International Communication
Concepts
(Based on Alleyne, Mark DaCosta 2009 and Volkmer, Ingrid 2009, Encyclopedia of
Communication Theories, London, Sage)
Mario Antonius Birowo
Komunikasi Internasional
• International?
– Apa artinya?
• Komunikasi?
– Apa artinya?
• Komunikasi Internasional?
International communication is the
name given to a field of inquiry that
includes the study of various forms
of interaction globally, including
global communication via mass
media, cross-cultural
communication, and
telecommunications policy.
To understand global communicative relationships,
international communication place varying degrees
of emphasis on three elements:
1. actors
2. technology
3. modes of production
Actors
• The international is an arena dominated by
states that are the primary sources of agency.
• Therefore, theories of international
communication in these paradigms are
essentially theories of how states interact with
each other  The states are the only actors with
the legitimacy to create the domestic and
international laws that control the behavior of
these other actors.
Technology
• The revolution in communication
technology of the late 19th and the 20th
centuries is the single most powerful factor.
• It focuses on the quest to understand the
impact of new communication
technologies on international relations (i.e:
internet).
Modes of Production
• The economic systems that produce goods and
services, provide employment, configure trading
relationships, and produce patterns of wealth
creation and investment have been the third
major element in international communication
theory building.
• International communication reflects economic
relationships, for example, the tendency of news
flows to mirror patterns of global trade.
• The first theory of “international
communication” was developed in the late
1950s. This approach aimed to utilize
communication for the modernization of
developing countries.
• Daniel Lerner  development
communication.
– The use of media as drivers of the
transformation of “traditional” societies,
meaning developing countries.
– Lerner's 1958 “The Passing of Traditional
Society”  modernization processes in
various Middle East countries, such as
Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria
• The early satellite age: Intelsat (1960) 
moon landing of Apollo 11 in 1969
• The second phase of satellite
communication throughout the 1980s and
1990s  CNN, MTV
Five Paradigms
• theories of internationalism,
• the Marxist paradigm of international
communication,
• theories of representation,
• reception theories,
• theories of identity.
Theories of Internationalism
• Technologically deterministic
– the more interconnected the international
system becomes via the new technologies,
the more democratic and peaceful the world
will be
• Theories of internationalism popular early
in the 20th century
– Race differences
– Modernization
The Marxist Paradigm of
International Communication
•
•
•
•
The modes of economic production
Class struggle
1960s
Dependency and the power imbalance 
between core and periphery countries
• International mass communication was
dominated by transnational capitalist
interests, especially corporations.
Theories of Representation
• Theories of representation are interpretive
schemes that provide tools for
understanding tendencies in international
communication, especially unequal
international communication relationships.
• There is a constant struggle to maintain
dominant ideologies
Theories of Reception
• Theories of reception argue that
international media flows are unequal
• To explain the phenomenal popularity of
American audiovisual productions around
the world U.S. movies and television
shows are transparent texts because they
can be easily decoded by people from
different cultures.
• NWICO (the United Nations for a New
World Information and Communication
Order )
Theories of Identity
• It does not necessarily assume the
primacy of nation-states
– element of actors
• The era of networks
Globalization
• Silk Road
• Printing press