Impact of Media Globalisation on National Identity - Essay Example

Impact of Media Globalisation on National Identity Introduction The development of media and communications has opened opportunities for the relevant companies both at domestic and international level. Media globalisation is considered as a huge success which has helped in the integration of the world and also fastened the process of globalisation. However, the impact of media globalisation on culture and national identity is usually viewed in a more pessimistic light. Media globalisation is usually associated with the demolition of cultural identities. Media globalisation is generally viewed as the promotion of homogenised and westernised culture and a success of western cultural imperialism. In this essay, the impact of globalisation has been studied on the national identity and culture of China. The aim of this essay is to analyse the benefits and concerns raised by media globalisation in the economy of China. Chinese economy has been selected because of the increasing number of foreign companies in China. Moreover, since the Chinese government has been very rigid in its foreign media policies therefore, this essay will be also helpful to understand the major threats which Chinese government has from media globalisation and because of which the government has remained rigid and strict. Discussion The electronic media and communication network includes the various forms of telecommunication network, internet, radio, television and film and the rate of expansion of media has been exceptional (Siochru, 2004). Actually the development of media and communication is brought by the development and innovations in technology. It is also believed that because of the rapid technological developments, there is a potential of further development in media and communications. By describing the merger of Time-Warner with AOL Sinclair argues that merging of cable, internet and satellite services has the potential to increase in future with the developments in technology such as digital television. Media is considered very important because it directly influences the consumer behaviour, culture, living style and attitude. Jan (2009) argues that media are fundamental to the provision of cultural or symbolic assets worldwide and it is central to the use of cultural or symbolic power. The increasing globalisation of media is usually associated with the national identity and culture. National identity is a shared sentiment which is based on the credence of belonging to a nation which shares a set of common attributes that differentiate it from the other nations (Berdun, 2007, pp.11). Since nations are very sensitive towards their national identity and culture therefore, the potential impact of medial globalisation on national culture increases various concerns for the economies. Renteln (2004) considers culture as a human right and she argues that nations should emphasise on their mono-cultural paradigm and permit people to live with their own life plans The traditional cultural showcases like theatres, museums, libraries or art galleries have given their roles to diverse media like cinemas, computers and televisions, which have greater distribution and scope and they can influence a more diverse and widespread audience (Alfaro & Sabada, 2001). Therefore, media influences the culture and national identity through the channels like cinemas, computer, television etc. The process of media globalisation started when more and more foreign channels started targeting the foreign economies. However, the actions of the state governments towards the threats raised by the media globalisation become visible when these foreign media channels started targeting the local people and developed their regional and local channels. Most of the cable channels and DBS services have developed their own channels in regional languages to target the regional people for example, Star TV owner by Rupert Murdoch in Asia, targeted the Indians, South Asians, Chinese, Japanese and Indonesians by developing more localised programming like music video format and language specific channels (Jan, 2009). In fact the rapidly expansion of the foreign media channels in the regional and local media channels industry is another way to promote cultural imperialism. For example, to find the success in the global market, MTV introduced its localised variants and diversified its programming activities (Marley). The strategy of MTV can be considered as another attempt to penetrate into the economies and influence their cultural and national identity patterns. The issues against the media globalisation increased when various economies identified a clearly cultural invasion by media globalisation and in the history of protection of culture from media, the action of French government in 1989 is very famous. Through the European Council’s “Television without Frontiers” the French government has tried to defend its own cultural industries and imposed a program quota through which European programs have got the reservation of half of the programs of the television broadcast time (Chu, 2008). Various other examples can be also given to determine the cultural threats which economies were facing with the increasing media globalisation. In order to determine the specific impact of media globalisation on a nation’s identity and culture, I have selected one country for this essay. The country which I have selected to study the impact of media globalisation on national identity and culture is China. Minghua argues that with the relaxation of regulation related to the media by Chinese government, a number of foreign media companies entered into China and by the end of 2004, around 33 foreign channels were operating in China as reported by China National Broadcasting Bureau. McPhail (2010, pp.306) argues the time of formation of China in 1949 to 1970s, Chinese economy was under the control of the Chinese communist party and the Chinese media was completely closed for the foreign world because the communist party was using the Chinese media as an