Monday, September 10, 2007

Drawing a Bead on Global Communication Theories

Introduction :
A " bead" as the word is used in the title of the chapter, is the small piece of raised metal at the tip of a rifle barrel that enabled accurate targeting before telescopic sights were common

Normative Theories:
A. Four Theories of the Press:
one of the earliest books to shed light on international media. It talks about taxonomy (dividing up all the various versions and aspects of a topic into systematic categories or models: authoritarian, Soviet, liberal, and social responsibility).·
1. Authoritarian : effectively meant dictatorial.
2. Soviet : referred to the communist dictatorships at the time of Russia.
3. Liberal : meant not "left-wing".
4. Social responsability : it meant a different order of reality again : namely , media operating within a capitalist dynamic but simultaneously committed to serving the public's needs.

-News and information played the essential role in media.
- Despite the title of Four theories if the press, the book even effectively sidelined many types of print media like comics, trade magazines, fashion magazines, sports publications...

Deontic or normative theories:
- they did not seek only to explain or contrast comparative media systems but to provide a definition of how those systems ought to operate according to certain guiding principles.
- the social responsability model was simply a series of ethically inspired decisions by owners and editors for the public good.

The development model & the participatory/democratic model.
A. The development model:
- media that addressed issues of health, poverty, education etc. In general topics that concern the development of the nation.
B. The participatory/democratic model:
-local /small scale perspective of the way of organizing media. In general, in a participatory approach, we can talk about local radio, local newspapers and TV channels.

- the liberal model of free capitalist competition spoke to a bygone age, already vanishing by the time the original four theories book was published.


A different Approach I: Comparing and Contrasting Media·
-Soviet media had a strong overlap with media under other dictatorships and with so-called development media.
-Those who belong to economically advanced and political stable countries cannot understand how media function in the rest of the world.
- in the world at large, issues of extrem poverty, economic crisis, political instability even to the point of civil war, turbulent insurgent movements, military or other authoriataria regimes and violent repression of political dissent are the central context of media.
-Four important issues should be taken into consideration: political power, economic crises, dramatic social transitions and small-scale alternative media.Political Power·
Plitical power :
-The relationship between political power and communist media always seemed a “no-brainer”. -The state control over media was very detailed in Soviet Russia.
-The communist Party’s Propaganda Committee established ideological priorities
Economic Crisis
· Economic crisis was a daily experience for the majority of Russians.
- The soviet and post-soviet Russian experience of economic crisis had been reflective, except during the 1970s and early 1980s, when oil revenues shot up on the world market.
- During the 1990s, Russian life expectancy fell. As a result, infant morality increased.
Dramatic Social Transitions
-Russia went through many transitions in the 20th century, beginning with the World WarI.
-Before the revolution, there was an active newspaper, magazine, and book industry.
-The imperial censorship made it risky for anyone to print anything directly critical of the czars.
A different Approach II: Globalization and Media
- the term globalization is often used widely and loosely.
-Globalization: structural economic changes. For example: global rise of government policies on “liberalization”.
-Globalization is applied to cultural and media processes.
A. Hybridity Approach:
- poeple cultural resistance is prooff against cultural invasion, but more commonly, writers of this apporoach use the term hybridization and hybridity to try to capture what they see happening.
- the problem with this approach is that it can become rather woolly and vague, content just to say that what is happening is a blend but not to probe further into what kind of blend it is, or why it is whay it is that kind of blend, or how rooted or unstable is that blend.
A Different Approach III: small-Scale Alternative Media
Samizdat media: hand-circulated pamphlets, poems, essays, plays, short stories and audio- and videocassettes that started to emerge in Soviet Russia and other countries from 1960s .

Monday, September 3, 2007

Outline of the Chapter 1 :Following the Historical Paths of Global Communication

A. Geographical Space: A Barrier to Communication
a. The myth of the concept of physical space.
i. “Geography of space” vs. “geography of experience”
What was once the “geography of space” has become nowadays “geography of experience”;the revolution in mass media has provided the opportunity for people to exchange ideas, discover other civilizations, etc.
ii. Role of communication technologies in transforming human interactions
Technologies are cultural metaphors for prevailing social and cultural conditions”.
b. Conditions for communication over far distances in early cultures.
i. Ancient world was full of mythical images.
The ancient world was full of spirits, animism, etc
ii. The importance of the “age of discovery”
Explorers started discovering the unknown world.
c. Communication strategies used to improve welfare and trade.
i. The raise of innovations such as; the movable metal type and the magnetic compass needle.
ii. Scientific experiments opened the door for social improvement.
B. Geography and the Mythical World
a. Mythical believes in the worldview of ancient cultures.
i. The word mantic in the Greek culture
Mantic: ideas, mythical and supernatural, coming from people from somewhere beyond the immediate world.
ii. The presence of images in old cultures.
b. Geographic myths according to ancient civilizations.
i. The believes in fiction characters that were fought.
ii. The fear from foreign lands and unknown places.
c. Travel myths based on the perception of ancient cultures.
i. Prester John’s tales were repeated in music and poetry throughout Europe.
ii. Prester was seen as a ruler of a land inhabited by men with horns, along with giant creatures.
C. Ancient Encounters of Societies and Cultures
The physical world seen by ancient cultures.
The role of Alexander the Great in stretching the geographical boundaries of the European worldview
The repair of the library of Alexandria.
D. Global Explorers:
Migrants, Holy People, MerchantsMigration in ancient pre-agrarian societies in Europe.
The movement from a nomadic life to a stable one thanks to the improvement of farming techniques.
The European desire to explore the worldE.
Mapmakers in the Medieval WorldMaps as a valuable key to discover the unknown world.
i. Maps were considered as state secrete.
ii. The information on the maps reflected the mapmaker’s background.Maps served many purposes in ancient times.
i. The use of maps in maritime navigation and religious pilgrimages.
ii. The use of maps in military and administrative stuff.
Maps as an intellectual tool of the most educated in ancient Greece and Rome.
i. Travelers and military leaders used maps.
ii. Maps were used among the Greeks as objects for meditation.
Nowadays, google earth used by political activists,terrorists,etc Similarities between the past & the presence regarding the use of maps.
F. Inventors:
Signals and SemaphoresInformation technologies as solutions to immediate problems.
The visual signal system (heliograph) adopted in by Roman rulers.Reliability and speed of delivery through the medieval postal systems were good.
G. The Printing Press, Literacy, and the Knowledge explosion
Clerics as literate people engaged in writing.
i. Drafting legal documents
ii. Drafting letters for official dispatches.
The circulation of religious and diplomatic correspondence as an ancient practice.
i. Change in literature, philosophy and law.
ii. Easy access to printed pressThe appearance of printing presses.
i. People are encouraged to read
ii. The reformation of European institutions.
H. Scientists and International Networks
Technology innovation in travel and the essential role of international science.
The first standardization of a code of science.
The adoption of a global time system.
I. The International Electric Revolution
Steam power increased the speed of travel
The introduction of telegraph
The innovation of telephone as a communication tool.