COURSE SYLLABUS
University of Zululand
Faculty of Arts
Department of Communication Science
ACOM 311: Communication Science 3
Instructor: Mr. Thabo Mokgosi
Office: A2-44 (Academic Block)
Phone: 035-902-6033
Office Hours: By appointment
E-mail: mokgosi.thabo@gmail.com
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course will examine a broad range of issues and debates presently
taking place in international communication. The initial part of the course
will focus on historical background and theoretical frameworks which can
provide us with contextual as well as analytical foundations to critically
approach topics on international communication. The course will then
explore various subjects reflecting cultural, socioeconomic, and political
dynamics that have created the complex nature of human communication
in a global dimension.
COURSE OBJECTIVES

The course mainly intends to help you to achieve three goals:

To explore global aspects of human experience.

To deepen your understanding of human communication by
appreciating critical, yet nuanced frameworks.

To develop your own insights by ruminating “the way it might be” as
opposed to “the way it is” in terms of both past and current
international communication.
1
REQUIRED READINGS
Daya Kishan Thussu (2006). International Communication: Continuity
and Change (2nd ). New York: Hodder Arnold.
ADDITIONAL READING
McQuail, D. (2010) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. (6th ed) SAGE
Publication, London
ASSESSMENT
TEST No: 1
: 15%
TEST No: 2
: 15%
QUIZZ
: 10%
ASSIGNMENT
: 10%
EXAM
: 50
GROUND RULES
ATTENDANCE is compulsory. Any student not attending a class should
provide a medical certificate or a written justification (signed by a parent or
guardian). Should a student fail to do so, he / she will be considered truant.
If a student’s attendance for a given subject is lower than 80%, he / she will
AUTOMATICALLY FAIL.
PUNCTUALITY is equally important. The lecturer is entitled to refuse entry
into the lecturer theatre to any student coming late for lectures.
QUIZZ will be given at any time without prior notification. The purpose is to
examine your fulfilment of reading assignments and your grasp of class
discussion. Missed quizzes cannot be made up. NB: THERE IS NO SHORT
CUT TO SUCCESS
2
...........................................................................................................................................
COURSE OUTLINE
...........................................................................................................................................
This is an outline of the topics you will cover for this subject.
..........................................................................................................................................
1. The Historical Context of International Communication
2. Theorizing International Communication
3. Global Communication Infrastructure
4. Global Media Commodities and Journalism
5. Cultural Globalization and Identity
6. Contraflow in Global Media
7. International Communication in the Internet age
..........................................................................................................................................
ONLINE MATERIAL
1. Madikiza, L. & Bornman, E. (2007): International communication:
shifting paradigms, theories and foci of interest, Communicatio, 33:2,
11-44
(http://courses.essex.ac.uk/gv/gv905/W2%20Readings/
madikiza_bornman_intl_comm_theories.pdf)
1. Political
Communication
Systems
and
Democratic
Values,”
(www.csub.edu/ ~mault/political %20communication%20sys.pdf)
2. The
News
Paradigm
and
the
Ideology
of
Objectivity
(http://journalism.utexas.Ed/sites/journalism.utexas.edu/files/attac
hments/reese/news-para digm-add.pdf)
3. Thomas, A. O., Global media, globalised cultures: Contingency or
coincidence?, Asia Pacific Media Educator, 9, 2000, 6-26. Available
at: (http://ro.uow.edu.au/apme/vol1/iss9/2)
3
QUESTION 1
1.1 Why are the mass media ‘object and agent’ of the globalising process?(4)
1.2 The brakes in the globalization process have been ‘cultural’ according to
McQuail. Why is that?
(6)
1.3 Why are ‘one-off’ media more often subject to international ownership
than ‘cash-flow’ media?
(6)
1.4 Has the expansion of old and the rise of new media helped to reduce
media dependency?
(4)
(MARKS 20)
QUESTION 2
2.1
After the Second World War there was a very ‘ethnocentric’ way of
looking at international communication according to McQuail. What
does he mean by that?
2.2
(5)
What is the difference between the old international propaganda and
the new ‘media imperialism’?
