QUESTIONS

Questions



Questions

1- Do We Have Reasons To Be Concerned By The Increasing Trend Towards Multinational Media?

Through the process of globalization, the political, economic, and socio-cultural activities of one region of the world can have significant effects on people or communities in regions far away. Today's globalized world is characterized by extensive connectivity and global consciousness. The media play an essential role in globalization and have both positive and negative influences on children and adolescents.

Hjarvard (2003) mentions the trend of globalization has led many news organizations to “go global.” Global media are usually transnational organizations that generate messages or programs for dissemination to a large number of people around the world, which in turn quickens the globalization process and changes the social environment in which children and adolescents live. Globalization is part of the daily life of youth, affecting their work, leisure, entertainment, language, food, and so forth (Hjarvard, 2003). In recent decades, technological advancements in cable, satellite, digital media, and the Internet have strengthened the role of the media, particularly the global media, in the globalization process.

The media's importance to globalization can be described in four dimensions that are related to young people's lives: the social, the political, the economic, and the cultural.

Modern media deliver news and messages around the globe, breaking the boundaries of time and place. The global real-time communication system intensifies social interaction over long distances and cultivates the global consciousness of young people. Satellite television and the Internet bring live news and information to young people's doorsteps around the globe. There are few places in the world today where a young person cannot gain access to a continuous flow of information, sound, and pictures from other countries and cultures. The global communication system helps young people reach out to the world and develop multiple understandings about things and issues. Many cultures are now visibly present in the everyday lives of children and adolescents through news channels (Robertson & White, 2003), movies, comic books, television serials, and advertising. In earlier times, access to foreign media was the privilege of elites, but now most young people can easily gain such access. The lively exchange of cultural and social knowledge broadens young people's minds and enables them to understand more about the lifestyles, values, and behavioral norms of other countries. Moreover, the global information dissemination network encourages young people to take action from a distance, such as making donations to disaster victims in other countries, showing support for environmental protection, or joining global social movements.

There are heated debates about the cultural implications of globalization. Are the media fostering a global society with openness and pluralism, or are they forming a homogeneous global culture? Some globalization scholars point out that the visibility of other cultures within one's own cultural framework makes young people aware that their cultures are no longer given but the result of conscious choice. They can embrace or reject their cultures (Robertson & White, 2003). The fact that many of the most visible cultural expressions of globalization are ...