If people really look at these shows they?ll see that they?re not similar. But if they see a fairly busy camera, the illiterates who write about these things, the cine-illiterates, will say that they?re the same. In fact, the visual style and the lighting on Cardiac was very much the creation of David Hayman. (p. 28)

Tisha Buelto

Essay 3

06.15.07

Blogging for Darfur: Localization in a Developing Nation

First and foremost, to present a back drop, non-profit governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Save Darfur, an alliance of organizations committed to making the public aware of the ongoing genocide in Darfur, utilize blogging as a means of heralding their mission around the world (2007). The site blog is cross-posted between SaveDarfur.org and GlobeforDarfur.org. And with Internet access barely penetrating one-sixth of the world's population, GlobeforDarfur.org, in particular, stands as a prime example of human rights blogging sites that contradictorily call upon the world to take action. GlobeforDarfur.org blogs in several different languages. For the most part, the blogs tend to be translated from one language to the next, but particular stories are catered to particular countries as well. The manner in which the blogging sites are translated and cater particular articles to different blogs is at the very least, minimal evidence contradicting Hardt and Negri's theory of a global empire (2000).

Building upon these thoughts, ?the idea that globalization erodes the power of the state,? is a theory that Morris and Waisbord examine in their article, ?Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters? (2001). Massey discusses a specific problem of this function of globalization, when she addresses the notion that there are receivers of globalization who are not senders (1993). A reaction to this sort of globalization is localization. Localization is the process of adapting something to a particular community. Hines elaborates on localization as ?a process which reverses the trend of globalization by discriminating in favour of the local? (2000). This idea of localization is significant in that ?localization can further the aims of a wider range of movements concerned with improving social infrastructure (such as schools, housing, hospitals, transport, etc), environmental protection and the economic position of the majority in the developing world? (Hines 2000).

Hines discusses several criteria for which community sustainability can be achieved. Among these ten criteria are: (1) diverse wildlife and good air, water and soil quality; (2) low energy use and waste, coupled with warm homes and resource-efficient businesses; and (3) sustainable lifestyles, requiring less unhealthy and unnecessary consumption and resource use, encouraged and facilitated by education, information and opportunities supporting lifestyle change (2000). It is important that these criteria are met from a local standpoint, as there is variance from each local community to the next.

Henceforth, in applying this concept to the Globe for Darfur blogging site, it is important that they continue their own sort of localization in adapting their blogs to different communities. For GlobeforDarfur.org, their audience or community is divisible by language. So it is necessary that they cater blogs to those address those differences.

References:

Globe for Darfur (2007). ?Blog.? Retrieved May 25, 2007, from http://www.globefordarfur.org/blog.

Hardt, Michael, and Negri, Antonio (2000). ?Preface? (pp.xi-xvii) and Part I (pp. 1-66), Empire. Cambridge, MA, 	and London, England: Harvard University Press. Online: 	http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/~wiley/courses/447/hardtnegri2000.pdf.

Hines, Colin (2000). ?From Globalization to Localization- A Potential Rallying Call.? Ch. 4., Localization: A Global 	Manifesto. James & James: Earthscan. Pp.27-37. Online: 
	http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=w0c0QHxgdSUC&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=localization+ 	globalization&ots=hOYkp4RQDr&sig= oo8hctjiGZxvML2NkvtQHG9hTxY#PPA27,M1

Massey, Doreen (1993). ?Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place.? Ch. 4. in Bird, John, et al.
    (editors), Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. London: Routledge. Pp.59-69. Electronic
    reserve: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresdocs/files/h5217.pdf.

Save Darfur (2007). ?Blog.? Retrieved May 25, 2007, from http://www.savedarfur.org/blog.

Waisbord, Silvio, and Morris, Nancy (2001). Introduction: Rethinking media globalization and state power. In
    Silvio Waisbord and Nancy Morris (editors), Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham,         MD;Boulder, CO; New York, NY; and Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. vii-xvi. Online:
    http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/~wiley/courses/447/WaisbordMorris2001.pdf

When the time came a few years ago to find an Inuktitut term for the word ?Internet?, Nunavut?s former Official Languages Commissioner, Eva Aariak, chose ikiaqqivik, or ?travelling through layers?. The word comes from the concept describing what a shaman does when asked to find out about living or deceased relatives or where animals have disappeared to: travel across time and space to find answers (Soukup, 2006, pg 1).

In our class studies this week, we looked at responses to globalization and how they are adapted in different contexts. My research suggests the continued efforts of Native populations in creating hybridized and localized flows to counter Western globalization. Multi-directional flows are also influencing these trends.  Increasingly, indigenous communities are adapting modern technology to their traditional heritage(s), to construct their group identity and inhabit a new ?space.? ?Cultural anthropologists examining contemporary Native storytelling have described storytelling as an important narrative event that empowers and constructs group identity. Storytelling has modern forms that extend beyond the traditions of tribal history and culture? (Reaves, 1995, p. 60.)

            The storytelling, so to speak, of NVISION?s mission and implementation across ?Native? America, is mobilizing younger generations of Natives to carry the contemporary message of a people across the globe.  This is a logic that not only seeks to empower them, but to enhance the perspectives and outreach of the Indian community in a global sense/transnationally.

