MCM604 Handouts Set 2 by VUBuddy

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION (MCM604) · Table of Contents · Lec # Topic Title · Page#

1. 2. 3. The advent of popular media 4. Radio and international communication - The battle of the airwaves 5. International communication and development 6. New World Information and Communication Order and its influence over developed world over developing countries 7. Approaches to theorizing international communication - ' Free flow of information' 8. Modernization theory 9. Dependency theory 10. Media imperialism (revisited) 11. Gramsci’s Media Hegemony 12. Cyber space and public sphere 13. Cultural Studies perspectives on international communication 14. Theories of the information society 15. Discourses of globalization 16. Media Freedom : Control Vs Liberty 17. Freedom of Media in the Americas 18. Freedom of Media in Europe 19. Freedom of Media in South Asia 20. Freedom of Media in Arab world 21. Intercultural Communication Defined 22. Globalization and Hybridization in Cultural Products 23. Global Media Consumption 24. Regionalization and localization in the media market 25. Global Communication Infrastructure The privatization of telecommunications 26. Free trade in communication 27. Liberalization of the telecom sector - Privatizing space — the final frontier, Case study: Huawei and Intelsat 28. Key players in the global satellite industry - Case study: Murdoch's News Corporation 29. The world of telecommunications 30. Implications of a liberalized global communication regime 31. Media Conglomerates and merger of Traditional Media with Interactive Media: The Case study of MSNBC 32. Global trade in media products - Case study: Televising sport globally — ESPN 33. Global news and information networks - Case study: CNN — The `world's news leader' 34. Setting the global news agenda 35. Contraflow in global media - Seeing the big world on a small screen 36. Communication and propaganda 37. Political Economy of communication 38. Media exports from the South to the North - Case study: TV Globo; Case study: The other Hollywood — the Indian film industry 39. Media in Conflict Resolution 40. Muslim Portrayal in the western media 41. Role of Supra-national organizations in conflict resolutions and perception management through media 42. Media and foreign policy 43. International communication in the Internet age 44. From a 'free flow of information' to 'free flow of commerce' - Case study: The Microsoft monopoly? 45. The global digital divide - Case study: Alternative communication

Main Source:

Thussu, D.K. (2002). International Communication: Continuity and Change. London: Arnold.

Lecture # 01

International communication (also referred to as global communication or transnational communication) is the communication practice that occurs across international borders. The need for international communication was due to the increasing effects and influences of globalization. As a field of study, international communication is a branch of communication studies, concerning with the scope of "government-to-government", "business-to-business", and "people-to-people" interactions at a global level. Due to the increasingly globalized market, employees who possess the ability to effectively communicate across cultures are in high demand. International communication "encompasses political, economic, social, cultural and military concerns. The study of contemporary international communication can be illuminated by an understanding of the elements of continuity and change in its development. The nexus of economic, military and political power has always depended on efficient systems of communication, from flags, beacon fires and runners, to ships and telegraph wires, and now satellites. The evolution of telegraphic communication and empire in the nineteenth century exemplifies these interrelationships, which continued throughout the twentieth century, even after the end of empire. During the two World Wars and the Cold War, the power and significance of the new media - radio and then television - for international communication were demonstrated by their use for international propaganda as well as recognizing their potential for socioeconomic development.

Communication and empire

Communication has always been critical to the establishment and maintenance of power over distance. From the Persian, Greek and Roman empires to the British, efficient networks of communication were essential for the imposition of imperial authority, as well as for the international trade and commerce on which they were based. Indeed, the extent of empire could be used as an 'indication of the efficiency of communication'. Communications networks and technologies were key to the mechanics of distributed government, military campaigns and trade. The Greek historian, Diodorus Cronus (4th century BC) recounts how the Persian king, Darius I (522-486 BC), who extended the Persian Empire from the Danube to the Indus, could send news from the capital to the provinces by means of a line of shouting men positioned on heights. This kind of transmission was 30 times faster than using runners. In De Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar (10044 BC) reports that the Gauls, using the human voice, could call all their warriors to war in just three days. Using fire at night and smoke or mirrors during the day is mentioned in ancient texts, from the Old Testament to Homer. While many rulers, including the Greek polis, used inscription for public information, writing became a more flexible and efficient means of conveying information over long distances: ' Rome, Persia and the Great Khan of China all utilised writing in systems of information-gathering and dispersal, creating wide-ranging official postal and dispatch systems'. It is said that the Acta Diurna, founded by Julius Caesar and one of the forerunners of modern news media, was distributed across most of the Roman Empire: 'as communication became more efficient, the possibility of control from the centre became greater'. The Indian Emperor Ashoka's edicts, inscribed on rock in the third century BC, are found across South Asia, from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka and writ writers had a prominent place in the royal household. During the Mughal period in Indian history, the tvaqi'a-nawis (newswriters) were employed by the kings to appraise them of the progress in the empire. Both horsemen and despatch runners transmitted news and reports. In China, the T'ang Dynasty (618-907) created a formal hand-