (Fraser) emphasizes the need to Addresses the State

Public Sphere and National Identity

• The main topic ('topos') is national economic matters
• Single language helps
• Shared national vernacular literature helps everyone be on the same page
• Political Efficacy is needed as does public opinion and implementing laws reflecting public will
• Normative Legitimacy is is when the P.O. seen as inclusive for all those affected
• Legitimacy rests on perception of the media system
• All-affected principle applies at a global level applies Palestine

Castell's Globalization View

• Castell describes trends and tensions in cultural globalization

• He urges audiences to Pay attention to how people define public sphere, and In the back of your mind have fraser

• global culture industry production and consumption are processes of the construction of difference” (p. 117)

• The theory is irrelevant/inapplicable to authoritarian systems

• Castells suggests that identifications are where people identities come from

• Does buying products reflect identities or conform people to what consumer culture offers

Globalization Tensions

• Globalization involves democracy and consumerism
• Globalization expands cultures expanding beyond specific regions
• Regional identities reassert themselves
• A Rise of right leaning nationalism and ethnic nationalism can divide
• Individualism and communalism can be a clashes
• There are three levels of global culture that include cosmopolitan, multi cultural and consumerist

Week 3 Notes - MS114

• Subject for the week was Global Media History: Cold War, Black Radicals
• Readings: Osgood, K. selections from Total Cold War including Frederick, H. selections from Cuban-American Radio Wars
• Reading:Tyson, T. Conclusion: Radio Free Dixie from Radio Free Dixie
• Key term: classic propaganda, Cold War and Iron Curtain
• Other key terms: Border blaster, signal jamming and Dissident media
• WWII and the Cold War shaped international media
• Identify techniques and main organizations of Cold War era
• Map out the 20th century shift from elite diplomacy to overt and covert public diplomacy

Propaganda

• Lawmakers were reluctant to use propaganda
• Russia- in this case it was covert and Might be understood as 'psyops'
• Way back cultures used obelisk and stools start lots of peoples propaganda started
• Term propaganda comes from “propagare”, to propagate plants
• Catholic church did council for “propagare” to spread the faith during reformation
• In WW1, 1914-1918 - leaflets dropped from planes/balloons
• WW2- now had radio- private and state radio, newspapers, films
• Isolationist impulse in US until 1942 - britain propaganda contributed
• Cold War Era involved mass media and literacy rose
• During cold War, the Idea of going “below" someones head targetted the people to undermine leaders goals
• Superpowers competed for unaligned countries
• psychological warfare to prevent other countries from becoming communist
• Diplomacy now talking about fashion, like “Germany and You magazine” fashion article?

Nazi America

• There was no shortage of efforts to make sure Germany was seen as good by America
• In 1939, a 20,000 person nazi rally was in America as effective German propaganda

Propaganda Types

• White: above board, praise worthiness
• Ex. US Al discourses
• Ex. film by DW Griffith Birth of a Nation
• Black: strategic transmission of lies
• Ex. soviet campaign to claim AIDS
• Gray: losing with the truth

Committee on Public Information

• (1917) was rolled out By US to come to defense of Britain
• First US campaign to propagandize not only its own public but foreign publics
• During CPI. Hollywood was very popular
• CPI Objectives included Raising moral of allies in Britain
• America was starting to get to promote american democracy

CPI Methods

• CPI Methods was for domestic audiences
• CPI Methods included Triumphalist films
• CPI Methods included International news service “compub” as news available
• Reaching foreign audiences with Triumphalist films
• There were Established libraries/reading rooms abroad with books that praise US

War Information

• CPI was taken apart immediately after WW1 ended
• Now when WW2 comes around, it is recreated essentially as OWI
• US created content for its own public, but also for foreign publics radio

Soviet and US Cold War

• Soviets, as rival technological power, had radio technology and while they didn't have ability to get close to the US
• There was also Advertising transformed to support war effort and to prevent The Iron Curtain
• emerging-post Cold War plan was
• China 13th 5-year plan and its use in Europe

European Iron Curtain

• Radio: CIA and US Govt changing ending of Animal Farm in the film adaptation
• American people during cold war manipulative prop

Towers Of Truth

• Govt news citizens

Chinese Propaganda

• Its in English
• has a Tone of self awareness
• Repeats with catchy tune
• Teaches the audience about socialist planning

Race and Radio

• US must have race relations in the cold war Reiterated proposed solutions for US race relations was Repatriation to Africa Staying Put Internal migration Segregation
• Black veterans between 1945-1960 had no democracy
• Desegregation of military happened but slowly

Civil Issues

• Civil Rights became televised in 1960s and had Influence public, image of violence Cuba and International has a Microcosm

Radio In Cuba

• Used coded messages to anti-castro insurgents re: bay of pigs Robert F used Radio to get NAASCP but he was radical Fled to Cuba but it failed William continued activism in China Feds Cuba the fbi also censored them the US

Radio Influence

• Brought socialism and the US Anti-war groups Revolutionary Black-relations

Week 4 Notes- MS114

• Soft Power and Media Imperialism. Joseph S Jr “Pulic diplomacy and Soft Power”
• Explore media and cultural imperialism

Power

• is very political
• Power is idea
• There are many ways to have soft power

Diplomacy

-Negotiations -Can exert pressure on government with the media

• News is a Diplomat, objective
• Story tells you what to think with CNN

Power

-Helps country

• We are loosing
• The carrot

Week 5 Notes- MS114

• We will investigate media imperialism. Understand that the US is declining

How to Gain Power

• Have cultural
• have political and war
• We need to evaluate the world
• Need to be able to scale
• WE are seeing monopolies
• The world is protecting their media

Notes Week 6-MS114

• McDonaldization thesis (George Ritzer) claims McDonalds as a dominant process in globalization
• Midterm will be a short in-class paper
• The exam is 90 minutes
• Need blue book for in class exam

McDonals Principles

• Design System
• Ensure you can
• Create predictablity
• Have control and use Nonhuman

Weber View

• People view western as rational
• media combines together
• what really interest or commercial

Notes Week 7 - MS114

• Subject taught was Korean Film and Music part 1 K-Pop and Korean media and how it’s been a global integration

Key Issues

• Is diverse hard
• Not all places are monocultural
• Is diversity wanted
• In Japan. Uchi-soto means in or out group
• USA is good a common ideology
• High and low immigration
• USA cultural differences

Week 8 - MS114

Rise Film Industry

• China will be able to compete
• The wave commercial success story
• How define Korean
• Film are more like the government
• 1997 K-drama started
• Band were regional to china japan and they can
• Lg and Samsung were able to succeed