?The availability of transnational media may facilitate the creation of transnational collective identities. Electronic mail groups and global news networks provide the communication backbone for global and political activities. Constant flows of media materials between home countries and diasporic communities feed long-distance nationalisms? (Waisbord & Morris, 2001, p. 7).  Placed under the microscope of ?Native America?, this hybridization is creating multi-directional flows between different tribes and cultures. Each tribe is a distinct community or ?nation?, but cyberspace is redefining the sense of ?place? and ?boundaries?.  Also, as mentioned above, the organization NVISION and its project of reaching global media flows from a Native perspective are an example of this as well, but, also speak to the ?global cultural economy? ideology.  Appadurai argues that this is directly influenced by global disjunctures. ?Ideas of nationhood appear to be steadily increasing in scale and regularly crossing existing state boundaries (1990, p. 304). Not only is this media crossing boundaries within Native America, (different tribes/nations, urban vs. rural population dynamic) it is reaching Native communities across the Western hemisphere as well as connecting with the wider world.

Are these progressive forms of globalization processes affecting identity and how groups organize in a negative way? There are undoubtedly challenges to modernizing sovereign indigenous communities without sacrificing traditional constructs of their ethnicity. Massey tells us that there is not a ?seamless, coherent identity, a single sense of place which everyone shares? (1993, p. 65) and ?this in turn allows a sense of place which is extra-verted, which includes a consciousness of its links with the wider world, which integrates in a positive way the global and the local (1993, p. 66). This essay shows that Natives are making inroads and achieving this.

 It is imperative that ethnic communities find ways to coexist and thrive in the realm of globalization.  The challenge lies in marrying the global and the local without losing the ?communal? tradition that threads the Native community together.  I hope to expand my research next week in looking at movements of this and how they are affecting the Native community and its unique position within the wider world.

Massey, Doreen (1993). "Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place." Ch. 4. in Bird, John, et al. (editors), Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. London: Routledge. Pp.59-69.

Reaves, Sheila. Native American journalists: Finding a pipeline into journalism. Newspaper Research Journal, Fall1995, Vol. 16 Issue 4, p57-73

Soukup, Katarina. Travelling in Layers: Inuit Artists Appropriate New Technologies.  Canadian Journal of Communications, Vol. 31, No. 1 (2006). pp 239-246.)

Waisbord, Silvio, and Morris, Nancy (2001). Introduction: Rethinking media globalization and state power. In Silvio Waisbord and Nancy Morris (editors), Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO; New York, NY; and Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. vii-xvi.

www.nvisionit.org  (Retrieved June 13, 2007).

 The Influence of New York City as a ?Place?

There are several factors to take into consideration when describing the most populous city in the United States, New York City (Wikipedia, ?New York City?).   The physical infrastructures, cultural and economical influences, its people, are some of the obvious aspects which make up the city.   In spite of its many characteristics, national and global influences are often overlooked when describing this or any other place.  What makes a place, a place?    As described by Doreen Massey, an idea of ?place? is a location without conceptualized boundaries (Massey, 1993, p. 67).  Massey also claims that ?places do not have single, unique ?identities?:  they are full of internal differences and conflicts? (1993, p. 67).   This idea holds true when discussing the city of New York.    Of course, New York City has territorial borders, established by the state and federal government some years ago.   In terms of the city as a ?imagined community,? New York City is barrier-less and borderless.  This ?place? does not have ?single, unique ?identities? but is comprised of several identities which makes the city itself so unique.    The cultural and economic influences from the Caribbean, Latin America, Italy, and other parts of the world have granted New York City with a ?counter-flow? of influences.  As globalization has its impact on New York?with the movement of people from across the globe to this location?the city is reflecting ideas of diversity and cultural metropolis on the rest of the world.

The five dimensions of global cultural flow, as outlined by Arjun Appadurai, help to categorize the functions of New York City.  More specifically, ?ethnoscapes? ?constitute the shifting world in which we live:  tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, guestworkers, and other moving groups...,? all of which make up the city of New York (Appadurai, 1990, p. 297).  In regards to ?mediascapes,? for example, the New York Times produces and disseminates news daily.  The New York Times, once known as a local newspaper available to the residents of New York City, has now become of publication for the masses.  The point can be supported by Appadurai clam that newspapers, magazines, etcetera, ?are now available to a growing number of private and public interests throughout the world? (1990, p. 299).  In the early years of the New York Times, its local readers had the privilege of witnessing, firsthand, the news in which they read, because the coverage was local.  Now, with the New York Times focusing its coverage on other parts of the nation and world, local residents may not have an effective reading experience of publication or see the news as relative to their lives.  This reflects Appadurai?s point that ?the lines between the ?realistic? and the fictional landscapes they see are blurred, so that the further away these audiences are from the direct experiences of metropolitan life, the more likely they are to construct ?imagined worlds?? (Appadurai, 1990, p. 299).  This is where Appadurai?s idea of ?imagined communities? and Massey?s idea of ?place? collide.

?New York City is a global economic center, with its business, finance, trading, law, and media organizations influential worldwide? (The Role of Metro Areas?, 2006).  New York City can be seen as a physical place, with territorial boundaries, yet with an abundant flow of global influences?counter-flows of culture.

References

1.  Appadurai, A.  (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global economy.  Public Culture, 2(2), p295-310.

