SAMENVATTING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
JULIE DE COCK
2018-2019
Verantwoordelijke professor: Prof. Leo Van Audenhove
,1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 INTRODUCTION VIDEOS .............................................................................................................. 5
1.1.1 TED Talk............................................................................................................................ 5
1.1.2 How China is changing your internet ............................................................................... 5
1.1.3 How China is changing Hollywood ................................................................................... 6
1.2 WHAT IS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION? ................................................................................ 6
1.2.1 Different closely related concepts .................................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Global communication ..................................................................................................... 6
1.2.3 Intercultural communication ............................................................................................ 7
1.2.4 Flows and stories .............................................................................................................. 7
1.2.5 Why study global communication? .................................................................................. 7
1.3 MODERNIZATION: HOW IS DEVELOPMENT CONCEIVED? ................................................................... 8
1.4 DC PARADIGMS ........................................................................................................................ 8
2. MODERNIZATION .................................................................................................................. 9
2.1 HISTORICAL CONTEXT................................................................................................................. 9
2.2 HOW IS DEVELOPMENT CONCEIVED? .......................................................................................... 10
2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL/BEHAVIORIST APPROACH (LERNER) ..................................................................... 11
2.4 INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH (SCHRAMM) ...................................................................................... 11
2.5 TECHNOLOGICALLY DETERMINIST APPROACH ................................................................................ 12
2.6 MODERNIZATION: ROLE OF COMMUNICATION.............................................................................. 12
2.6.1 Policy orientation ........................................................................................................... 14
2.7 MODERNIZATION: CRITIQUES .................................................................................................... 15
3. DEPENDENCY ....................................................................................................................... 15
3.1 HISTORICAL CONTEXT............................................................................................................... 15
3.2 HOW IS DEVELOPMENT CONCEIVED? .......................................................................................... 16
3.3 POLICY ORIENTATION ............................................................................................................... 17
3.4 ROLE OF COMMUNICATION ....................................................................................................... 18
3.4.1 Institutional aspects of media imperialism .................................................................... 18
3.4.2 Cultural effects of transnational media products ........................................................... 20
3.4.3 Impact of media imperialism on news flows .................................................................. 21
3.5 CRITIQUES ............................................................................................................................. 22
4. GUEST LECTURE: FLOWS THEORIES (CATALINA IORDACHE) .................................................. 23
4.1 FLOWS .................................................................................................................................. 23
4.2 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMMUNICATION.................................................................................. 23
4.2.1 Global context ................................................................................................................ 23
4.2.2 Political economy ........................................................................................................... 24
4.2.3 Culture and Media imperialism ...................................................................................... 24
4.2.4 Global news .................................................................................................................... 25
4.2.5 Global advertising .......................................................................................................... 25
4.2.6 Global entertainment ..................................................................................................... 25
4.2.7 Culture & media imperialism .......................................................................................... 26
4.2.8 Criticism .......................................................................................................................... 26
4.2.9 Counterflows .................................................................................................................. 26
4.3 CULTURAL STUDIES .................................................................................................................. 26
4.3.1 Cultural proximity ........................................................................................................... 27
4.3.2 Cultural studies............................................................................................................... 27
4.4 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................... 28
4.5 THE AGE OF NETFLIX ................................................................................................................ 29
4.5.1 Online delivery ................................................................................................................ 29
4.5.2 Continuity vs change ...................................................................................................... 29
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, 4.5.3 Online transnational flows ............................................................................................. 30
