Americanisation is a term derived to describe the influence of the United States on the rest of the world. It refers to the process in which the American culture is spreading around the world having an effect on other cultures and influencing them. There are many possible vehicles of Americanization - the process of mass communication is certainly one of these methods.
Mass communication takes on many forms. The spread of American media such as TV, films, radio and news around the world is a heavy influence on the spread of Americanization. American news is broadcast all around the world with stations such as Fox News, CNN and CNBC being found in many parts of the globe. The establishment of American power around the world is intrinsically linked with mass communications - how powerful would the US be if their media wasn’t thrust upon the rest of world?
Certainly, the technological revolution has greatly benefited the idea of American power spreading through the world. The fateful events of September 11th were covered in great detail in the media with American newscasters being seen all around the world. Several US newscasters were shown in different countries around the world covering their perspective of the event - generally an American perspective of the event.
Most of the world was shown the horrific events through the eyes of the American media and the American people. The generally sympathetic and concerned nature of the news coverage was spread across the world, leading many to feel the same. Whilst it can be said that people should have been feeling this anyway, there is an argument that the spread of media around the world has contributed to the global opinion of the 9/11 attacks.
There is a feeling that the 9/11 incident contributed to the Middle East/West divide and that that divide has been reinforced by media coverage of both 9/11 and the subsequent Iraq war. US news broadcasters were criticised for their overly patriotic nature of news coverage. Respected journalist Dan Rather told the BBC in 2001 that American journalist were scared of asking the real questions and risking showing the US in a bad light. The divide in opinion between the West and the Middle East has possibly been perpetuated by the media and their coverage, which has undoubtedly shaped the opinions of not only the American people but others in the Western world as well.
A website article claims that Western journalists should feel a burden of guilt for much that has happened in the Middle East as they are, in part, responsible for selling a ‘fictitious version of events’. Of course, Of course, if there was one and only one news broadcaster for the whole world, providing a neutral and impartial version of accounts, then a lot of the worlds conflict or divides wouldn’t be as bad.
The idea of ‘new media’ encompasses the development of burgeoning media technologies. It goes without saying that as new media continues to grow, the flow of news around the globe is made easier and better. Therefore, new media has helped to shape and influence the process of globalization - the world getting smaller and more in touch with itself.
Has the greater flow of media and technology perpetuated the growth of American hegemony? Arguably yes, as American media is everywhere - American news channels are seen all over the world, American websites are frequently among the most visited on the Internet and American TV shows are broadcast all around the globe.
It is not just news channels that spread the American view. American TV shows are shown all around the world and it is possible that they could be spreading American values and power. English channel E4 is a hotbed for US dramas and comedies with many shows such as Lost, Scrubs and One Tree Hill all being shown at peak times for English viewers. American values are core to these programmes and the spreading of these shows around the world can only be beneficial to the flow of American power around the world.
However, an from the New York Times in 2003 would suggest that the power of American TV is on the decline. The article suggests that American shows that would be shown in primetime viewing slots are now being shunted into late night times as the demand for them in foreign countries has lessened. The assumption is that as the actions taken by America around the time of the second Gulf war led to many people taking a negative view of the country. Thereby, the force of American culture on television declined as people no longer held the superpower in that much esteem.
Is globalization simply another form of Americanization? Globalization can be described as the process of the people in the world unifying into a single society or culture. As the spread of Americanization continues then surely this ‘single society’ is just the remnants of an American one? The notion of the world becoming a giant America is a slightly disconcerting one but one needs to ascertain just how accurate it is. Indeed, talk of the six billion people around the world all becoming one is unrealistic. New media has projected a more unified culture around the world and it is no coincidence that much of this new media, such as the Internet, has a large American backing. It is not just the internet. American exports and products are strong in the world market - one needs only look at the term ‘cocacolanization’.
However, if you look at globalization on a larger scale then there is a strong argument that it is not just America that is spreading itself around the world. You may see McDonalds restaurants in countries all around the world but you will also see food from around the world dominating the US cuisine landscape. China are the biggest users of the internet in the world, beating the likes of the US and the UK. It is not just America that is projecting itself onto the world, other countries are trying it out as well.
There is a problem with Americanization being linked with globalization. It has caused people from around the world to have negative views of America and to stereotype them. Americanization has not only created hatred towards America but has allowed people who carry this hatred to use it - through new technologies. The man behind the first World Trade Centre bombing kept all his plans for the attack on his laptop computer. Osama bin Laden ran, for a time, at least, a multinational online Jihad. Technology has allowed people to give an action to their hatred.
There is an idea that Americanization threatens the cultures and beliefs of other nations - thus leading to this dislike of the US. There are those who claim that Americanization must be stopped or dramatically lowered in order to bring a halt to the burgeoning dislike that grows with every new Starbucks built around the world.
The way the American media portrayed their involvement in the first Gulf War was a key moment in the development of American power around the world. This war was the first to be covered in such high detail. From reporters travelling with soldiers to live pictures of Baghdad being bombed, this was the first instance in the history of global conflict of a war being so graphically detailed.
This war saw a period of US journalism in which many reporters abandoned their neutrality for a sense of patriotism. Reporters were criticised for their lack of professionalism and how they were more in favour of raising public morale for the war effort. The sight of CBS’s Dan Rather shaking hands with a general after a interview at the end of the war and saying the words ‘Congratulations on a job wonderfully done!’ symbolised the cheerleading style of the American media throughout this time.
What most people had come to expect from the US press was an impartiality and a sense of not being on either side. The press were there to report what was happening in the war honestly and with no obvious sense of patriotism. Many were let down by what they felt was a disappointing viewpoint taken by their reporters. It was as if the government were spoon feeding their media outlets with what to say to the American people to keep the war going well for both the soldiers out there and the people back home, worrying.
If people around the world were to follow American news, as many did, then they too would be forced to accept what they were being told and to accept the sort of cheerleading, pro-American way of reporting. It seems that the process of Americanization lead the world into believing what America were saying. While they weren’t lying about what was happening, it was not the neutral news casting that one would hope for if there was a global audience.
Perhaps this has perpetuated the negative American view that some people across the world now hold? The legacy of the way that war was reported still lives on today. The way that subsequent conflicts are reported is tainted by the way that the media coverage of the first Gulf War was plagued with censorship and unwarranted ’flag waving’. Certainly, the second Gulf War was portrayed just as patriotically.
If people around the world with little or no information on the way a war is going, then they are likely to believe what they are told. The spread of American news broadcasters means that this is possible. America is a superpower in the world order and their economic, military and business power is of the highest order. It is only logical that their media will follow suit and try to establish itself amongst the worlds elite.
The media certainly helps this process. The growth of the internet and other new technologies can only have helped spread the American culture. American newspapers, websites, TV stations and radio channels are influential in spreading the American opinion around the globe and there can be no doubting that the growth of mass communication heavily helps the growth of American power on a global scale.
The key issue remains; what is it separates Globalization and Americanization?
There is a key difference between Globalization and Americanization. Whereas Americanization focuses more on the way that one country’s values and culture is becoming spread around,
Globalization revolves more around the world’s values all becoming homogenised into a more singular values. The idea that the cultures and ideas of the different societies in the world are slowly becoming merged together, not so much that they disappear but more so that they become more aligned with each other. Globalization is the spread of all ideas through out the world and Americanization is the effort of one country to spread its ideas, whether they be good or bad.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment