Media Ownership and Cultural Imperialism

Media Ownership and Cultural Imperialism Evaluate the claims made by authors arguing that media ownership and concentration lead to cultural imperialism with specific reference to a media text(s) of your choice. Do you agree? Media concentration and its impact on the effective citizen cultural participation has always been an important matter in both our past and modern society. Many authors argue that media ownership and concentration leads to cultural imperialism. To evaluate these claims we first need to define, with reference to several media texts, what the common terms of cultural imperialism, and media ownership and concentration generally refer to. Using multiple sources, more than refering to one specific media text, will help us to build a omniscient and objective knowledge about the subject. Throughout the years, these terms – taking into account today’s increasing wide range of media and ways of communicating – have evolved significantly in both their value and connotation, leading towards a critical point for our contemporary society and the ones to come. After explaining the meaning of cultural imperialism, we will then take a look at what media ownership and concentration stands for in our modern world and how it leads to cultural imperialism. Cultural imperialism Many authors – sociologists, anthropologists, and ‘philosophers’ – tend to explain, in the most accurate way, these two symbolic terms without any strong conviction in the end. For John Tomlinson this expression does not have a particularly long history. In the 1960s cultural Imperialism became a part of the general intellectual currency – a generic concept: It (cultural imperialism) brings together two words which are themselves extremely complex and problematic, in an attempt to provide a covering concept for a very broad range of issues (Tomlinson, 2002: 3).To make it easier we shall divide these two terms and attentively study the definition of culture and the definition of imperialism independently, ultimately arriving at a better understanding of the importance in defining this expression. In Oxford Dictionary the word â€Å"cultural† is defined as: â€Å"an improvement or refinement of mind, manners, etc., by education and training; condition of being thus trained and refined; particular form or type of intellectual development or civilization† (Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 2007: 261). Despite that the word culture is still one of the three most complicated words in the English language, by the nineteenth century the British anthropologist E.B. Tylor (1874: 185) provided probably the most popular definition of culture: â€Å"Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.† Imperialism is, itself, defined as â€Å"the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas; broadly: the extension or imposition of power, authority, or influence†. Historically, imperialism is defined through the economic system (and its reference to colonial rules) and the political system, in which appears the Marxist analysis of stages, the modern capitalism and the fight between the American and Soviet Union (Williams, 1958). â€Å"Commonly associated with the policy of direct extension of sovereignty and dominion over non-contiguous and often distant overseas territories, it also denotes indirect political or economic control of powerful states over weaker peoples. Regarded also as a doctrine based on the use of deliberate force, imperialism has been subject to moral censure by its critics, and thus the term is frequently used in international propaganda as a pejorative for expansionist and aggressive foreign policy† (Wesseling, 2004: 7226-7232). If we now jointly consider these two definitions, we then nearly approach the following definition by Martin Barker and Julian Petley (2001: 22): â€Å"It seems to mean that the process of imperialist control is aided and abetted by importing supportive forms of culture.† Let us now examine a clear and direct example of cultural imperialism by Robert Cecil (1971: 6). In his folio about cultural imperialism, he essentially focuses on the impact of the colonisations across the world. For him this is the beginning of pure and simple cultural imperialism. If we have a look for instance at some meetings of The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as Unesco, when the French-speaking Africans and English-speaking Africans stand up to make a speech to the assembly, you can obviously distinguish characteristics of French and British culture. Respectively, French-speaking Africans speak in rather an silver-tongued, logical way; while the English-speaking Africans tend to be more blunt, empirical and, occasionally, even humorous. Which methods are used to convert a nation under cultural domination? The leading method is language. As an example, if you compel somebody, throughout an educational system or as a means of economic concern, to speak your language, to some extent you are imposing your pattern of thought on them. A French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, in an interview (Paris, 1996) communicated the following: Only knowledge of language enables the influence of the culture expressed by that language to be fully effective and to reach the soul of another people. We can also find this cultural panel in