DURATION: 3 hours
KEY TOPICS
- Socio-cultural dimensions of global media
- Media and popular culture
- Cultural stereotyping, prejudices and biases
- Perceived threat of cultural homogenization
- Promise of cultural diversity and pluralism
- Media and cultural tolerance, understanding and global citizenship
- Political impact of media
- Providing mechanisms for the two-way flow of information (e.g. North-South, SouthSouth)
- Media as a platform for broadening the public sphere (democratic speech)
- Media as a mechanism for political and social mobilization
- The power of media in shaping public opinion and the public agenda
- Promoting good governance through transparency and accountability
- Media and migrant communities
- How global media and technological convergence address the needs of migrant communities
- Case studies of media channels of diaspora/migrant communities
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this unit, teachers will be able to:
- Explain and illustrate how the media influence or define popular culture
- Explain the dynamics of what are seen as counter-processes of cultural homogeneity and localization
- Analyze how the media can broaden or narrow the public sphere, democratize access and promote political participation
- Discuss how global media (e.g. satellite and cable television, Internet) can address the information needs of migrant communities