New communication technologies and the opening up of global markets are
transforming the world's media and cultural industries. Colonising the
imagination of consumers worldwide, the virtual empires of the
electronic age have a profound effect on national media systems and
cultural sovereignty. This book centres on current debates on
globalization, the public sphere, and the potential of the Internet for
empowerment. Written by a group of internationally renowned scholars in
the field, it looks at the effects of large transnational media
corporations - from the US and Europe to Asia, the Middle East and
Australia - on national and regional media. Chapters include a
detailed and up-to-date analysis of the world's three largest media
corporations and an assessment of the implication for the 'majority
world' of the changing contours of global television news. Exploring the
question of whether media globalization is helping create a global
public sphere, the book also offers alternative regional and gender
based perspectives on globalization, as well as a strongly argued case
for the relevance of a reformulated thesis of media imperialism. Case
studies by media professionals and activists on the ground offer
examples of how the process of media globalization is being negotiated
and resisted.