Essay #3 - Jeff Jacobson - Will American Media Wipe Out British Culture?

One concern that gets raised at times about media globalization is that the newly global media will wipe out local cultures, creating a singular global culture. However, recent (and not-so-recent) work has not borne this out. It seems that local cultures shape the way people view the global media they receive. As I continue to look at British media, it becomes apparent that the British style of journalism is very different from America?s. British culture continues to cherish their traditional, more colorful brand of journalism over a more homogenized global style.

Our studies this week have shown that global media do not lead to a global culture. Mike Featherstone (1990) states that rather than instead of a single global culture developing, ?more and more people are now involved with more than one culture? (8). He later states, ?while particular television programmes, sport spectacles, music concerts, advertisements may rapidly transit the globe, this is not to say that the response of those viewing and listening within a variety of cultural contexts and practices will be anything like uniform? (10). A similar sentiment is shared by John Tomlinson (2003). He referred to Ien Ang?s study of the television drama Dallas among Dutch women. While the women (including Ang herself) did not often agree with the ?ideology? of Dallas, but they were able to come to a resolution that still allowed them to enjoy the show (Tomlinson, 123). Tomlinson later offered an explanation for why global media does not create a global culture: the way we understand something from the media ?is constantly influenced and shaped by whatever else is going on in our lives? (130). Thus, the media does not carry one standard interpretation that everyone understands, but everyone understands the media a little (or a lot) differently. With no uniform understanding, it is very difficult for a uniform culture to develop.

If we look to British journalism, we see that it has maintained a very different style from current American journalism. British journalism tends to be much more ?feisty? (Hansen, 2007, 27), willing to take a more adversarial tone to people in power. Gerald Baker, the London Times?s U.S. editor, told Susan Hansen that his fellow colleagues see American reporters as ??incredibly soft? and ?patsy-like?? in their treatment of American authority figures (27). Their print media also allies themselves openly with political parties, unlike the American ideal of neutrality (Hansen, 27). While some people find this refreshing, the British press can of course sometimes go too far in sensationalizing stories. During the airlift of children from Sarajevo in 1993, some badly wounded adults were evacuated as well, which led to an outraged British media railing against ?Muslim duplicity in ?tricking? the Western charities and doctors? (Morley & Robins, 1995, 145). Morley and Robins quote Sylvana Foa, a U.N. representative, from that time as responding to the British media in this way: ?Does this mean Britain only wants to help children? Maybe it only wants children under six, or blond children, or blue-eyed children?? (145). On the other hand, many have praised the British press for doing a much better job than the American press in the lead-up to the Iraq war, by questioning government claims rather than accepting them blindly (Hansen, 26). Regardless of the effect, for our consideration, the important point is that the British have been able to maintain their own unique style of journalism in the face of a globalizing media. In fact, they are thriving and attracting increasing numbers of Americans to their coverage (Hansen, 26).

Thus, the British media are supporting the concept that global media does not lead to a global culture. There are a variety of voices for some things, and a variety of interpretations, meaning there remain a variety of cultures around the world.

References
Featherstone, M. (1990). Global culture: an introduction. In M. Featherstone (Ed.), Global culture: Nationalism, globalization, and modernity (pp. 1?14). London; Newbury Park : Sage.
Hansen, S. (2007, May/June). Superiority complex: Why the Brits think they?re better. Columbia Journalism Review, 46(1), 26?27.
Morley, D., and Robins, K. (1995). Under Western eyes: Media, empire, and otherness. In D. Morley and K. Robbins, Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes, and cultural boundaries. London: Routledge.
Tomlinson, J. (2003). Media imperialism. In L. Parks and S. Kumar (Eds.), Planet TV: A global television reader (pp. 113?134). New York and London: New York University Press.

Posted at 01:11PM Jun 08, 2007 by Jeff Jacobson in General  |  Comments[2]