advertising campaigns, such as McDonald’s, Pepsi, Durex or Ford. Fords advertising, like the others cited above, adapts itself to cultural differences between the many countries in which the brand is available. The American ads are generally bringing back the classic American way of life, using old gangster movie patch-work as background references. Asian ads for Ford feature a fantastic, cartoon-ish style. While the UK ads are usually matching with the English humour style: short, direct, colorful and relevant. If we then sum up all those different approaches of the expression we can see that cultural imperialism is, finally,spreading and exalting habits and values; a practice in which diferent economic powers play a big part. It is with this link to economic power that the media ownership and concentration now interferes. Media ownership and concentration To explain the meaning of media ownership and concentration, we need to think about the natural tendency of capitalistic economic systems linking to oligopoly or monopoly. â€Å"Media concentration is defined as an increase in the presence of one (monopoly) or a few media companies (oligopoly) in any market as result of acquisitions and mergers or the disappearance of competitors† (Meier Trappel, 2004: Chap. 4). Indeed, Indeed, the world is basically ruled and owned by mainstream media conglomerates. In the late 90s, there were nine corporations (mainly from the U.S.) that dominated the media world called the Big Ones. According to an article from The Nation, the Big Ones never totally changed. The top ten media companies around early 2002 were AOL, Time Warner, Disney, General Electric (quote in the article as a media company), Sony, News Corporation, Liberty Media, Vivendi, AT T, Viacom, Vivendi and Bertelsmann (Robert W. McChesney, The Nation Magazine :1999) However, as Mark Crispin Miller points out (2007) companies may â€Å"come and go†. I chose to use the reference of mainstream media conglomerates ruling the world because these corporations, even if they seem to refer to media corporations, they share members of the board of directors (also known as the process of interlocking directorates) within a large panel of big companies, including each important economic devise such as Oil Companies, Pharmaceutical and Health car companies, Banks and technology companies. All of these companies are followed by many other â€Å"Second tiers† companies that each earn billions dollars of business. For example, ABC/Disney, among other corporations, owns FedEx, Boeing, City National Bank, Starwood Hotels Resorts; CBS/Viacom owns Dell, American Express, Akamai Technologies, Lafarge Corp, Amazon.com, etc. We are living to serve advertisers purposes. Cest notre raison dà ªtre claims the CBS C.E.O.. This capitalist economical process ruled by the constant need of power is very frequently seen as a problem for contemporary media and society. Media ownership of concentration and cultural imperialism So, how is this media ownership and concentration leading to cultural imperialism? The situation of an healthy and fair democracy is when choice is given to all. In other words, is when media impacts on the market by offering a wide range of ideas, information and types of culture. It is well-known that radion, newspapers, television and, mor recently, internet form a part of everyday life that democracy finds and uses as a way of expression in general media circles. What if, however, this circle is altered by economic ownership, competition and profit? There may be some media etablishment preaching the diversity, but it would only be on a external look. The worry is that so many agencies are often held by one giant only: â€Å"Defenders of narrowing control of the media point, accurately enough, to the large numbers of media outlets available to the population: almost 1,700 daily papers, more than 8,000 weeklies, 10,000 radio and television stations, 11,000 magazines, 2,500 book publishers and more †¦Unfortunately, the large numbers deepen the problem of excessively concentrated control. If the number of outlets is growing and the number of owners declining, then each owner controls even more formidable communications power† (http://www.globalissues.org, 2007; Bagdikian, 2000: 222). In terms of â€Å"quality† of the information reported, the media concentration makes it totally subjective (through the eyes of a few men pulling strings). While concurrential competition can be a good aspect for news reporting and media in general to push for a better quality, the concentrated control of media companies (oligolpoly) and its very special competition has reduced media under cheap popular information through crude sensationalism rather than quality, detailed reporting etc. This type of competition clearly affects the journalisms ability to spread quality news and alters the gap of theorical and professional journalism. But those decisions are firstly made because society and people change. Readers and viewers care 5more about scandals, celebrities affairs and local news (check the emergence and success of tabloids and magazines like Hello, OK, Star, and the Sun, which are also basically owned by the same man: Rupert Murdoch). Therefore, according to Fair.org we bsite: â€Å"Newspaper editors and television news executives have reduced the space and time devoted to foreign news coverage by 