International Communication:
Lecture 1 – Introduction
The news about news (video):
Alisa Miller at TED (2008):
US News coverage (Feb 2007)
- 79% focus on US news
- 21% Irak
- 1% Russia, China, India
- Focus on local news or news that is of direct economic or political influence
- Top Story – Death Anne Nicole Smith
Reasons
- Foreign Bureaus Closed
- Foreign news rewrites of AP and Reuters
- With the internet, we have enormous recourses of news, but we still remain in being
interested in proximity
- News agencies collects news and redistributes it
Global communication
- Localization of news in globalizing times
- Role of geo-political proximity
(class discussion)
How China is changing your internet:
New York Times (2016):
We often look at ICTs from Western point of view
China has taken different developmental path
- Has not allowed Western players into its markets
- Developed ’alternative services’
- Is now becoming a player in other markets – Asia, Africa, Europe
- Some of its applications more advanced than in West
Global communication
- Learning from other countries
- Cross-influences over borders
- Comparative communication
Vox (2016):
China major new market for Hollywood
- Rise of China’s middle class – preference for US movies (Vast pirate market)
- Import quota for US movies – Also present in other markets
- Adaptation of content to fit in China’s ‘logic’ – No direct obligation
- Chinese versions of block-buster movies
Global communication
- Adaptation of content in international markets not uncommon
De-Localization:
Minimizing local aspects of content to appeal to international markets
Localization:
Adaptation of global content to appeal to a specific cultural group
Often remakes or local adaption of global formats/productions
1
,Representation of other:
Video fragment ‘Frank Duck Brings ‘Em Back alive’
- Walt Disney Productions 1946
- Donald Duck = Frank Duck = Explorer
bringing modern technology (boot) to the jungle
bringing literacy
- Goofy = Wild, Illiterate, Tree climbing man
How to read Donald Duck (1971)
- Donald Duck reflection Western capitalist ideology
- Establish ‘hegemonic’ ideas about capitalism, race, gender
What is international communication?
Different closely related concepts:
Definition
- Information flow of values, norms, culture and information between and the effects for
individuals, groups, states and regions
International often refers to processes that occur among states, like in international relations
Critique on taking nation state as defining element
- States are becoming less important -> globalization – liberalization
- International and supra-national organizations -> policy level
- Media technologies are global in scope -> Internet Global network
- Diaspora communities -> Transnational media
State still important defining element
- US/UK/China protectionist tendencies – Economic, geographic (borders)
- Internet controls and censorship increasing worldwide
Global Communication
Most fashionable term, but somewhat misleading
Connotation of one-world community
- World still highly uneven place, both within and between
- Most communication is local
Audiences in general prefer local content (but shifting e.g. Netflix/Social Media)
News is in general mainly local
Social media are global in scope, but local in use
And local variations Weibo, Telegraph, Threema
Gloal communication: mix between global and local
‘Communication can be seen as an agent of globalizing processes in economic, political and social-
cultural fields that interconnect large numbers of people across the globe.’
- Does not automatically mean tendency to homogenization (global village)
- Can be questioned in an internet age ‘filter bubble’
Intercultural communication
- Focus on communication in different cultural contexts
- Focus on the individual skills—verbal and non-verbal—to communicate
- Strong focus on language/culture/interpretation
- Less on technical medium transporting communication
- Not part of this course
Flows and stories (Hamelink):
Flows = motion
2
,Castells: ‘society is constructed around flows’
Information, goods, money flow across borders
- Multi-directionality of movement (Hamelink)
Linear, circular, top-down, bottom up, engineered and spontaneous
BUT flows highly uneven, inclusion/exclusion
Stories
- Learn and create meaning from stories
- Stories move over borders
Dominant stories (Hollywood, Netflix, CNN, Reuters)
Counter-stories (local actors, indie movies, alternative news)
- Flow of ideas, opinions, observations, knowledge, information, data, sounds, images
Why study global communication?:
Global communication is the grease of globalization
- Starting with colonization (and even before)
- Economic, political, cultural cross-border processes supported by communication
Often supported by technological change
Writing (stone-papyrus), printing press, telegraph, phone, radio, satellite, internet, etc.
Communication
- Flows of people supported by communication (tourism, migration)
- Flows of goods and services
- Flows of meaning (how we see other cultures) – how it is distorted
- Military interventions
Studying global communication
- Understanding these processes
- Appreciating global developments and different cultures
Lecture 2: Modernization
First part no slides (questions)
How did the number of deaths per year from natural disasters change over the last hundred years?
- It decreased.
In low-income countries across the world in 2022, what share of girls went to school until at least age
11?
- Around 60%
There are roughly eight billion people in the world today. Which map best shows where they live?
more than half the world population lives in Asia.
How many of the world’s 1-year old children were vaccinated against some diseases in 2022?
- More than 85%
How many ppl in the world have some access to electricity?
