THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

The rapid expansion of media corporations into global markets over the past

25 years has generated many concerns among critics and observers. The me-

4. THE ECONOMICS OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

dia’s importance lies in the critical roles they play in government and civil society, their long-term effects on culture and society and, in the era of the knowledge economy, their role as an engine of economic development.

One of the primary concerns about media globalization is that it may al- low a handful of corporations to control much of the news and information available to people around the world. Critics fear that global media consoli- dation will reduce the quality, diversity, and independence of the content audiences receive. For example, with fewer competitors, there would be less likelihood that a story damaging to the parent company’s interests would make its way to the public. This becomes increasingly important as media companies consolidate into corporate conglomerates with major holdings in nonmedia industries. NBC, for example, is owned by General Electric, a major U.S. defense contractor. Media corporations’ market power and their worldwide dominance of information creation and distribution also poten- tially could give them tremendous influence with governments.

Critics of global media also fear the loss of local media. Media consolida- tion has encouraged companies to capture economies of scale by programming on the national and international level. U.S. film studios, for example, consider a project’s global appeal before greenlighting it. U.S. television station groups negotiate syndicated programming deals for all their markets, paying more attention to the savings gained through multiple-market buys than to the programming needs of specific local audiences. Television and radio duopolies in local markets have encouraged the elimination of some local news operations.

Another issue is the homogenization of culture. Research has demon- strated that media have long-term effects on society, influencing such things as values, language, and behavior. As media companies generate content for global audiences, there is concern that cultures will become increasingly homogenized and indigenous cultural values will be lost. Partic- ularly vulnerable to the cultural influences of global media would be members of ethnic or language groups that are comparatively small in size. Because of the economics of media production, such groups would be more likely to import the majority of the media content that reaches them as op- posed to producing media for themselves.

The potential economic implications of media globalization are equally important. The media industry is, itself, a major economic force in developed countries. It generates jobs, taxes, and export revenues. Global media companies command tremendous market power and have the potential to undermine local media industries as they move into smaller foreign markets. Major media enterprises are accused of “dumping” content into foreign markets in an effort to drive out domestic competitors through price wars. Less developed countries fear the destruction of their domestic com- mercial content industries, which would make them more dependent on

HOLLIFIELD

foreign producers for media. Such a situation would have both economic and cultural implications.

The knowledge economy is another critical factor in the debate. In a world economy driven by innovation, rapid access to information is a necessary condition for full participation. Media corporations, however, are in- terested only in those markets where consumers are sufficiently affluent to pay for content. Consequently, there have been few efforts by the major world media corporations to invest in Africa and other economically struggling regions. There also is at least some evidence that efforts to tighten the enforcement of international copyright laws in developing nations are re- lated to reductions in local production of education and scientific materials (Hollifield, Vlad, & Becker, 2003). Critics charge that media corporations’ market-driven investment and copyright enforcement strategies harden the gap between the world’s information rich and information poor, mak- ing it increasingly difficult for struggling nations to progress economically.

Not all of the implications of global media are negative. Just as access to information is necessary for economic participation, so is it necessary for the operation of democratic political systems. Technologies such as satel- lites, faxes and the Internet have made it harder for authoritarian governments to control information, helping to empower individuals and groups in many nations.

Global media also are credited with helping to spread values such as equality for women and minorities, freedom of speech and democracy, and tolerance for diversity (Demers, 1999). They are seen by some as an integra- tive force, helping to bring world communities together, providing more information about the world than small, local media companies can afford to produce, and countering the often nationalistic messages of local media.

Even in developed countries, technological developments, the changing political economy, and the global spread of media have meant that the range and variety of information now available to people is exponentially greater than it was 25 years ago. Consequently, even as some critics fear the potential for global control of information by a handful of major corporations, others counter that the same technological and political forces that fa- cilitated worldwide media expansion also have made more content available to audiences from more sources than at any time in world history.

THE SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA