Lecture 12 Globalisation & the Media

Multi national corporations have become the dominant force, more powerful than countries.

Globalisation: growth to a global or worldwide scale; "the globalisation of the communication industry".

The access to worldwide communication has made us more globalised.

All workers contribute to a larger machine. 

Mcluhan was writing about the social effects of the mass media before the introduction of the internet:

We are becoming more connected as a world. 
This connection should make us closer and more aware of our responsibilities to each other.

The state we have is a capitalist western world trying to take over, this brings a variety of resistance:

Does globalization make people around the world more alike or more different?

Key point from these writers:

Imperialism isn't bought by war, it is done by forcing politics and culture upon others so that they become like you.

One of the illusions people have is that somehow the mass media is a giant free market where independent companies are competing with each other, When in reality they are all owned by bigger corporation.

  Companies owned by Time-Warner:

 

Culture is made in the west and then repackaged and sold all around the world. 

IT becomes popular because everyone wants to be more like the culture they are consuming. The biggest selling product in India last year was skin whitening cream because the buyers wanted to appear more western and fit in more with the culture they consume.

Chomsky knew that the news is fabricated 'facts' that push the interests of the wealthy,

Murdoch once boasted that The Sun has the power to determine the result of elections, which causes politicians to pander to Murdoch in order for the media to portray them in a good light.

Advertisers dominate the media and take precedence over the content:

Global climate coalition: manufactured propaganda stories saying that global warming wasn't happening- the people that started it was texaco, exxon and ford.

By demonising others it can portray the interests of ourselves as just:

Al Gore suggests that to stop global catastrophe we need to buy more things to live greener which is a very Capitalist solution. 

In comparison:

Politicians wont stamp down on emissions because it will lower profits for the big corporations which will cause them to lose support from them big corporations.