80% to 60% during the past 15 to 20 years† (http://www.fair.org, 2009). In terms of political aspect, there is hardly any obvious or revealed strategy adopted by governments. Of course they need to stick the law and human rights on the top of the list, but if we have a closer look over media ownership and their relation to the politics, we can find mutual gainful links (such as censorship, subtle truth distortion etc.). Although for now, let us take the example of Berlusconi. In this case, Berlusconi, with the help of the media and their stinginess, efficiently controlled the government’s and populations mind. With his own media (and with the journalists he co-opted with money) he controlled the parliament, the public opinion 1and the state bureaucracy in order to change the realistic substance of his judiciary charges, which could lock him and his subordinates to jail. By controlling the media, controlling peoples minds, spreading opinions and influencing decisions has never been so simple! Concerning diversity and homogeneity of media content, it is known that media organizations try to cover all audiences and public. They cant afford to provide worldwide information and decline it to more than thousands culture. Thus they use â€Å"omnibus media.† Transporting everything for everybody. It, then, reduces the diversity of opinions and commentary for common purposes. To widely sum up: one idea for all, which then involves a sort of imperialism since no other choice is given. Furthermore, the fact that international and national news is passed on by only a few preponderant global news agencies, and that the national and local news is delivered by only one agency makes the journalistic sources of news coverage very limited in scope. However, there is no empirical or scientific evidence that editorial quality has declined under monopoly conditions according to Werner A. Meier and Joseph Trappel (2004: chapter 4). Most of the media companies listed above are American, thus talking about cultural imperialism consequently implies to especially focus on the American media supremacy. You can travel to the most reclusive village and you will be able to satisfy your craving for a Big Mac, entertain yourself by watching a Hollywood blockbuster in your comfy Nike shoes. â€Å"This proliferation of American products across the globe is more than mere accident. As a by product of globalization, it is part of a larger trend in the conscious dissemination of American attitudes and values that is often referred to as cultural imperialism† Galeota, 2007: 1). Also, if we take cinema production as an alternative example: a few years ago, the youth of the world had a choice between Chinas history review by way of Walt Disney’s Mulan, and the Old Testament recreated by Stephen Spielberg’s The Prince of Egypt – still coming from American media productions. Foreign history and legends painted with the American background colors! At the same time, foreign productions crossing the U.S. borders are also submitted to an â€Å"Americanization† on the scenario and screen production. TenkÃ…Â « no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the sky) is the 1986s animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. The Japenese version includes traditional and minimalist soundtracks by Joe Hisaishi. The european exported version includes the same sountrack and original dialogues with subtitles; while the American edition changes the music, dialogues and deletes scenes. After this incident, Ghibli Studios (Hayao Miyazaki production) refuses to export their films within the U.S. borders. But if America triumphs on screen in the vanguard, it must also triumph through the universal message of Hollywood – a message of individual voluntarism, easily transferable (and easily ingestible) to all peoples of the planet. Conclusion Here we tend to explain the origins and, through many sources of modern cultural imperialism, the composition of media ownership and concentration. After reading many articles, views, and claims about these different subjects, it was clear and obvious to realize their common interaction. The increasing globalization of media activities across the industry of media during the past ten years has made media ownership and concentration a fundamental socio-political, cultural and economical phenomenon. This media concentration clearly leads to a cultural imperialism interacting all over the world. Moreover, media concentration reduces the sources and information given to the reader/spectator. But on the other hand, we also have to consider another aspect of the problem: the basic psychological behaviour of our society. Historically a â€Å"leader† has always been at the forefront of society. Whether religious, monarchical, political or cultural the presence of leadership brought security and direction to the people (Montesquieu, 1748). Whether right or wrong, the views of the leader were adopted by the people often leading to cultural unrest and misguidance. The â€Å"safety needs† of the people, as Maslow claimed manifests itself in the choice and preference for leadership. In many ways the role of the leader has been adopted by the media giants who express their views to a widespread audience of followers. From the famous Thomas Hobbes (1660) claim â€Å"Man is a wolf for other men† (or commonly translated as â€Å"Dog eat Dog†), we