2.3
(8)
What is meant by cultural imperialism and what are the main
arguments of the criticizers? And what are the alternative views on
cultural imperialism?
(12)
(MARKS 25)
QUESTION 3
3.1
What is the difference between the dependency and the free-flow
paradigms?
3.2
(10)
What is meant by the bias in international news, why is it there, and is
the critique on this bias justified?
3.3
(10)
Although nationally produced TV-content is the most popular in
almost every country, foreign (mostly American) material is the most
visible. Why is that?
3.4
(5)
Explain why MTV Europe is mentioned as an example of the
limitations of globalization.
(5)
4
3.5
According to McQuail national identity is more questionable than
cultural identity and the notion of European identity is even more
suspect. Why is that?
(5)
(MARKS 35)
REFERENCE
McQuail, D. (2010) McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. (6th ed) SAGE
Publication, London
5
STUDY GUIDE
ACOM 311: COMMUNICATION SCIENCE 3
INTRODUCTION
In an age of satellite telephones, global CNN and the possibility of wireless
Internet connection almost anywhere, it is hard to imagine that there exists
a spot on earth that has not been touched by global communication
(Stevenson 1992). However, global communication in the current world
order is an amorphous and vast phenomenon with a tumultuous history,
and manifold and far-reaching effects on macro, meso and micro levels
(Mowlana 1996; Tehranian n.d.; Thussu 2000).
Thussu
(2000:
1)
defines
international
communication
simply
as
communication that occurs across international borders. According to the
Massachusetts Institute’s Center for International Studies (MIT center),
words, acts or attitudes can be defined as international communication
whenever they impinge – intentionally or unintentionally – upon the minds
of private individuals, officials or groups from other countries (in Mowlana
1996: 9).
These
definitions
not
only
broaden
the
scope
of
international
communication beyond the ambit of inter-statal and inter-governmental
communication, but also deviate from a mere technological focus by
acknowledging the human and social dimensions of global communication
within a complex process of manifold interchanges by means of signs and
symbols. International communication is depicted as an extremely broad
field involving social conditions, attitudes and institutions that have an
effect
on
the
production
and/or
communication among people.
6
reception
of
various
forms
of
Thus, international communication as a field of study recognises not only
the media and technologies through which impulses pass, but also the
attitudes and social circumstances of the sources, the predisposition of
receivers, as well as the effects and impact of the contents.
7
CHAPTER ONE
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the historical
development
of communication,
starting
from
the clay
tablets of
Mesopotamia, paper from China, and printing press in Germany, to the
19th-century electric telegraph and the establishment of news agencies, and
to the expansion of mass media, especially, radio and TV. Specifically, the
roles of communication have been explicated in the making of colonial
empires and the spreading of capitalism illustrated by the rise of Reuters in
the parallel growth of the British Empire.
Thussu also discusses in detail the regular propaganda in international
communication during the Cold War, which took place between the two
camps of the US-led NATO countries and the Soviet-controlled Warsaw
members, as they debated the ideological confrontation of organizing the
society inspired by Marxism-Leninism or free market democracy.
This basic disagreement spilled over into other areas: the rhetoric of a free
flow of information and the argument that the information system was used
as a channel for western style modernization. Another debate that is
elaborated in this chapter concerns the relationship between international
communication and development.
While the Southern countries considered the existing information system
as creating a model of dependence which negatively affected the polity,
economy, and society of the developing countries and demanded a New
World Information and Communication Order, the West led by the USA
resisted it by arguing that the proposed new order was in conflict with the
fundamental Western values and the principle of the free flow of
information.
8
QUESTION
Discuss the role of international communication in the cold war
propaganda
9
CHAPTER TWO
APPROACHES TO THEORIZING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
This chapter carefully examines some of the most influential and competing
theories that provide theoretical frameworks for approaching the subject of
international communication, and he also critically assesses how these
theories have been applied to understand the nature of international
communication. For better understanding, he puts the theories into two
categories: the political-economy approach and the cultural studies
approach.
The political-economy approach is concerned with the underlying structure
of economic and political power relations, and Thussu highlights the
following
theories:
the
free
flow
of
information,
modernization,
dependency, structural imperialism, hegemony, and the public sphere.
