Høgskolen i Oslo

IAICS, Louisville, 13-16 Nov 2008

GlobeReach - regional voices, global reach? Euronews, Channel News Asia

and Al Jazeera English

Dr. Robert Vaagan

Høgskolen i Oslo

Globalization vs. isolation

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

John Donne (1572-1631), from Devotions (1624)

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Early globalizers ?!

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Early globalizers?!

Photo: from the Ibn Battuta Mall, Dubai

Zheng He (1371–1433), led 7 voyages 1405-33 into the Indian Ocean and beyond

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), credited with the discovery of America in 1492

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Early globalizers?!

Pocahontas (1595-1617) aka Rebecca RolfeAmerica’s first celebrityBrought to England 1616Marketed as proof thatAmerica was safe for colonizersBuried in Gravesend, England

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Globalization in the Americas

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Globalization and the media

Globalization - the dominating theory of international communication Few dispute that global information and communication flows have long

been Western-dominated (cf. NWICO debate in the 1970-80s) The US has long been the largest global exporter of cultural products, and

its film industry dominates globally. The flood of US-originated material has triggered defensive responses, e.g. in France and the EU, who insist of minimum levels of locally produced content.

Some claim the benefits of globalization outweigh its drawbacks (Stiglitz, 2006); others see globalization as a largely U.S. led exploitation of a single, worldwide market in which new media are tools in an emerging surveillance society (Hirst & Harrison, 2007; Held & McGrew, 2007).

Others again question the very concept of globalization, arguing instead that globalization is a myth, and that national media systems remain untouched (Hafez, 2007).

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Globalization and the media

“In the electric age, when our central nervous system is technologically extended to involve us in the whole of mankind [..] the globe is no more than a village.” M. McLuhan (1964:5). Understanding Media. London: Routledge

“The overall process whereby the location of production, transmission and reception of media content ceases to be geographically fixed, partly as a result of technology, but also through international media structure and organization. Many cultural consequences are predicted to follow, especially the delocalizing of content and undermining of local cultures. These may be regarded as positive when local cultures are enriched by new impulses and creative hybridization occurs. More often they are viewed as negative because of threats to cultural identity, autonomy and integrity. The new media are widely thought to be accelerating the process of globalization” D. McQuail (2005:556-557). McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage

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GlobeReach - background

The 1991 Persian Gulf War launched CNN as the leading global TV news broadcaster, providing a continuous stream of news and setting the agenda for political leaders and ordinary citizens alike worldwide.

In response, several TV broadcasters, notably BBC World, Al Jazeera, EuroNews and Channel News Asia, plus several other national broadcasters (France 24, Russia Today, China’s CCTV) have intensified their efforts to provide English-language global or regional alternatives to CNN which many outside the US identify with American media hegemony (Allan, 2005; Thussu, 2006; McPhail, 2006).

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GlobeReach - research groupSenior researchers (2): Dr. Robert Vaagan (project leader) Dr. Bushra Rahman, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

PhD candidates (4): Murtada Ahmad, International Islamic University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Juntao He, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Na Yang, Communication University of China, Beijing Kamran Bagheri, Oslo University College

MA students (6-8): Frøydis Johannessen, Oslo University College Camilla Gangsaas Sogn, Oslo University College 4-6 NOMA students from Bangladesh and Nepal, University of Dhaka

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GlobeReach - main theme

Agenda setting roles of TV news channels Euronews (1993), Channel News Asia (1999), Al

Jazeera English (2006) All three channels responses to the ”CNN effect”

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GlobeReach - project design

Part 1: TV news production, esp. media policy, ownership and financing

Part 2: TV news content, incl. issues/events related to wars and conflicts, gender and religion

Part 3: TV news effects and audience reception

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GlobeReach - research questions

Overall linkage(s) between ownership, content and audiences, esp. the extent to which media policy, public/private ownership and commercial pressures (increased reliance on advertising revenue) are having a measurable impact on media content and , ultimately, on audiences

Many more specific research questions in parts 1,2 and 3

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GlobeReach - theory and methodology

Comparative media research (Hallin & Mancini 2005), media globalization (Thussu 2006; McPhail 2005; McQuail 2005; Vaagan 2008) and agenda setting (McCombs 2005)

Content analysis of selected TV news footage triangulated with interviews

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Thank you!

E-mail: Robert-Wallace.Vaagan@jbi.hio.no URL: http://home.hio.no/~robertv/