ideological tool for political needs. However, with the death of the chairman of communist part, Mao Zadong in 1976, the new Chinese leaders adopted an open door policy and brought various changes in the mass media system of China from print media to broadcast media. From 1978 to 2008, the Chinese media faced significant change because of the entrance of a number of foreign companies (McPhail, 2010, pp.306). The media globalisation has a significant impact on Chinese national identity and culture. Actually, media globalisation has raised various concerns for the Chinese government. Chin-Chuan argues that the global media empires support the capitalism regime rather than language of democracy and they are seeking to enter into the Chinese market with an aim to get in with Chinese authoritarian regime however, concern for China is not about cultural imperialism but about the ideological challenge to state power. Chen (2005) argues that media globalisation has affected the economical and cultural aspects in China and the development in media globalisation has attracted the attention of Chinese government towards the national cultural rights of Chinese people. Wang (2003) argues that media advertising started in China back in 1979 and despite its annual growth of 15 percent; it is institutionally unstable because it is standing at the intersection between the cultural production and commodity production. Actually, company operating in China may not face problems in the production of the commodity however, the way they plan to advertise is not only a challenge for the company but it also appears to have major role to influence the culture of Chinese consumers. The impact of media globalisation on Chinese culture can be also determined through its influence on Fashion. Tomlinson (2003) argues that fashion is a critical expression of cultural identity. There was a time when the Chinese youngsters were more inspired by the classic dress style of China rather than the European fashions or American sportswear brands. Fashion cannot be considered as a national identity however, it is the expression of Chinese culture. The cultural engineering symbolised in the Mao Jacket uniform of cultural revolution reflects the loss of confidence of Chinese consumers in the classic dress code. Therefore, argues Tomlinson that media globalisation has not much created the challenges in the fashion industry of China however, it did contribute to the development of new and complex version of national identity. The comparison of the early and modern culture of China shows that Chinese culture is neither very traditional nor fully modern and it is the combination of the two. The ways of Chinese living styles have become very similar to the people in the United States or Europe and it is evident from the high-rising buildings in China, increasing western-clothing style in China and nightlife in the country (Thinkquest). Although the changing living patterns of the Chinese people can be seen in the light of optimism however, critiques argue that negative consequences of media globalisation appear when media gets the shape of media imperialism. The concept of media imperialism states that only a small number of western countries have controlled the international media trade and dominance in media globalisation therefore, they are seeking to transfer their culture and economic values especially their individualism and consumerism values to the developing nations (Tomlinson). China should not be only considered as one of the victims, rather all developing economies have become the victims of increasing media imperialism therefore; economies are facing significant threats towards their national identities. Today media global-local mix is more complex as compared to its complexity in 1970s because with the changing time, various significant centres of media production emerged on the international screen such as Bombay for Indian movies, Mexico and Brazil for telenovelas and Cairo for Arabic television. After a few years, China became the supplier of television programming and Australia generated various soap operas which became very popular in the English-speaking economies (Boyd-Barrett, 1998). However, suddenly the trend shifted and more and more western media companies started launching their new channels which achieved popularity because of the liberal media in most of the economies. Since China has been very rigid towards its media policies therefore, foreign media took a little longer to enter into the Chinese market. The significant control of the Chinese government on its media industry, even in the rapidly increasing medial globalisation era, shows the concerns which the government has identified about the impact of media globalisation. Minghua argues that policies of Chinese government towards the foreign media channels have always been remained rigid such as strict censorship before publication, controlled content on highly sensitive matters like politics and restrictions on the expansion of foreign media giants in China. The government of China owns all the national media institutions in China and the state has not joined the World Trade Organisation. The government ownership has increased the influence of Chinese government to control the development of Chinese media and culture and the government has designed new guidelines and measures (Chen, 2005). Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that technological developments in media and communication have led to the phenomenal growth of media globalisation. Government of the economies consider media globalisation as having a significant impact on the national identity and culture. The example of China shows that media was fully restricted for the foreign companies in China before 1970s however, with the relaxation of policies on media, various foreign media companies entered into the Chinese media industry. The media globalisation has strongly influenced the Chinese economy by changing the living styles of the people and affecting their culture. 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