became a society of â€Å"loup et moutons† (wolf and sheep). The population is now known for following ideas and opinions like sheep, and ingurgitates the information without questioning it (check the French INPI Campaign, 2001). Like a Sheppard herding sheep, the media giants (the Sheppard) can control and manipulate views of the people (the sheep) without the true facts being presented. So, whose fault is it if we talk about cultural imperialism? The media giants spreading the exact ideas and opinions without the foresight for a true and objective opinion or the people who blindly believe the opinions forced upon them? 2633 words Works Cited Barker, Martin, and Julian Petley. Ill effects: the media/violence debate. Vol. 2. Routledge, 2001. Print. Bourdieu, Pierre. Sur la Tà ©là ©vision. Dailymotion. 28 Nov. 2006. Web. 28 July 2009. Bourdieu, Cambridge 2005, The journalistic field, ed. Polity Car Ford Company. Advertisement. Pubstv.com. 2008. Web. 28 July 2009. . Fair.org. Interlocking Dictatorates. Fair. 2009. Web. 28 July 2009. . Galeota, Julia. Cultural Imperialism: An American Tradition. The Humanist. 2004. Web. 2009. . Meier, Werner A., and Joseph Trappel. Media Concentration and the Public Interest  . Media Policy, convergence, concentration and commerce. Euromedia research group ed. Denis Mc Quail and Karen Siune, 2004. Print. Miller, Mark Crispin. Mark Crispin Miller, January 7, 2002, What?s Wrong With This Picture?, The Nation. The Nation 7 Jan. 2002. Global Issues. Web. 28 July 2009. . Tenk? no shiro. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki. Ghibli studio, 2001. DVD. Tomlinson, John. Cultural Imperialism: a critical introduction. 2002. Print. Tylor, Edward B. Primitive culture: researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art and customs. H. Holt and Company, 1874. Print. Wesseling, H. L. History of Imperialism. The International Encyclopedia of the Social Behavioral Sciences Neil J. Smelser Paul B. Baltes (2004). Print. Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society. London: Chatto and Windus, 1958. Print. Robert Cecil C.M.G., M.A., 1971, Cultural Imperialism, ed. The Institute for Cultural Research Robert McChesney, 1999, Rich Media Poor Democracy, University of Illinois Press Ben H. Bagdikian, 2000, The Media Monopoly, Sixth Edition, ed. Beacon Press Montesquieu, 1748, De lesprit des lois Thomas Hobbes, 1660, Le là ©viathan Doyle Gilliam, London 2002, Media ownership: the economics and politics of convergence in the UK and European media, ed. Sage Ronald V. Bettig Jeanne Lynn Hall, 2003, Big Media, Big Money: cultural texts and political economics, published by Rowman Littlefield Publishers, INC. The Real Thing. The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta Ga. WXYZ-TV, Yourtown, AZ. 5 Dec. 2008 Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas Kellner, 2006, Media and cultural studies: keyworks, Published by Wiley-Blackwell 9/9

The Curse of Life in There Are No Children Here :: There are No Children Here Essays

There Are No Children Here – The Curse of Life  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To most living in the Henry Horner Homes, life often seems to be more of a curse than a gift. The people of this public housing project only experience the briefest moments of joy before the reality of their lives comes rushing back to them. This book chronicles the lives of two boys, Lafeyette, 10, and Pharoah, 7, from the summer of 1985 to the fall of 1989. Though the boys are young, author Alex Kotlowitz adeptly conveys that these children are not children at all. They have not been allowed to live the carefree lives that most of us living outside of the projects did. Instead, very early on they became aware of their hardships and had to learn to deal with them. In their short lives, they have been to more funerals than weddings and this has simultaneously crushed their spirits and hardened them. The environment in which these boys live is one of violence, drugs and poverty. Their housing is less than optimal, as the bathtub faucet cannot be shut off, the oven and kitchen sink are broken, and the plumbing is often out of order. Gang activity rules these Chicago housing projects. This book gives a keen insight to someone on the outside on how intense the violence there is. Bullets riddle through the night, and frequently into the apartments. Facing each new day with the fear that your life could be taken away in a second, by one of many acts of gang violence, leaves the residents feeling hopelessly insecure. Throughout the book, Lafeyette and Pharoah voice a strong desire to get out of the projects. However, a solution as to how this might be accomplished is never discussed. The family is dependent on welfare, so there is no extra money to be saved for alternative residence. For the time being, Lafeyette and Pharoah make a conscious decision to lay low and keep away form gangs and drugs so they do not become a part of the life that keeps them down. Lafeyette and Pharoah make insightful comments about how people get sucked into gang-life. They, like many other children and adults, are caught in the middle of despising gang activity, but still understanding the reasons people are involved in it. There are not many examples of tangible incentives to stay out, but to join means that you will have power, protection and money.

