Disneyland

This week I sit here trying to think of what to write in my third blog post, when really all I want is another delicious skinny mocha from caffeine. But I ponder the concentration of media ownership, also known as ‘The Big 5.’ These companies rule the world of media.

While visiting Disneyland, numerous years ago now, I was in a fairytale of dress ups and Disney characters that allowed me to get photos with Winnie the Pooh and get complimented by Cinderella on my ‘teeth jewellery.’ A very nice way of saying I had huge, metal train tracks = braces. But I never knew that one day I would be studying what a huge and influential company that Walt Disney created.

Walt Disney Corp is now one the best known empires in the world, which began purely from Walt Disney, his ideas, enthusiasm and hard work. Walt Disney was the first to introduce colour to cartoons and to utilize the first multi plane camera technique. Walt Disney Corp is “the largest diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise.”

The Walt Disney Corp is a key example of a global media empire that is present all around the world; I can’t imagine who didn’t grow up without the ongoing presence of Mickey Mouse, Pocahontas or Hannah Montana!

References:

Wingert, C, (1999) Just Disney, Date Retrieved 31/07/2012    http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/long_bio.html ,

The Walt Disney Company, (2011), Company Overview, Date Retrieved 31/07/2012 http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about-disney/disney-history

Globalisation or Americanisation??

Welcome everyone to my second blog post! I think I am finally getting the hang of this and hopefully my posts will be more regular!
This week we cover the topic of the Global Media Landscape.. vivid imagery comes to mind of green grass and flowers and trees. But no, instead I ponder the American Empire.
So after looking through the notes and researching the global media landscape, what struck me most was how dominant America is over the rest of the world.
I have been unaware of how persuaded Australia is by America until I took a recent holiday to Thailand in which I was in a mixed group of people all different ages, genders and nationalities. I realised when talking amongst Americans, English and South Africans, that Australia is hardly affected by the news, current affairs, music and movies and culture in general from England or South Africa. However, we know all the latest  movies, music and affairs present in America. One significant example that occured this week was the American Massacre that occured during the Batman film, this was all over twitter, social media, the internet and television almost immediately. Yet I wonder if this would have happened if it had occured in say, South Africa?

Are the flows of globalisation evenly distrubuted? Definitely not. When striking up a conversation with the South Africans in Thailand, I was stunned to realise that I knew very little about the culture of South Africa compared to that of America. All Australians have been subtley persuaded by the American culture as we listen to American music and watch American movies, eating hamburgers from McDonalds and wish to be a famous actor/actress in Hollywood.. I wonder how many people have actually sat down and watched Australian films even though they are produced in and about our own country.. I am guessing very few.

To get to some serious points but... after heading straight to my favourite resource.. GOOGLE! I found an article written by Ruth Oldenziel named "Is Globalisation a code word for Americanisation?" in which she suggests the "hegemonic power of the US nation state" has been "crucial in shaping international and transnational politics and insutions." Oldenziel names McDonalds and CocaCola as her two symbols of "Americanisation."  Two symbols that are recognised almost anywhere in the world.. which helps prove my point.. are we being indoctrinated by America.. or is it really just globalisation?

More to come next week! Please give me some feedback, I would greatly appreciate it.. I have merely been rambling!!
Reference:
Oldenziel, R, 2007, 'Is Globalisation a code word for Americanisation?' Retrieved 24/07/12
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CGYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tseg.nl%2F2007%2F3-oldenziel.pdf&ei=_VMOUKDwI8SziQfw7oDIAg&usg=AFQjCNHFAlP32Jg1lvPquDAk3cL5TvMvsQ&sig2=Y5G8fjDYTQdwt2ZMRvnnbQ

First ever blog!

Welcome to my very first ever blog! As a beaming University student I must complete a weekly blog in order to pass.. and the mantra for many students alike is p's get degrees, however, this semester I have vowed to focus on aiming for higher grades! So here goes my first blog focusing on globalisation. (and only 2 weeks late too! Be proud!!)

So this week we cover the topic of globalisation, which originally went through one ear and out the other. Until I came across the definition by Thompson (1995) in "Theorizing media and globalisation" by Tehri Rantanen as "the growing interconnectedness of different parts of the world, a process which gives rise to complex forms of interaction and interdependency."
This can include socially, culturally, politically, economically and technoglically. These 'flows' of globalisation are all linked with the media and with capital. So the main question we must ask ourselves is whether they are evenly distributed? A key example is where we can our main movies from...America or occassionally England. Even Aussie films don't make a huge impact in our own cinemas. For me, globalisation is simply the world evolving! Thankyou for reading my first ever blog, I hope it wasn't too bad when the idea of it came to me at a 2am in the morning! Thinking about globalisation instead of getting my beauty sleep!!