Revista de comunicación de masas y periodismo

Globalisation and Media

Abstract

Vineet Kaul

Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready for it or not, the phenomenon of globalization is more actual than ever. Needless to say that there are different ways to approach this hot topic, different levels of debate, different points of view. What is certain is that globalization is intimately connected to sharing information, media (especially new media) often being regarded as the main vehicle for its rapid expansion. Without gainsaying, globalization has impacted tremendously on the media and this article discusses a critique of globalization theory from the viewpoint of media. First it highlights the overall importance of media for the core argument of globalization’s far pervading effects and then it argues that unhistorical treatment of globalization lacks a critical materialist analysis of new media sphere. With the expansion and extension, the debates of impacts, effects and influences of globalization inevitably divide the world into centers and peripheries. This paper addresses the assumed functions of media in the backdrop of economic, cultural, technological and new media spheres developed in the recent decades. The paper also highlights some of the challenges that media has to face in a globalised world. This all is in the context of the rise of neoliberalism that overlaps with the development of globalization theory.