2.  Massey, Doreen.  (1993).  ?Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place.?  Ch. 4 in Bird, John, et al. (editors), Mapping the Futures:  Local Cultures, Global Change.  London: Routledge.  Pp. 59-69.  Electronic reserve: http//www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresdocs/files/h5217.pdf.

3.  The Role of Metro Areas in the U.S. Economy.  (2006).  The Unites States Conferences of Mayors.  p. 1-107.  Retrieved on June 14, 2007, http://www.usmayors.org/74thWinterMeeting/metroeconreport_January2006.pdf

4.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

          Walt Disney characters, films, theme parks, and products are loved by children all over the world. Disney World and Disneyland theme parks are each advertised as the ?Happiest place on Earth.? However, the Disney Americans love, isn?t necessarily the same as the Disney and its products that children and adults in other countries and cultures love. There are inevitable cultural differences. Like any other company, Disney must adapt to meet the needs, concerns, demands, and tastes of consumers in nations and cultures different from its own, not only in their marketing strategies and products, but in their manufacturing processes.

            For example, when the Disneyland Paris theme park opened in the early nineteen-nineties, it received large amounts of negative criticism for being culturally insensitive to its European tourists. Not only were guests to the theme park upset that wine was not offered, but Disney also did not understand, or take the time to research how Europeans plan their vacations. Unlike most Americans, Europeans tend to rely heavily upon travel agencies when booking their vacations, instead of directly contacting the resort itself (Holson, 2005).

            The Walt Disney Company took special care to avoid stepping on cultural toes again, when it began construction of  Disneyland Hong Kong by altering their normal practices and incorporating aspects of the local culture into their product and design instead of simply imposing their own on consumers; practicing localization (Hines, 2000). Engineers, architects, and construction workers ?Feng Shui-ed? their building plans. Incense is burned when a building is completed. A virtual pond with virtual fish will adorn an upscale restaurant in the park, and images of fire will be depicted on a screen behind the bar. Cash registers are going to be located in corners, where it is believed they will be more prosperous (Holson, 2005). Disney has even taken into consideration, the unlucky connotations associated with the number four in Chinese culture. Therefore, there are no fourth floor buttons on any of the elevators in the park. There is, however, plenty of evidence of the lucky number eight. For example, a ballroom in one of the hotels is eight hundred, eighty-eight meters squared (Holson 2005).

            Yet, while localization of the company?s practices and plans is a joint effort between Walt Disney executives and the Chinese government, there is a case of hybridization of a globally beloved Disney character that is clearly a lone work of the culture in which it appears. In Palestine, an animated look-a-like of Mickey Mouse, with big black ears and nose, peach colored face, squeaky voice, tuxedo with tails, and white gloves, is the star of a children?s show known as Tomorrow?s Pioneers (Riedemann 2007). The copyright infringement of the most well known cartoon character in the world, is known as Farfur, and is allegedly encouraging Palestinian children to hate Israeli and America, and pray for Islam?s world domination (Riedemann, 2007). The irony lies within the dependence of the producers of the Hamas television show upon the image of an American icon, to deliver messages of hatred towards America. This is further evidence of an emerging global Disney culture, as discussed in previous posts.

References

Hines, C.  (2000). Localization: A global manifesto. London: Earthscan. p.27

Holson, L. (2005, April 25). Disney bows to feng shui. The New York Times. Retrieved  June 13, 2007, from  http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/24/business/disney.php

Riedemann, D. (2007, May 9). Mickey Mouse clone teaches hate: costumed character on Hamas show violates Disney copyright. Retrieved June 13, 2007 from  http://international-animated-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/mickey_mouse_clone_teaches_hate

My research up until now has focused on the effects of Americanization on advertising in foreign countries. There is evidence to show that it does indeed have an impact on certain cultures, like Japan. But with the rise of localization and a changing sense of place, some nations are shifting away from globalization.

            Re-examining the definition of place is one way that we can show the relationship between globalization and localization. A place no longer has a single identity (Massey, 1993, p. 65). There can be an array of different cultures represented in one single area. ?If it is now recognized that people have multiple identities, then the same point can be made in relation to places? Along with this goes the notion that media corporations have overwhelmed nations to the point that they no longer have control over their own markets. This is true to an extent but it is not as extreme as it seems. Waisbord and Morris (2001) say, ?It would be unwarranted, however, to conclude that the state no longer matters? (p. ix) and then say, ?Also, there is insufficient evidence for asserting the death of the state, because the state remains under analyzed in the literature on media globalization? (p. ix). A place should include a ?consciousness of its links with the wider world, which integrates in a positive way the global and the local? (Massey, 1993, p. 66). So while globalization has some effect on the definition of place, a majority of the evidence shows that on a local level, the media have not completely taken over.

            What matters in terms of globalization and Americanization in foreign advertising is being sure that the target audience understands the message, and this helps lead to localization. The question is, ?How can we sell a standardized product to local and different consumers?? (Guidere, 2002, ¶ 2). One study in an Arabic-speaking country showed that advertisements had to not only be translated, but the sentence structure had to be changed into a way that was more commonly used in local advertisements to better get to the target audience (Shakir, 1995). Adapting to a local region?s ?place? is important because ?the relevance and the influence of the local culture are still very substantial in numerous countries around the globe? (Guidere, 2002, ¶ 9). Wiley (2006) found that ?the increasing enmeshment of Chile?s media system in global networks?did not obliterate either national media production or Chileans? preference for national programs? (p. 5). This actually strengthened the preference for national programming (Wiley, 2006). The research shows that there is a shift towards localization in many nations.

