The innovative and rapid growth of communication satellites and computer mediated technologies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, combined with the deregulation of national broadcasting, led many media commentators to assume that the age of national media had been lost. But what has become clear is that, whilst there has been a limited growth in global media, there has been an emergence of a strong localised television and communications industry. Mapping the world media market, and using examples of programming from countries as diverse as Thailand, Hong Kong, Brazil, Taiwan, Spain and Britain, this volume explores theories of media globalization, examines the local culture of television programming and analyses the blurring of distinctions between the global and the local.

The rise of postmodern theories and pluralist thinking has paved the way for multicultural approaches to communication studies and now is the time for decentralization, de-Westernization, and differentiation. This trend is reflected in the increasing number of communication journals with a national or regional focus. Alongside this proliferation of research output from outside of the mainstream West, there is a growing discontent with communication theories being "Westerncentric". Compared with earlier works that questioned the need to distinguish between the Western and the non-Western, and to build "Asian" communication theories, there seems to be greater assertiveness and determination in searching for and developing theoretical frameworks and paradigms that take consideration of, and therefore are more relevant to, the cultural context in which research is accomplished. This path-breaking book moves beyond critiquing "Westerncentrism" in media and communication studies by examining where Eurocentrism has come from, how is it reflected in the study of media and communication, what the barriers and solutions to de-centralizing the production of theories are, and what is called for in order to establish Asian communication theories.

The rise of postmodern theories and pluralist thinking has paved the way for multicultural approaches to communication studies and now is the time for decentralization, de-Westernization, and differentiation. This trend is reflected in the increasing number of communication journals with a national or regional focus. Alongside this proliferation of research output from outside of the mainstream West, there is a growing discontent with communication theories being "Westerncentric." Compared with earlier works that questioned the need to distinguish between the Western and the non-Western, and to build "Asian" communication theories, there seems to be greater assertiveness and determination in searching for and developing theoretical frameworks and paradigms that take consideration of, and therefore are more relevant to, the cultural context in which research is accomplished. This path-breaking book moves beyond critiquing "Westerncentrism" in media and communication studies by examining where Eurocentrism has come from, how is it reflected in the study of media and communication, what the barriers and solutions to de-centralizing the production of theories are, and what is called for in order to establish Asian communication theories.

The innovative and rapid growth of communication satellites and computer mediated technologies in the late 1980s and early 1990s, combined with the deregulation of national broadcasting, led many media commentators to assume that the age of national media had been lost. But what has become clear is that, whilst there has been a limited growth in global media, there has been an emergence of a strong localised television and communications industry.
Mapping the world media market, and using examples of programming from countries as diverse as Thailand, Hong Kong, Brazil, Taiwan, Spain and Britain, this volume explores theories of media globalization, examines the local culture of television programming and analyses the blurring of distinctions between the global and the local.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203361180

Despite heated debate on the nature of changes brought by the widespread use of information and information technologies, few dispute their growing importance in economy and trade. More often than not, it is the benefit that they promised to bring that attracts policymakers' attention. For developed nations, information technology is is regarded as essential in ensuring growth and superiority over other nations, while, for developing nations, they bring new hopes for leapfrogging in economic development and repositioning in the international trade market and power structure. The opportunities are undoubtedly rare and highly attractive, but the accompanying challenges are also phenomenal: to achieve growth as the major source of economic income changes from producing consumer goods to information products. To Third World nations, there is the added challenge of accelerating development by acquiring and effectively using information and technology resources mostly developed elsewhere. This book examines the significance of informatization and the changes that are taking place in Asian nations. Studying nine Third World countries, it focuses on the way their governments are responding to the information technology challenge and how the structures of the workforce and communication systems are changing because of technology.