This volume examines how the media plays a role in imperialism. It includes traditional media and new technology, as well as infrastructures of communication, production, dissemination and reception, and the interests that control them. It addresses territorial and “free trade” empire building by the US and the role of the media; models of media imperialism by Harold Innis, Herbert Schiller, Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky, C.A. Bayly, and Alfred McCoy; how US imperial expansion has been initiated through the construction of false or questionable pretexts for war, such as Operation Desert Storm, the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, the “war on terror,” the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, the war on drugs, humanitarian intervention, and democracy, and the role of media in accepting these pretexts; pretexts for the invasion of Libya and Syria; media propaganda about Iran as a threat in terms of nuclear weapons; digital media empires; other media imperialisms, such as the UK and Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, the Arab world, the Korean Wave, and China; and media resisting imperialism, such as in British India, international news agencies, Interfax in Russia, Al Jazeera, and the resistance to Hollywood movies in China and India. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
How does control of media resources serve political and economic ends? What is the impact of media concentration and monopoly in the era of technology convergence, with not just traditional and ‘new’ media but also consumer electronics, telephony and computing industries?
Revisiting the classic concept of media imperialism, Oliver Boyd-Barrett presents a thorough retake for the 21st century, arguing for the need to understand media and empires and how structures of power and control continue to regulate our access to and consumption of the media. It's no longer just Disney and Dallas - it's also now Alibaba, Apple, Facebook, Google, Samsung and Huawei.
Examining the interplay between communications industries and the hierarchies and networks of political, corporate and plutocratic power in a globalized world, the book explains:
- the historical context of the relationship between media and imperialism;
- contestation and collaboration among new media empires;
- the passion for social justice that inspired the original theories of media and cultural imperialism, and how it has been embraced by a new generation.
Digging deeply into the global landscape and emerging media markets to explore how media power works across transnational boundaries, this book gives a clear and sophisticated argument for why media imperialism still matters.
With increasing interest in media power across media policy and the cultural industries, this is a timely revisting of the classic idea of 'media imperialism'. Boyd-Barrett presents a thorough retake for the 21st Century, exploring how structures of power still regulate our access to media.