            The changing sense of place contributes to more nations becoming focused on localization, and in turn this makes media corporations have to adapt to their target audiences. This is not to say that globalization is not occurring, but it is occurring in a different way. Many cultures can still be represented in a certain place while maintaining a local structure.

Sources:

Guidere, M. (2002). The translation of advertisements: From adaptation to localization. Retrieved June 15, 2007 from http://www.translationdirectory.com/article60.htm.

Massey, D. (1993). ?Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place.? Ch. 4. in Bird, John, et al. (editors), Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. London: Routledge. Pp.59-69.

Shakir, A. (1995). The translation of advertisements: Registeral and schematic constraints. Meta. Pp. 62-72. Online: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/1995/v40/n1/004123ar.pdf

Waisbord, Silvio, and Morris, Nancy (2001). Introduction: Rethinking media globalization and state power. In Silvio Waisbord and Nancy Morris (editors), Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO; New York, NY; and Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. vii-xvi.

Wiley, S. B. C. (in press). Transnation: Globalization and the reorganization of Chilean television in the early 1990s. Forthcoming in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.

    Apple is a company that has been working hard to sidestep the stigma of Americanization.  It is this conscious effort to avoid this dominant title that has allowed them the room for success in the global market.  With an estimated income of $70 million in the international sales alone, I think they have proven to be successful in avoiding being placed into that category (Johnson, Petrecca, & Halliday, 1997, p3).  Apple?s mentality seems to match that of Arjun Appadurai as he feels that critics seem to forget that as things are ?brought into new societies they tend to become indigenized in one or other way? (1990, p295).  It is that very idea that is established to push away from the idea that Americanization is something that is easily achieved.
    The threat of local countries becoming a dominant factor is much more real to certain countries, than is the thought of Western culture being forced (Appadurai, 1990, p295).  This illustrates that even though it is not necessarily simple to create a force deserving of the title of Americanization, but companies can still go into business with all intentions of avoiding even the hint of it.  Apple was once considered the runt of the business world, but quickly changed its status with the outbreak of iPods.  As mentioned in previous essays, this is a product of Apple that crosses a lot of geographical boundaries.  How does that piece of Apple not carry the idea of Americanization?
    A situation Massey describes, is that people feel like they knew a certain street but now there are different shops and restaurants that occupy this space and that creates a distance from that person to what they once knew (1993, p1). This cannot be said in the present anymore.  The population today is not phased anymore by the idea of foreign objects, media, or people that come into their native country.  We are not phased, because it happens all too often whether you are accepting or rejecting of it.  Because we know that there is inevitably going to be the presence of other countries within our own nowadays, the finger is not able to be strongly pointed at one country or another.  That fact has allowed Apple to spread their products, namely the iPod, to other countries without coming off as a dominating American force. 
    Working with, instead of against another countries enables Apple to push themselves product by product into the corners of the globe without being seen as an evil force.  Apple, of course, is out to collect profits but they are also bringing the products to people that they want and that is what has built credibility with consumers globally.  Daniel Altman wrote in a blog in the International Herald Tribune, ?How can you tell when a company?s feeling powerful?  One way is when its boss believes that he can give away a moneymaker, change the way a global industry operates, and still come out on top.  And that?d what has happened at Apple? (2007, p1).

  REFERENCES

Altman, D.  (2007).  Is copy protection obsolete?  International Herald Tribune.  Retrieved on June 13, 2007, from http://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk/business/globalization/?p=351

Appadurai, A.  (1990).  Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy.  Public Culture 2(2):1-24

Johnson, B., Petrecca, L., & Halliday, J.  (1997).  Reunited: Jobs, clow aim to rebuild apple ?very quickly.?  Advertising Age, 68(32): 3-26

Massey, D.  (1993).  ?Power-geometry and a progressive sense of place.?  Ch. 4 in Bird, John, et al.  Mapping in the futures: Local cultures, global change.  Pp 59-69 

           When it comes to senses of place and identity, the virtual worlds of online games are complex and have cultural meaning all their own.  As this culture develops inside the virtual space, players relate to them and take an active role in the environment.  As demonstrated in earlier discussions of economics and growth, these worlds can have effect on the physical world of those players and as such have a connection to the global culture we analyze.  When looking at these developing online cultures it is important to understand how they create senses of identity and place to their users as well as how real world cultures have created hybrids inside the virtual space.

In these worlds that are becoming more intricate every day, there can be flows similar to those found when discussing real world cultural identities.  They discussion of flows through different ?scapes? by Appadurai are felt in these worlds.  For example, movements of people and ideas take form of users subscribing to the different worlds and quitting them so that there are new influxes of people and ideas into and out of the individual game cultures (Appadurai, 1990, p. 296).  Also inside these virtual cultures like Second Life, there are feelings of commonality yet a connection to the outside that give it a specific place.  All of the players share an experience in their particular virtual worlds, encountering similar, if not the same, obstacles and information, as well as limitations.  Yet these users connect to their outside worlds much differently from each other, using the game environment as their common space.  This has a strong correlation to Massey?s idea of place being ?particular constellation of [global] relations, articulated together at a particular locus? (Massey, 1993, p.66).  Much like a city atmosphere where there are large populations that create somewhat anonymous interactions but still hold a common connection to the population center they are a part of (Donath, 1997).  With these connections the virtual worlds demonstrate their own development of cultural space and identity that connect to our global culture.

