Globalization and the Media - Essay Example

on the vulnerable and weaker cultures of varying communities. The essay aims at viewing cultural imperialism and whether the globalization of media is a form of cultural imperialism looking at both the positive and the negative aspects of globalization of media on cultural influences at large. Cultural imperialism can be understood as the form of imposing the values of one national culture upon others and media is considered to be in the central role for acting as the carriers of cultural images and meanings, which penetrate and then dominate the local culture of the subordinate nation (Schiller1989).

For instance, Hollywood movies post Vietnam War presented the content and context in such a way that showed Vietnamese as uncivilized, thus making the war seem to be acceptable. In more particular concern, the owners of the global media production as well as transmission are just a small number of corporations and that too mostly Americans. For example, past two decades have witnessed the large and wide expansion of the pop music industry, 24 hour music channels like MTV in America, Asia and European countries.

The fact is that the production and distribution of 70% of all the pop music is in hands of few multinational media corporations (Mowlana 1997). There are positive globalizers who see the globalization of media as the form of opening up to positive opportunities such as internet that provides voice to people and leading to democratization of the communication across the globe. On the other hand, pessimistic globalizers view this phenomenon of media globalization as a form of cultural imperialism where the whole process of production, distribution and promotion is in hands of few giant global media corporations, such as Viacom, Disney, Time-Warner, news Corporation, etc.

The media products of these corporations joined with