The cultural studies approach is mainly concerned with the creation of
meanings in media texts within various cultural contexts. The second
category examines critical theory and cultural studies perspectives on
international
communication,
theories
of:
the
information
society,
discourses of globalization. The key theories discussed in this chapter offer
essential paradigms and contexts for thorough comprehension of the
following
chapters.
QUESTION
Compare and contrast the cultural imperialism thesis and the discourse of
globalization in theorizing international communications.
Comment on dependency theory as a theoretical construct for the cultural
imperialism thesis.
10
CHAPTER 3
CREATING A GLOBAL COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE
This
chapter
examines
the
real
nature
of
global
communication
infrastructure and the basic characteristics of transnational corporations
(TNCs). As a result of the relevant agreements and regulations of the World
Trade Organization and the International Telecommunication Union and
within the macroeconomic contexts of globalization, transnational media
and telecommunications corporations have successfully led quite a number
of Southern nation-states to deregulating, privatizing, and commercializing
their communications industries and thus undergoing a paradigmatic shift
from
state
to
private
control
and
from
a
state-centric
view
of
communication to one governed by the rules of free-market capitalism.
This process has created the favorable conditions for the TNCs to penetrate
the emerging markets in the developing countries and gain benefits from
the enormous potential of the service sectors. The TNCs are the biggest
beneficiaries
of
the
process
of
liberalization,
deregulation,
and
privatization because it is characteristic of them to co-ordinate and control
the stages of production within and between nations, to take advantage of
geographical differences in the distribution of products, and to switch
resources
and
operations
in
a
global
QUESTION
Comment on the character and feature of the global media system.
11
scale.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE GLOBAL MEDIA MARKET PLACE
This chapter focuses on the global media market. For the ultimate purpose
of business profits through exploiting economies of scope and scale, a few
large TNCs have gradually seized control of global media via a huge wave of
mergers and acquisitions.
Surveying the global growth of the communication industries in daily
newspapers, weekly magazines, radio, TV, and the Internet, Thussu
highlights the main theme of this chapter as the process of convergence of
some major media and communication companies: Time Inc. merging with
Warner
Communication,
Disney
purchasing
American
Broadcasting
Corporation, and AOL [America Online] merging with Time Warner.
While contextualizing the discussion of the chapter with case studies of
Disney's Entertainment and Sports Network (ESPN) and Cable News
Network (CNN), the author also shows his concern about the concentration
of the global media into the hands of a few large TNCs, which might
undermine media plurality and democratic discourse.
QUESTION
Discuss the phenomenon of Anglo-American media domination and
highlight its role in the globalization of news.
12
CHAPTER FIVE
THE GLOBAL AND THE LOCAL IN MEDIA CULTURES
Thussu mainly answers two questions in Chapter 5, The first question
concerns the effect of the one-way flows of international communication,
especially the exports of U.S. movies and TV programs, on national and
regional media cultures. The second question is about the debate whether
such
international
communication
and
media
are
leading
to
the
homogenization of cultures or whether they are bringing about a more
complex pattern of global/national/ local interactions. As for the effect,
Thussu points out that although some contraflow from non-Western
countries has been observed, international communication is generally a
one-way traffic mainly from the major Western countries to the rest of the
world.
The non-Western world regards such global flow of the consumerist
messages as a new form of cultural imperialism or Americanization and
there have been concerns and even oppositions in the European Union, the
Islamic world, and some Asian countries. With regard to the debate, while
others predict that the existing international communication leads to the
homogenization of cultures, Thussu argues that the homogenization has
been counterbalanced by a hybrid form of global/national/local interaction,
which can be demonstrated via the case study of Zee TV, the biggest Indian
private
multimedia
network.
QUESTIONS
How far can globalization be viewed as an extension or deepening of the
cultural imperialism of the west? Concentrate on the cultural aspects of the
process.
Discuss the major factors responsible for the globalization of media trade.
13
Which of these descriptions of cultural globalization do you prefer and
why?
a) The extension of US culture across the globe.
b) The hybridization of cultures on a worldwide scale.
c) A new dialectic of the local and global.