            Although the idea that there are unique virtual cultures has strong support, how Western and Asian culture mesh inside these places is a more difficult relationship to identify.  There are obstacles that still create some separation between the two cultures inside the online cultures in the form of language.  While these characters experience the world together, they don?t always speak the same language and as such find new ways to communicate.  The players may use gestures or emotions to try to converse, out of which grow learned behaviors with shared meanings inside the community.  In communities as complex as Second Life, there are areas in many languages, but the interface to the world itself is in the language the player understands.  There are unique aspects of these cultures that are spread, from clothing ideas to architecture, that can be sold and then spread around peoples of both Asian or Western heritage.  Companies that are based in Japan, China, or America, can all have virtual representations inside of Second Life that take form as ?we see the increasing 'technologization' and commodification of urban and public spaces? (Galloway, 2006), allowing the spread of information and media among the community but without limitations of geographic separation.  While the individuals may react differently, the world remains and the community created by these intermingling of cultures grows into a unique entity.

            The existence of these virtual cultures allows an interesting view into another hybridization of culture.  While the culture is still taking form as the capabilities of virtual worlds increase, it is evident that the players inside these environments share a sense of place, at least while together in that world.  These growing entities will see more changes as they allow greater freedom and control to their population base.

References:

Appadurai, Arjun. (1990). Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Economy. Public Culture 2 (2):1-24.

Donath, J. S. (1997). Part I: The virtual society. In Inhabiting the virtual city: the design of social environments for electronic communities (pp. 15-42) Ph.D. Dissertation. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://smg.media.mit.edu/people/Judith/

Galloway, A., & Ward, M. (2006). Locative media as socialising and spatializing practice: Learning from archaeology. Leonardo Electronic Almanac, 14 (3). Retrieved June 13, 2007, from http://leoalmanac.org/journal/vol_14/lea_v14_n03-04/gallowayward.asp

Massey, Doreen (1993). ?Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place.? Ch. 4. in Bird, John, et al. (editors), Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. London: Routledge. Pp.59-69.

            Globalization and the modern marvel of mass media communication methods, and  technologies of the 21^st century have become the supposed ?Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman? savior of developing countries around the world, especially in Sub Sahara Africa and their battle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Waisbord and Morris explained this attitude, ?Optimists believe that cross-border technologies open up new possibilities for more people around the world to have better and faster access to more information? (2001, p. viii).Yet, recent research has emphasized the weakness of these marvels in developing countries because of the incomparable differences between the Western societies, in which these communication methods and technologies are developed and tested in, and the underdeveloped countries they are then applied to; which repeatedly do not bring about equivalent results. As Mushengyezi stated in his research, ?Modern mass media?have remained largely inaccessible to the majority of Ugandan (as well as other Sub Saharan areas) communities not just because of the low literacy level, but also because of the lack of hardware, software and supporting infrastructure of computer-accessed communication?these media can not be seen as essential to communication in predominately rural societies? (2003, p.108). Because of the technology and educational gap that remains in many parts of Africa, the extensive amount of information and preventative help towards the HIV pandemic through ICT?s (Information and Communication Technology) is unsuccessful, because the areas and populations they are  imposed upon can not receive them. This problem of failing ?Western? ideologies in Sub-Sahara Africa provides proof for the question Appadurai asked, ?What sets of communicative genres are valued in what ways and what sorts of pragmatic genre conventions govern the collective ?readings??the vary relationship of reading to hearing and seeing may vary in important ways that determine the morphology of these different national and transnational contexts? (1990, p.300). Therefore, recent studies have focused on anti-global, highly local forms of communication practices, traditionally found in Sub Sahara Africa, to spread knowledge and preventative measures concerning HIV/AIDS through the custom of Folk Media.

            As Panford et al. explained, Folk Media is, ?any form of endogenous communication system?serving as a channel for messages?that require the utilization of values, symbols, institutions, and ethos? of that particular culture (2001, p.1560). Folk media of Sub Sahara Africa include storytelling, puppetry, proverbs, visual art, drama, role-play, concerts, gong beating, dirges, songs, drumming and dancing. As you  read traditional communication practices of this area are not based on reading and writing, like traditional ?western? cultures, but on listening, speaking and seeing, which have fostered a much more visual-audio receptive society (Mushengyezi, 2003, p.107, Panford et al., 2001, p.1559). Modern African researchers believe the combination of these locally- created forms of media communication, with modern messages of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, could have a stronger effect on the rural populations of Africa; who use these forms of communication daily to deliver other ideas and messages.

