GLOBALISATION AND THE MASS MEDIA

Globalisation and the Mass Media



Table of Content

Introduction1

Discussion1

Aol Time Warner2

Bertelsmann AG3

News Corporation4

Viacom5

Walt disney6

Political and Cultural Implications6

Use of Media Technology10

Conclusion11

Globalisation and the Mass Media

Introduction

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, a medium is a channel or an intervening agency by means of which something gets conveyed or accomplished. By this definition, languages and rituals are probably the examples of the earliest forms of media because ideas of belonging are conveyed and contested through words, rites, ceremonies, and practices. The study of human society cannot proceed without looking at the media, and both the language and the ritual have been concerns of the anthropologists for a long time. Yet the study of mass media has to emerge as a separate sub discipline in globalization because of the improvements; and spread of technologies of mass communication and mediation on an unprecedented scale in the post-World War II era (Ekelund, 2000, 97).

This ubiquity of media worldwide made it increasingly difficult for anthropologists to study rituals and interactions without looking at how they take place in settings saturated with information, images, sounds, and ideas dished out by different kinds of media, such as television, photography, film, radio, and the Internet. Such empirical urgency led the anthropologists to understand the significance of mass media in the lives of the people whom they study.

Discussion

In this paper we will discuss about the five big global media companies and draw out their outline of ownership and corporate linkage. Further, the political and cultural implications will be discussed.

Aol Time Warner

AOL time warner inc is one of the most biggest global media giants of the world. It came into being in 2001 with the unification of America online, an online services company with Time warner, a media company. Time warner itself is a creation of a merger of two giants named Time inc and Warner communications inc in the year 1990.Warner communiction was an entertainment company owned by Warner Bros, motion picture company. Today time warner is responsible for the production of different media, online services and cable systems all acorss United States. The company's headquarters is in New York city (Richard , Stephanie , 2007).

In the year 1996 Turner broadcasting system was acquired by Time warner from media mogul. The deal got sealed in 7.6 million dollars and it gave Time warner the world's largest movie library and the control to numerous famous cable television networkds. This was a major deal that also gave the control of new line cinema, hanna barbera cartoons and a major league football team aswell. Time warner cable which is responsible for providing the U.S customers cable t.v service and high internet serivice is also owned by Time warner inc (Richard , Stephanie , 2007).

On January 10, 2000 press release announcing the merger in corporate America Online and Time Warner with a value of between 155 and 190 billion dollars at the expense of the operation be approved by antitrust authorities and the shareholders of both ...