Media Imperialism: Continuity and Change advances applied theoretical research on 21st century media imperialism. The volume includes established and emerging researchers in international communications who examine the geopolitical, economic, technological and cultural dimensions of 21st century media imperialism. The volume highlights and challenges how news, entertainment and social media uphold unequal power relations in the world. Written in an accessible style, this volume marries conceptual, theoretical sophistication, and concrete illustration with rich case studies and global examples. Chapters cover the complete media spectrum, from social media to Hollywood, to news and national propaganda in national and transnational analyses. Readers will find discussions that range from soft power and China to the USA’s empire of the internet to the rise of “Chindia” in a post-American media world. The volume is essential reading for upper level undergraduate, postgraduate and research communities across a wide range disciplines in the social science and the humanities.

How does control of media resources serve political and economic ends? What is the impact of media concentration and monopoly in the era of technology convergence, with not just traditional and ‘new’ media but also consumer electronics, telephony and computing industries? Revisiting the classic concept of media imperialism, Oliver Boyd-Barrett presents a thorough retake for the 21st century, arguing for the need to understand media and empires and how structures of power and control continue to regulate our access to and consumption of the media. It′s no longer just Disney and Dallas - it′s also now Alibaba, Apple, Facebook, Google, Samsung and Huawei. Examining the interplay between communications industries and the hierarchies and networks of political, corporate and plutocratic power in a globalized world, the book explains: the historical context of the relationship between media and imperialism; contestation and collaboration among new media empires; the passion for social justice that inspired the original theories of media and cultural imperialism, and how it has been embraced by a new generation. Digging deeply into the global landscape and emerging media markets to explore how media power works across transnational boundaries, this book gives a clear and sophisticated argument for why media imperialism still matters.

A critical cultural materialist introduction to the study of global entertainment media. In Global Entertainment Media, Tanner Mirrlees undertakes an analysis of the ownership, production, distribution, marketing, exhibition and consumption of global films and television shows, with an eye to political economy and cultural studies. Among other topics, Mirrlees examines: Paradigms of global entertainment media such as cultural imperialism and cultural globalization. The business of entertainment media: the structure of capitalist culture/creative industries (financers, producers, distributors and exhibitors) and trends in the global political economy of entertainment media. The "governance" of global entertainment media: state and inter-state media and cultural policies and regulations that govern the production, distribution and exhibition of entertainment media and enable or impede its cross-border flow. The new international division of cultural labor (NICL): the cross-border production of entertainment by cultural workers in asymmetrically interdependent media capitals, and economic and cultural concerns surrounding runaway productions and co-productions. The economic motivations and textual design features of globally popular entertainment forms such as blockbuster event films, TV formats, glocalized lifestyle brands and synergistic media. The cross-cultural reception and effects of TV shows and films. The World Wide Web, digitization and convergence culture.

Examining anew the notions of media imperialism and globalization of media, this book disrupts the generalised consensus in media scholarship that globalization of media has put an end to media imperialism. One elemental aspect of media imperialism is the structural dependency of television systems in the global South on the imperial North. Taking India and Pakistan as its case studies, this book views globalization of media as the unleashing of processes that have translated into the liberalization of air waves and privatization of television systems whereby commercialization of television is privileged over public interest television. Additionally, it argues that the globalization of media has contributed to corruption, tabloidization, and marginalization of subaltern classes in the Indian and Pakistani media.

Lee contrasts the 'media imperialism' view with the liberal 'free flow of information' view of the international effects of mass media by making studies of television in Canada, Taiwan and the People's Republic of China. '...deserves a central place in any course dealing with international communication or with the societal effects of mass communication.' -- Journalism Quarterly, Vol 58 No 2, Summer 1981 'It is a very impressive piece of work which has the potential of being an outstanding contribution to the literature. There is no question it is first-rate.' -- Muriel G Cantor 'In both conception and conclusions, Lee's book provides reassuring evidence that empirical research really pays.

Globalization, Development and the Mass Media gives a comprehensive and critical account of the theoretical changes in communication studies from the early theories of development communication through to the contemporary critiques of globalization. It examines two main currents of thought. Firstly, the ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development. It traces the evolution of thinking from attempts to spread ′modernity′ by way of using the media through to alternative perspectives based on encouraging participation in development communication. Secondly, the elaboration of the theory of media imperialism, the criticisms that it provoked and its replacement as the dominant theory of international communication by globalization.

In the networked twenty-first century, digital platforms have significantly influenced capital accumulation and digital culture. Platforms, such as social network sites (e.g. Facebook), search engines (e.g. Google), and smartphones (e.g. iPhone), are increasingly crucial because they function as major digital media intermediaries. Emerging companies in non-Western countries have created unique platforms, controlling their own national markets and competing with Western-based platform empires in the global markets. The reality though is that only a handful of Western countries, primarily the U.S., have dominated the global platform markets, resulting in capital accumulation in the hands of a few mega platform owners. This book contributes to the platform imperialism discourse by mapping out several core areas of platform imperialism, such as intellectual property, the global digital divide, and free labor, focusing on the role of the nation-state alongside transnational capital.