            Radio has become a chosen source of dispersal for many of these newly opted folk media incorporating plans. In many African countries radio is accessible and affordable, and many rural inhabitants rely on it for their information receiving. Local stations have begun incorporating HIV information/ awareness/prevention ideas into their programs through story-telling, drama, poetry recitals and proverbs. This collaboration also facilitates interaction between listeners and hosts, through the audience calling in and giving their opinions and stories (Panford et al., 2001, p.1561). Because the rural populations have grown up with these types of communication practices they immediately see them as more trustworthy, and could possibly be more prone to integrate messages of AIDS prevention and knowledge into their lives. Again, Mushengyezi eloquently explained, ?In the quest for globalization, the way forward in the new millennium should consist not so much in an aggressive quest to provide modern media to people as in harnessing and modernizing, ?traditional? forms of communication as viable tools for development? (2003, p.108). This is an example of how counter-western forms of communication media seem to be more effective in areas than the believed ?rehabilitating forms? of modern global media outlets.

Cites

1: Appadurai, Arjun. (1990). Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Economy. Public Culture 2 (2): 1-24.

2:Mushengyezi, Aaron. (2003). Rethinking indigenous media: rituals, ?talking? drums and orality as forms of public communication in Uganda. Journal of African Cultural Studies. Vol 16, 1: 107-117.

3: Panford, Solomon et al. (2001). Using Folk Media in HIV/AIDS prevention in rural Ghana. American Journal of Public Health. Vol. 91, 10: 1559-1562.

4: Waisbord, Silvio, and Morris, Nancy (2001). Introduction: Rethinking media globalization and state power. In Silvio Waisbord and Nancy Morris (editors), Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO; New York, NY ; and Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. vii-xvi.

          For many, the XO laptop has the expectation of being a program that will one day bring the free exchange of ideas across the internet and into the lives of the average citizen of any country that adopts this project.  This conjures to mind images of students sitting on the sand next to a camel having an online discussion with students across the globe bundled up next to their igloo.  Of course, in this vision these kids are discussing issues of politics, economics, and religion in an environment that is encouraging, respectful, and fosters learning through the sharing of ideas.  But, will the goal of "One Laptop Per Child" actually help to make this vision a reality?
          First, having a laptop with some sort of internet connectivity does not necessarily guarantee that governments will allow the free discussion of ideas.  Even in a country that allows completely unrestricted discussion, this does not always lead to changes in policy.  According to Waisbord and Morris, "Globalization has made it more difficult for all states to monopolize the information that citizens consume, but it has neither eliminated attempts to influence media content nor slowed governments' allocation of resources to make this possible" (2001, p. xvi).  With all of the collaboration and globalization that has occurred in recent years, the government still controls domestic policy making in even the most technologically saturated countries.  In an observation of post-apartheid South Africa, Jacobs observed that increased media freedom (specifically progressively unrestricted internet access) has not lead to positive effects on democratic participation.  "In fact, the state-sponsored or market-led changes, while in some ways introducing much needed and long overdue changes, have on the whole not resulted in the expected opening up of the media" (Jacobs, 2002, p. 42).
          Second, having a laptop with internet access does not necessarily imply that it will be used for the discussion of important issues, especially when the laptops are being given to children.  Mansilla, in an article on the OLPC news website suggests that "It is a distinct possibility that a massive number of kids connected to each other by XO laptops all around the world end up spending all their networking time exchanging Pokemon trivia and very little else, notwithstanding a small minority of motivated children that may have got connected to each to discuss the issues of the day even without OLPC XO's" (2007, para 9).  Children will be children, and no doubt any teacher will back the assertion that it is difficult to get kids to discuss important issues on any topic.  A study was conducted in which children in rural India were asked to help design computer software for English learning games.  During the course of the survey, researchers noticed that it was difficult to keep the children on task or to get intelligent comments about how to improve the games.  By the end of the study, they realized the usefulness of bringing local supporters to direct the kids in their activities.  "Although rural students were our target users, we found that gaining the support of parents, local facilitators (both adult and children) and local teaching staff was critical for a productive design workshop" (Kam, 2006, p. 32).
          Third, a user in Africa is far more likely to be chatting with a user in the next village than one from a different continent.  Unless there is a specific reason that these users are brought together, the likelihood of them finding one another is slim.  There would need to be a specific forum, site, or software that encourages these kinds of connections to take place, or perhaps a policy or program governing the use of the laptops that makes diverse correspondence more likely.  Even so, the fact that African students are discussing politics with American or Asian students means that they are not (at least at the moment) discussing politics with other Africans.  Massey gives the example that "Every time you drive to that out-of-town shopping centre you contribute to the rising prices, even hasten the demise, of the corner shop" (1993, p. 63).  Carrying Massey's example even further, the determining factor here is whether you go to the out-of-town stores just to get things that are unavailable locally or whether you ignore local stores entirely and look to the outside sources for all of your needs.  The things that we have discussed so far seem to indicate that the most common way to adapt to internet use is for users to rely on local sources for information that is available, and only turn to the net for the more exotic fare.  If this is the case, then perhaps not as much globalization will be happening as some expect.

Works Cited

Jacobs, Sean (2002). Good is the South African Media for Democracy? In African and Asian Studies. Brill. Volume 1, Number 4, 2002, pp. 279-302(24).

Kam, Matthew, et al. 2006. Practical Considerations for Participatory Design with Rural School Children in Underdeveloped Regions: Early Reflections from the Field. Interaction Design And Children. Online: http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mattkam/publications/IDC2006.pdf

Mansilla, Eduardo Villanueva (2007). Building One Laptop Per Socialized Child. June 12, 2007 Online: http://www.olpcnews.com. Paragraph 9.