5. MULTIPLICITY PARADIGM .................................................................................................... 31
5.1 HISTORICAL CONTEXT............................................................................................................... 31
5.2 HOW IS DEVELOPMENT CONCEIVED? .......................................................................................... 31
5.3 TWO TYPES OF PARTICIPATION................................................................................................... 32
5.4 ROLE OF COMMUNICATION ....................................................................................................... 32
5.5 POLICY ORIENTATION ............................................................................................................... 33
5.6 CRITIQUES ............................................................................................................................. 34
5.7 CURRENT RELEVANCE ............................................................................................................... 35
5.8 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 35
6. ICT4D (GUEST LECTURE) ....................................................................................................... 35
6.1 WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT? ......................................................................................................... 35
6.2 THE POTENTIAL AND PROBLEMS ................................................................................................. 36
6.2.1 Bridging digital divide? ................................................................................................... 36
6.3 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT............................................................................................................ 37
6.4 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS ........................................................................................... 38
6.5 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................... 40
7. 4 FALLACIES ......................................................................................................................... 40
7.1 INFORMATION SOCIETY DISCOURSE ............................................................................................ 40
7.2 DISCOURSE OF IS IN SOUTH ...................................................................................................... 40
7.3 A WORLD THAT COUNTS ........................................................................................................... 41
7.4 FOUR FALLACIES OF INFORMATION SOCIETY ................................................................................. 41
7.4.1 Information is available.................................................................................................. 41
7.4.2 Information is free .......................................................................................................... 42
7.4.3 Knowledge is social change ............................................................................................ 43
7.4.4 Information is knowledge ............................................................................................... 43
8. RESEARCH PROJECTS............................................................................................................ 43
8.1 EXPLORING THE ACCESS, USAGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF ICT OF WOMEN IN MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES IN
SOUTH AFRICA (CARLYNN POKPAS) ......................................................................................................... 43
8.1.1 Background and context ................................................................................................ 43
8.1.2 Problem statement ......................................................................................................... 44
8.1.3 Research ......................................................................................................................... 44
8.1.4 Results ............................................................................................................................ 46
8.2 COMMUNICATING FOR DEVELOPMENT USING SOCIAL MEDIA: CASE STUDY OF E-INCLUSION INTERMEDIARIES
IN UNDER-RESOURCES COMMUNITIES ...................................................................................................... 48
8.2.1 Purpose of study ............................................................................................................. 49
8.2.2 Background and context ................................................................................................ 49
8.2.3 E-inclusion intermediaries .............................................................................................. 49
8.2.4 Problem statement ......................................................................................................... 50
8.2.5 Research question .......................................................................................................... 50
8.2.6 Research ......................................................................................................................... 50
8.2.6.1 Use of theory .......................................................................................................................................50
8.2.6.2 Research approach ..............................................................................................................................51
8.2.7 Interpretation of findings: e-IIs and community development ....................................... 51
8.2.7.1 Theme 1 -E-IIs are changing their e-inclusion approach .....................................................................51
8.2.7.2 Theme 2 -E-IIs are moving beyond physical ICT access .......................................................................52
8.2.7.3 Theme 3 -Community participation in e-IIs’ community development interventions ........................52
8.2.7.4 Theme 4 -E-IIs building relationships for community development ...................................................52
8.2.8 Interpretation of findings: e-IIs and community development ....................................... 52
8.2.8.1 Theme 1 –Communicating for development.......................................................................................53
8.2.8.2 Theme 2 -Communicating for development using social media .........................................................53
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, 8.2.8.3 Theme 3 -Reasons for using social media to communicate for development ....................................55
8.2.8.4 Theme 4 -Understanding community members sought social media gratifications ...........................55