14
CHAPTER SIX
"CONTRAFLOW IN GLOBAL MEDIA"
This chapter focuses on the contraflow in international communication
between countries in the South and from the South to the North as a result
the Western media influence and the advancement of information and
technology industries. With a careful analysis of the complex process of
international communication flow, Thussu notices that the flow is not
purely a one-way traffic.
It is observable that regional trans-border TV networks like the pan-Arab
Channel Middle East Broadcasting Center and China's Phoenix TV channel
have been squeezing from the periphery into the metropolitan centers of
global media and communication industries. Besides the regional media,
the presence of the international players from the global South such as the
Latin American telenovelas and the Indian feature movies has been
increasingly witnessed in many parts of the world including the Northern
countries. However, due to the small output and limited audience size, the
contraflow of cultural products from the Southern countries will not shake
the position of Western media dominance in the foreseeable future.
QUESTIONS
The cultural penetration that has occurred in recent decades embraces all
the socializing institutions of the affected host area. And though this, too,
occurs mostly for economic reasons, the impact inevitably is felt
throughout the realm of individual and social consciousness in the
penetrated provinces.
15
Discuss the above statement as a response to the move to separate the
economic from the cultural in the analysis of the process of cultural
imperialism.
A more nuanced understanding of the complex process of international
cultural flow will show that the traffic is not just one way-from North to
South, even though it is overly weighted in the favour of the former.
Evidence shows that new transborder television networks are appearing,
some from the periphery to the metropolitan centers of global media and
communication industries.
Discuss this statement in the light of emerging developments in global
media counter flow.
16
CHAPTER SEVEN
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION IN THE INTERNET AGE
The last chapter wraps up the discussion of the positive and negative impact
of
information
and
technological
innovation
on
international
communication. Positively, advancement in the technologies of fiber optics,
satellites, and the Internet has enabled instant flow of information across
the globe. The electronic telegraph used to be the catalyst for the expansion
of the new media of radio and TV and the establishment of news agencies.
Satellites have provided high-speed and affordable access for consumers all
over the world to receive information and entertainment.
Internet connectivity across the globe has not only boosted e-commerce but
also brought web presence to media organizations in both Northern and
Southern countries. Negatively, however, it is the small number of
countries and TNCs, which dominate the global information flow and
international trade, that have been gaining the most benefits. Despite its
unprecedented expansion, the Internet and the dominant language used on
the Internet have actually created the global digital divide, excluding the
majority of the world's population from the global information revolution.
It is true that technologies such as satellites have greatly cut down the cost
of access to information and entertainment, but they have effectively put
everybody
and
everybody's
business
under
constant
surveillance.
Although there has been booming trade on the Internet, there has been
rampant online infringement of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Thus,
there has been concern over governments' filtering of online flow of
information and the enactment of a series of international treaties and
agencies such as the Berne Convention and the World Intellectual Property
Organization, which have come into existence to ensure proper IPR
protection.
17
QUESTION
Do you see the Internet as a more truly egalitarian and global media?
Despite accounting for a very small proportion of global advertising, the
growing commercialization of the internet and its increasing use among
consumers are likely to make it a sought-after medium.
Comment on the above statement.
18
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
Boyd-Barrett, O. 1977. Media imperialism: towards an international
framework
for
the
analysis
of
media
systems.
In
Mass
communication and society. J. Curran, M. Gurevitch and J.
Woollacott (eds), 116–135. London: Edward Arnold.
2.
Castells, M. 1996. The information age: economy, society and
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Castells, M. 1997. The information age: economy, society and
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Castells, M. 1998. The information age: economy, society and
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Frederick, H.H. 1993. Global communication & international
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Mowlana, H and L.J. Wilson. 1990. The passing of modernity:
communication and the transformation of society. New York:
Longman.
7.
Mowlana, H. 1996. Global communication in transition: the end of
diversity? Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
8.
Mowlana, H. 1997. Global information and world communication:
new frontiers in international relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
9.
Tehranian, M. 1999. Global communications and world politics:
domination, development and discourse. Boulder: Lynne Riener.
10.
Thussu, D.K. 2000. International communication: continuity and
change. London: Arnold.
11.
Webster, F. 1995. Theories of the information society. London:
Routledge.
19