Massey, Doreen (1993). "Power-geometry and a Progressive Sense of Place." Ch. 4. in Bird, John, et al. (editors), Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change. London: Routledge. Pp.59-69. Electronic reserve: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/eresdocs/files/h5217.pdf.

Waisbord, Silvio, and Morris, Nancy (2001). Introduction: Rethinking media globalization and state power. In Silvio Waisbord and Nancy Morris (editors), Media and Globalization: Why the State Matters. Lanham, MD; Boulder, CO; New York, NY; and Oxford, UK: Rowman and Littlefield. Pp. vii-xvi. Online:
http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/~wiley/courses/447/WaisbordMorris2001.pdf.

Essay #4 - Will Long - The Global Flows of Sabado Gigante

Many scholars agree that place should be seen as the sum of different flows. Appadurai lists a series of ?-scapes? that account for these flows. Ethnoscapes, the movement of people; technoscapes, the movement and access of technology; finanscapes, the movement of money; mediascapes, the movement of information; and ideoscapes, the movement of ideologies, all affect a place?s identity (Appadurai, 1990, p. 296). A circle of flows and counter-flows contruct the Spanish-language television in the United States and Latin America. These flows and counter-flows are exemplified by the television variety show Sabado Gigante.

The show began on Canal 13 (UCTV) in 1962 in Chile?s capital city, Santiago. Kreutzbergerwas influenced by American television while studying in New York in the late 1950s.  When he returned to Chile, television was in its beginnings. He soon created a show that was a combination of all the shows he had seen and the host of what was to become the longest-running variety television show in history (Hall, 2004, ¶ 3). For twenty-four years, Don Francisco was seen every week all over Chile.

The show gained popularity in Chile and in 1986 the show started being produced in Miami, Florida when Univision picked it up. At the time ?there was no Spanish-language television produced in the [United States], the Spanish shows there were imported from Mexico and Puerto Rico.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 7). For three years the show was produced in Miami, for the international audience, and in Santiago, for Chile.  The constant traveling became too much for Kreutzberger and he decided to base the show only in Miami, immediately making the United States ?one of the prime exporters of Spanish-language television.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 8).

Now the ?Miami-based production?is projected regionally to a Spanish-speaking population throughout the Americas,? as well as Europe (Wiley, 2004, p. 92). In fact, it is ?available to 99 percent of Spanish-speaking people worldwide.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 2). Morris and Waisbord say ?constant flows of media materials between home countries and diasporic communities feed long-distance nationalities.? (Morris & Waisbord, 2001, p. xiii).  Kreutzberger feels ?his broadcasts from Miami have helped create a sense of Hispanic community that links U.S. immigrants with people in their home countries of Latin America,? (Brennan, 2002, ¶ 5).

Sabado Gigante is a perfect example of the flows and counter-flows that influence place. First, North American television compelled Kreutzberger to create the show. Second, the show made an impact in Latin America and the Latino community in North America. Lastly, the show is now produced in North America and distributed to the Latino community into Latin America, including Chile ? its country of origin.

SOURCES:

Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global economy. Public Culture, 2(2), 295-310.

Brennan, B. (2002). Don Francisco gives back. Perspectives in Health Magazine, 7(3),.

Hall, L. (2004). Star of ?Sabado? reigns on Univision. Television Week, 23(13), 12-14.

Hill, L. (2005). Giant of spanish tv first in U.S. production. Television Week, 24(22), 26-28.

Morris, N. & Waisbord, S. (2001). Media and Globalization: Why the state matters. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Wiley, S. (2004). Rethinking nationality in the context of globalization. Communication Theory, 14, 78-96.

Musicians Join Forces with Advertising

As the channels through which music is spread around the globe are constantly changing, there comes the need to adapt to the popular medium of the moment.  Not only are the music industries worried about missing the current trend to gain world-wide appeal of their musicians, but that if they do miss that hot method that their music will be left high and dry without any audience.  Such pressure to keep on the medium that has the potential to make names out of these up and coming musicians has led to the pop successes we see globally and the dismemberment of the ones who did not jump aboard, and thus most of us have absolutely no idea who they are.  The Internet continues to be a strong force in the corner of the music industry, but there is the pessimism that the Internet is soon on its way out.  What is the next method that industries and musicians are turning to?  Commercials.

The thought of musicians using their songs and image to sell products was once thought of as the ?ultimate sellout? (Block, 1999, ¶ 3).  Most musicians are encouraged not to think about the idea of selling out, and this of course is stemming from their record label.  As of 1999, commercials first peaked its head into the music market as an untapped market to promote new albums (Block, ¶ 3).  That trend continued to fade, as most do, but is currently back on the rise.  Today, musicians are not confined to what products they agree to release their music to.  We hear these songs in the commercials for cars, mp3 players, brands of soda, and computers to name a few.  It would appear that the music industry has found a niche, if only for the time being.

The concept of power-geometry is important to how and why media companies make the decisions they do.  The record company along with their musician has the power, along with the company whose product they are licensing their music to, and are the ones who start the movement of the product and music hand-in-hand.  Although these are the groups that are distributing the communication, they are only as successful as the audience perceives them to be.  Power-geometry puts a heavy weight on the energy that happens as a result of the flow of the communication (Massey, 1993, p. 61).  This concept places the emphasis on the connection between the way audiences view these commercials and decide to judge the music. 