8.2.9 Recommendations and conclusions ............................................................................... 55
8.2.10 ICT4D: Living Labs ...................................................................................................... 56
9. TV FORMATS & TRANSNATIONALIZATION OF TELEVISION ................................................... 57
9.1 DEFINING TV FORMATS ............................................................................................................ 57
9.1.1 What is a TV format? ..................................................................................................... 57
9.1.2 Format studies................................................................................................................ 57
9.1.3 Format as production method........................................................................................ 58
9.1.4 Producing a TV format ................................................................................................... 58
9.2 TV FORMAT TRADE .................................................................................................................. 58
9.2.1 History ............................................................................................................................ 58
9.2.2 Non-scripted format origin 2004-2016........................................................................... 59
9.2.3 Scripted formats ............................................................................................................. 60
9.2.3.1 Betty goes global .................................................................................................................................60
9.3 FORMAT ADAPTATIONS ............................................................................................................ 61
9.3.1 Format adaptation/localization ..................................................................................... 61
9.3.2 Cultural proximity ........................................................................................................... 61
9.3.3 Limits of localization....................................................................................................... 61
9.4 FORMAT PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION CONGLOMERATES .......................................................... 61
9.4.1 Transnational (format) production model...................................................................... 61
9.4.2 Cross-border mergers and acquisitions .......................................................................... 62
9.4.3 Transnational network structures .................................................................................. 62
9.4.4 Studying TV (format) production .................................................................................... 63
9.5 FORMATS & GLOBALISATION THEORIES ....................................................................................... 63
10. INTERNATIONAL NEWS ........................................................................................................ 64
10.1 NEWS AGENCIES ..................................................................................................................... 64
10.1.1 History ........................................................................................................................ 65
10.1.2 Comparing news agencies ......................................................................................... 67
10.2 POLITICAL NEUTRALITY ............................................................................................................. 67
10.3 THEORETICAL DEBATES ............................................................................................................. 67
10.4 GLOBAL TV NEWS ................................................................................................................... 68
10.4.1 Global TV news in Europe .......................................................................................... 69
10.4.2 Three phases in 24-hour news television ................................................................... 69
10.4.2.1 Phase 1: coming of age ........................................................................................................................69
10.4.2.2 Phase 2: race for transnational reach..................................................................................................70
10.4.2.3 Phase 3: regionalization and competitiveness ....................................................................................70
10.4.3 Global and local television channels .......................................................................... 70
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,1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction videos
1.1.1 TED Talk
- Shallow news is cheaper (entertainment news)
Ø Needs less resources (eg. International correspondents)
- Where do we get international news now?
Ø News agencies (copy paste) (eg. Reuters)
- Interest for foreign news is growing
Ø Gap demand & supply
Contradiction: globalized world but more local news
Ø News theory: proximity (closeness), sensationalism, conflict, ...
- US News coverage (Feb 2007)
Ø 79% focus on US news
Ø 21% Irak
Ø 1% Russia, China, India
Ø Focus on local news or news that is of direct economic or political influence
Ø Top Story – Death Anne Nicole Smith
Ø Reasons
Foreign Bureaus Closed
Foreign news rewrites of AP and Reuters
Ø Global communication
Localization of news in globalizing times
Role of geo-political proximity
1.1.2 How China is changing your internet
- China is now lead example for ‘superapps’
Ø Western companies try to recreate this
- We look at world from Western POV
Ø China: different developmental path
No Western players in market
‘Alternative’ services
Now becoming player in other markets (Asia, Africa, Europe)
Some apps more advanced than in West
Government-controlled data
Ø West: almost no control over eg. American companies in Europe
Chinese companies are now internationalizing themselves
- Global communication
Ø Learning from other countries
Ø Cross-influences over borders
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,1.1.3 How China is changing Hollywood
- American content is actually not that American
Ø They have been adapting content for a very long time
Denationalization of content (= Minimizing local aspects of content to
appeal to international markets)
- Making content in such way that it appeals to an as large as possible audience
- Localization
Ø Adaptation of global content to appeal to a specific cultural group
Ø Often remakes or local adaptation of global formats/productions
Ø Eg. “The Bridge”, Big Brother, The Voice, ... ‘s got talent, ...
