Page 194 - Critical Political Economy of the Media

Globalisation, transnationalisation, culture 173

liking for home-grown programming’ (Iosifides et al. 2005: 6). Audiences around
the world prefer to watch their own locally made programmes in their own
national language (Tunstall 2008). This preference for ‘cultural proximity’ is
an important corrective to ‘strong globalisation’ theories, although the pattern
varies. As Straubhaar (2002: 200) argues ‘National cultures vary in their appeal
to domestic audiences, although this tends to be a crucial local advantage.
National media’s ability to compete with foreign imports varies depending on
homogeneity and acceptance of local culture’. Cultural proximity also provides
another dimension of localisation. Producer behaviour ‘follows commercial
imperatives but will tend to follow the demands of the domestic market or
audience when resources allow’ (Straubhaar 2002: 200).

Flows, formats, production and labour

The importance of integrating political economic and cultural analysis is espe-
cially evident in tracing contemporary features of media globalisation, notably
the cultural and economic dimensions of formats and the internationalisation of
cultural labour. In fact, early academic formulations of cultural imperialism were
attentive to the diversity of such flows, even if these were conceived within a
restricted conception of interstate relations. In his ‘generic’ concept of media
imperialism Boyd-Barrett (1977: 120) identified transnational flows as taking four
main forms:

1 the shape of the communication vehicle
2 a set of industrial arrangements
3 a body of values
4 specific media contents.

Dissemination ranged from hardware and content to professional values as well
as domination of international news reporting by Western agencies. Later scholars
extended analysis of the range of cultural flows, encompassing language, religion,
education and travel (Sreberny-Mohammadi 1996), and acknowledging media
as only one part of broader cultural interconnectedness (Held et al. 1999). Above
all, multidirectionality came to be emphasised, and by the late 1990s at least was
confirmed by the growing media influence and ‘software’ exports of East Asia
(Japan, South Korea), Latin America (especially Brazil and Mexico), Australia,
India and China (Tunstall 2008).
The transnationalisation of media production has long been a focus for CPE
scholars but more recent work has brought renewed attention to labour. The
spatial mobility of capital has been enhanced, weakening state power and
weakening the power of organised labour. Capital has shifted from regarding
developing countries as suppliers of raw materials to treating them as setting the
price of labour. Developing countries, regions and ‘free trade zones’ within states
compete to attract capital investment. Shifts in bargaining and power relations