Global Media Journal

Many minds in the U.S. government are working unusual overtime these days trying to figure out a seeming dilemma. How can the United States be doing so much for the world, yet continue to be so unpopular? How is it possible to welcome U.S. products, and yet hate the U.S. government?  There may be no easy answers yet, but any solution mix that emerges must include high dosage of cultural exchanges that genuinely reconnects Americans to the world. Not too long ago, American youths wanted to be like Mike. It’s hard to believe that this kind of admiration for all things America did not begin with the basketball star. Sometime ago, without much government urging and hype, youths all over the world wanted to be like JFK. Even down to the hairstyles. Read More>>>>>>>>

The Case of Al-Manar Television: During a social gathering among fellow Lebanese, a friend greeted the twenty-first century with the phrase “welcome to the age of globalization.” While it is common knowledge that globalization has always existed in many forms, what point was my fellow countryman making? Were we celebrating progress and development, or was it simply a cynical comment about globalization in the Middle East? Chan and Ma note that the globalization debate centers between two polar views: one considers the world economy as triumphant, the other regards it as Western imperialism.  Either way, it is a struggle for local cultures to assert their autonomy (Chan & Ma, 2002). Sinclair et al. present the tension that ensues in the globalization of media. This tension exists along the axis of homogenization and heteroginization between identities of local and external influences (Sinclair, Jack, & Cuningham, 1996). Read More>>>>>