1.2 What is international communication?
1.2.1 Different closely related concepts
- International refers to processes that occur among states, like in international relations
- Critique on taking nation state as defining element
Ø States are becoming less important: globalization - liberalization
Eg. (Illegal) downloading/streaming of audiovisual content
Ø International and supra-national organizations: policy level
Ø Media technologies are global in scope: Internet global network
Ø Diaspora communities: transnational media
People moving borders, taking media with them
- Eg. Satellite dishes (international channels)
Lesser role of borders
- State still important defining element
Ø Eg. Geo-blocking, Brexit (UK/US protectionist tendencies),
economic/geographic (borders), ...
Ø Internet controls and censorship increases worldwide (for all types of
reasons)
- Definition
Ø Information flow of values, norms, culture and information between and the
effects of individuals, groups, states and regions
1.2.2 Global communication
- More fashionable term, but somewhat misleading
- Connotation of one-world community
Ø World still highly uneven place, both within and between
Ø Most communication is local
Audiences prefer local content
News mainly local
Social media global in scope but local in use
- Local variations (Weibo, Telegraph, Threema)
Ø Glocal communication: mix between global and local
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,- ‘Communication can be seen as an agent of globalizing processes in economic, political
and social-cultural fields that interconnect large numbers of people across the globe.’
Ø Does not automatically mean tendency to homogenization (global village)
Ø = Driving force of a lot of other processes
1.2.3 Intercultural communication
- Focus on communication in different cultural contexts
- Focus on the individual skills—verbal and non-verbal—to communicate
- Strong focus on language/culture/interpretation
- Less on technical medium transporting communication
- Not part of this course
1.2.4 Flows and stories
- Flows = motion
Ø Castells: ‘society is constructed around flows’
Ø Information, goods, money flow across borders
Ø Multi-directionality of movement (Hamelink)
Linear, circular, top-down, bottom up, engineered and spontaneous
BUT flows highly uneven, inclusion/exclusion
- Stories
Ø Learn and create meaning from stories
Ø Stories move over borders
BUT no global media stories (coca cola)
BUT no global media counter-stories
Ø Flow of ideas, opinions, observations, knowledge, information, data, sounds,
images
1.2.5 Why study global communication?
- Global communication is the grease of globalization
Ø Starting with colonization (and even before)
Ø Economic, political, cultural cross-border processes supported by
communication
Often supported by technological change
Writing (stone-papyrus), printing press, telegraph, phone, radio,
satellite, etc.
Ø Communication
Flows of people supported by communication (tourism, migration)
Flows of goods and services
Flows of meaning (how we see other cultures) –how it is distorted
Military interventions
- Studying global communication
Ø Understanding these processes
Ø Appreciating global developments and different cultures
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, 1.3 Modernization: how is development conceived?
- Disney cartoon: post war
Ø Colonization
Ø Technology
Pen: Goofy doesn’t know how to use it
Ø Identification from outsider to insider
Ø Why used?
Atmosphere of ‘50 when people start to create theories about
international communication
- What is development communication (DC)?
Ø Communication strategies aimed at transforming and improving existing
situations
Ø Eg. Alleviating poverty, reducing child mortality, promoting universal access
to education, changing agricultural practices, ...
- Why study development communication?
Ø Central in debate on international communication
Ø International structures have impact on all countries
Ø International communication is aimed at change, so is development
communication
- Definition of development communication (DC)?
Ø DC is the field of study that examines the relation between development and
communication:
Almost all authors agree that there is a relationship, but there is
disagreement on the nature of this relationship
Questions asked: how are both processes related to each other? Does
communication influence development? Or vice versa? How does the
influence work?
Ø Very difficult to formulate an unambiguous definition, because of evolving
interpretation of
Development
Communication
Causes and solutions for development problems
1.4 DC paradigms
- Theories, ... on DC can be frames within DC paradigms
Ø Modernization (i.e. diffusion)
Ø Dependency (i.e. imperialism)
Ø Multiplicity or another development (i.e. participation)
Ø Information society & ICT4D
- Paradigms developed constantly from 1950s onwards (see slide!)
Ø Period after WW2 (decolonization)
Ø Cold war, communism, ...
Ø Globalization
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