The correlation between the commercial and the audience?s feelings on the song, product, and even decision to lease their music to advertising all play into that power shift that occurs while transporting media.  This is very similar to the ?ideoscapes? that Appadurai discusses, except that the commercials these musicians are associating themselves with do not have any political agenda (1990, p. 300).  These decisions of the industry are trying to predict which medium audiences will be more likely to have a positive link (Appadurai, 1990, p. 300). 

While it is difficult (if not impossible) to guess which approach will spread music on a worldwide scale, that is exactly what music industries are attempting to do.  Connections are being made with almost every variety of media in hopes of profitable outcomes.  The major pursuit is to reach audiences that they did not anticipate to reach, and in multiple areas of the world (Dolfsma, 2005, ¶ 26).

References

Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global economy. Public Culture,
    2(2) 1-24.
Block, V. (1999). Advertising ties embraced by music houses, artists. Advertising Age,
    70(27) 1-24.
Dolfsma, W. (2005). How will the music industry weather the globalization storm?
    Retrieved June 13, 2007 from the First Monday Web site:
    http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_5/dolfsma/
Massey, D. (1993). Power-geometry and a progressive sense of place. Ch. 4 in Bird,
    John, et al. (editors), Mapping the futures: Local cultures, global change. 59-69.

Economics of the Gaming World

            While online games continue to grow and spread, players find more and more ways with which to experience them.  In many of these interactive games, users build characters that grow and develop with the worlds they live in growing internet economies.  While these worlds are virtual economies and not real, they have the ability to transfer over as players buy and sell in game possessions for real life money.  As the use of real money affects these games, many players in other countries, in particular China, use this to augment their yearly income in the real world.
             The transfer of real life funds for gaming purposes has continued to grow towards extreme levels.  As people continue to play these games at higher and higher rates worldwide, the desire to trade with others has become more apparent.  While playing a game their may be an item: a house, weapon, clothes, or a character itself; which someone else is interested in having.  In some of these games this trade is regulated through the game, and some frown upon it.  As such people will sell characters over internet sites such as EBay or websites designed specifically for the sale of virtual things.  In large games where this transfer is frowned upon such as World of Warcraft or Everquest 2, characters can regularly sell anywhere from $300 to over $1000.  As such, this is a sum of money that can have a strong effect on real income.  
             Perhaps the strongest influence of real life money is in the world of Second Life.  This world not only promotes spending real life money, it is an integral part of the game itself.  People design and create items that they sell to others for virtual money that is bought with money from the real world.  In the last day alone, as of this essay, there were over $1.6 Million worth of transactions.  A small number of these players, roughly 140, are now making over $5000 a month just from selling items in this game to others. (Linden Research Inc., 2007) A huge portion of real life income that could sustain a person in the United States let alone a poorer nation.
              As this phenomenon continues to grow, it can undoubtedly have an effect in a nation such as China.  Their communist government continues to liberalize their stances on capitalism and has not been seen to regulate the income people can build online.  The limitations are, of course, that those people must have the ability to access these games in the first place, which as seen by internet use in my previous article, is not a huge number as of yet.  China still has over 200 million people in poverty just in rural areas alone (Khan, 1998, p. 12).  The income that is evident from these games, even on a small scale, can have a huge impact on these people?s lives.  As stated by Hardt and Negri, goods and money ??move with increasing ease across national boundaries; hence the nation-state has less and less power to regulate these flows and impose its authority over the economy? (2000).  These movements continue to affect these people and can have real influence on the world we live in.
              As the spread of real world economy is evident in these games, their influences on players real lives have grown and could be used to affect poorer nations.  Of course it is difficult to see exactly how other cultures will treat this phenomenon, like Tomlinson said, based on their dependency on capitalism (Tomlinson, 2003).  While it is hard to place exactly how many players actually use these incomes as their sole incomes, it is a strong possibility in a game such as Second Life.  This trend has shown little signs of slowing and will more than likely continue to grow as more virtual communities are created and more people worldwide have access to them.  Perhaps in the future we may see governments regulate or tax this income but, for now, it is a free market with very little limitations for the world.

References:

Hardt, Michael, and Negri, Antonio (2000). ?Preface? (pp.xi-xvii) and Part I (pp. 1-66), Empire. Cambridge, MA, and London, England: Harvard University Press.

Khan, A.R., 1998, ?Poverty in China in the Period of Globalization. New Evidence on Trend and Pattern?, Issues in Development Discussion Paper No.22, ILO: Geneva.

Linden Research Inc., (2007, June 7). Economic Statistics. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from Second Life Web site: http://secondlife.com/whatis/economy_stats.php

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.

Cultural imperialism in the context of the media inherits a new power when applied to the Native American audience.  The ideological background embedded in the way most view Native cultures is the catalyst for this. Are citizens of the world shaped by common socialization when it concerns Native people? My research would suggest yes.  Tomlinson suggests that media imperialism is happening, but that it is affected by many different channels. This assertion is not analogous to the ?space? that Native communities inhabit in the hermeneutic world of media.

Empire in the context of me