The Book of Genesis vs. the Epic of Gilgamesh

Two Different Books with Similar Stories The Book of Genesis and The Epic of Gilgamesh have many clear similarities. One major, noticeable similarity is that in both stories, there are flood legends. There is the legend of Noah and the Ark in The Book of Genesis and the story of Utnapishtim in The Epic of Gilgamesh. In both stories, a higher power wants to wipe out the human race and decides to save one person who is then assigned to build an ark to hold himself, his family, and one of each animal. There are also many specifics about this flood that the two stories have in common, not just the basis of the tale.For example, both stories tell of a long storm. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, it says: â€Å"Six days and seven nights the wind and storm† (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 127). In The Book of Genesis, it says: â€Å"rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights† (Gen. 7:12). In both cases, the story is specific about the number of days the storm lasted. Noah and Utnapishtim make sacrifices to their respective higher power– Noah to God and Utnapishtim to Enlil. In the story of Noah and the Ark, it says that he â€Å"†offered burnt offerings on the altar† (Gen. :20) which is a sacrifice to God. In the story of Utnapishtim, it says that he â€Å"offered a sacrifice† (Gilg. Tabl. XI, 155) by pouring a libation to Ea, which is a form of spiritual sacrifice. These stories do not exist for entertainment, they serve the purpose of teaching people lessons about humankind and God or the gods. These flood legends tell us about a couple of different religious beliefs of the ancient people, one being that people are instinctually bad. A higher power wanted to wipe out the human race in both legends because humans were doing wrong.If humans were good by nature, the higher powers would not have wanted to destroy them all. The stories of these floods also show flaws in the high powers. Usually the gods or God are considered to be perfect, bu t in this story we see that the higher powers do indeed make mistakes. They made the mistake of creating an earth populated by flawed people. This is important because it shows that not even God or gods can achieve perfection, and humans certainly cannot. Even though this still makes the gods better than humans, no one is perfect.These two stories are also very similar in their views of humans versus animals. In both stories, the higher power assigns a man to build this ark and lead a new world with his animals. This shows his authority over the animals. Since he and his family are intended to be the only humans after the flood kills everyone else, this makes the humans the leaders of the living beings. The stories send a clear message that humans are above animals and humans have power over all animals. This tells us that animals are not viewed as equals and certainly do not receive the same respect as humans in either culture.This explains why people eat meat, have pets, farm, or anything else humans do to control animals and establish a higher power over them. Although there are very major similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis, there are also many differences. One of the main differences is the attitudes about sex. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh sleeps with all of the women in the town that he rules. Also, after a successful journey with Enkidu, they reward themselves by having sex with prostitutes. Prostitutes are also seen as mystical and powerful.Even more different from the other story is that the gods in The Epic of Gilgamesh sleep with human beings. Sex is much more common and casual in this story. Also, because it is provided to the warriors as a reward for a successful journey, it makes sex almost a trophy. Overall, this tale makes sex out to be a spiritual, powerful, and pleasurable action. This is very different from The Book of Genesis. In The Book of Genesis, sex is not for pleasure. People are not supposed to h ave sex until marriage, and it is mainly for the purpose of procreation.This is very different from The Epic of Gilgamesh in which Gilgamesh sleeps with many women while unwed. The difference in sexual attitudes in the stories exemplifies how sex is viewed differently in different cultures. Some may see it as a form of pleasure, while others view it as a means for creating children. Another minor difference between the stories is the idea of immortality. In both stories, all humans are born mortal. Although Gilgamesh is 1/3 god and 2/3 human, he is still mortal because he can be killed. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim is given immortality by the gods before flooding out the human race.However, in The Book of Genesis, God does not give anyone the gift of immortality. This shows how the Christian culture believes that humans are far less powerful than God and they can never be anywhere near as strong and wise as Him. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, humans can be granted special powers by the gods, and Gilgamesh himself is part god. This puts far less emphasis on the division between humans and gods than The Book of Genesis. The obvious similarities between The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis tell us that the people of the world coming from different cultures still have many mutual beliefs.The similarities in the stories also show how important these stories are to people, since the beliefs are so widespread that multiple different variations of the stories have been written. It is clear that the people of the ancient world believed that the world was created by a higher power in a number of days, that a higher power created the human race, humans are very flawed, and many other mutual beliefs that can be found in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Book of Genesis.

Attributes of a Holistic Nurse Free Essay Example, 750 words

Holistic nursing stems from five main values that summarize the principles of the specialty. The HNs recognize intricate human health experiences, the dynamic associations of health, illness, and wellness. They appreciate healing as the desired outcome of the practice of nursing. Their practice has scientific foundations (theory, research, evidence-based practice, critical thinking, and reflection). To provide care, HNs recognize the entirety of the human being. The biopsychosocial aspects (physical, spiritual, functional, psychosocial, mental, emotional, cultural, and sexual aspects) are integral in the practice. The holistic process entails six steps occurring concurrently: assessment, diagnosis (pattern, problem and need recognition), expected outcomes, planning of care, implementation, and evaluation (Shives, 2012)These are diverse treatments and practices used together with regular medicine for the purpose of increasing comfort, restoring the health of the body, mind, spirit, an d increasing coping mechanisms. The treatments also reduce stress and improve the client s wellbeing. They include natural products, which are natural substances like herbal medicines, vitamins, minerals, probiotics in yogurts, and other natural products. Most are available over the counter as dietary supplements. Mind-body practices, which focus on the communication between the brain and body with the goal of using the mind to influence bodily performance and encourage health, are important. We will write a custom essay sample on Attributes of a Holistic Nurse or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page