- 90%
In the last 20 years, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has..?
- More than halved.
According to the United Nations, the world population will increase by another 2.4 billion people by
another 2100. The main reason is that there will be more….
- Adults (age15-74)
There are 2 billion children in the world today, aged 0-14 years old. How many children will there be
in the year 2100 according to the united nations?
- 2 billion
3
, Worldwide, men older than 25 have spent 8.9 years in school, on average. How many years have
women of the same age spent in school?
- 8.4 years
What is the life expectancy of the world population?
- 70 billion
Where does the majority of the world population live?
- Middle-income country’s
Tigers, pandas and gorillas were listed as threatened species in 96 since then have any of these
species become more critically endangered?
- None of them
The global climate experts believe that over the next 100 years the average temperature will:
- Rise
Lecture Notes:
The world today is fundamentally different from what we have seen in the past!
Last 10/15 years a lot of African country’s first starting to adept mobile phones/ smart phones
which allows them to use internet.
Problem in Lockdown (dives rich households everyone has their own laptop etc) (in dives poor
households there is one computer for example for 4/5 persons) problem for education – we
adapted the way we look at devices due too covid (what we can and can’t do with mobile devices)
Digital literacy (what are the skills of ppl)
Instruments: dollar street.com (how ppl live in different country’s) & Gapminder.com
Modernization:
Introduction:
What is development communication?
- Started focused on decolonization – how can communication help to curve modernity?
- How can we change thru communication?
- Communication strategies aimed at transforming and improving existing situations
- E.g. alleviating poverty, reducing child mortality, promoting universal access to education,
changing agricultural practices, …
Why study development communication?
- Central in the debate on international communication
- International structures have an impact on all countries
- International communication is aimed at change, so is development communication
Definition of development communication (DC):
- Relation between development and communication
- DC is the field of study that examines the relation between development and communication:
- Almost all authors agree that there is a relationship, but there is disagreement on the nature
of this relationship
- Questions asked: how are both processes related to each other? Does communication
influence development? Or does it work vice versa? How does the influence work?
- Very difficult to formulate an unambiguous definition, because of evolving interpretation of:
- Development
- Communication
- Causes and solutions for development problems
4
Lecture 1 – Introduction
The news about news (video):
Alisa Miller at TED (2008):
US News coverage (Feb 2007)
- 79% focus on US news
- 21% Irak
- 1% Russia, China, India
- Focus on local news or news that is of direct economic or political influence
- Top Story – Death Anne Nicole Smith
Reasons
- Foreign Bureaus Closed
- Foreign news rewrites of AP and Reuters
- With the internet, we have enormous recourses of news, but we still remain in being
interested in proximity
- News agencies collects news and redistributes it
Global communication
- Localization of news in globalizing times
- Role of geo-political proximity
(class discussion)
How China is changing your internet:
New York Times (2016):
We often look at ICTs from Western point of view
China has taken different developmental path
- Has not allowed Western players into its markets
- Developed ’alternative services’
- Is now becoming a player in other markets – Asia, Africa, Europe
- Some of its applications more advanced than in West
Global communication
- Learning from other countries
- Cross-influences over borders
- Comparative communication
Vox (2016):
China major new market for Hollywood
- Rise of China’s middle class – preference for US movies (Vast pirate market)
- Import quota for US movies – Also present in other markets
- Adaptation of content to fit in China’s ‘logic’ – No direct obligation
- Chinese versions of block-buster movies
Global communication
- Adaptation of content in international markets not uncommon
De-Localization:
Minimizing local aspects of content to appeal to international markets
Localization:
Adaptation of global content to appeal to a specific cultural group
Often remakes or local adaption of global formats/productions
1
,Representation of other:
Video fragment ‘Frank Duck Brings ‘Em Back alive’
- Walt Disney Productions 1946
- Donald Duck = Frank Duck = Explorer
bringing modern technology (boot) to the jungle
bringing literacy
- Goofy = Wild, Illiterate, Tree climbing man
How to read Donald Duck (1971)
- Donald Duck reflection Western capitalist ideology
- Establish ‘hegemonic’ ideas about capitalism, race, gender
What is international communication?
Different closely related concepts:
Definition
- Information flow of values, norms, culture and information between and the effects for
individuals, groups, states and regions
International often refers to processes that occur among states, like in international relations
Critique on taking nation state as defining element
- States are becoming less important -> globalization – liberalization
- International and supra-national organizations -> policy level
- Media technologies are global in scope -> Internet Global network
- Diaspora communities -> Transnational media
State still important defining element
- US/UK/China protectionist tendencies – Economic, geographic (borders)
- Internet controls and censorship increasing worldwide
Global Communication
Most fashionable term, but somewhat misleading
Connotation of one-world community
- World still highly uneven place, both within and between
- Most communication is local
Audiences in general prefer local content (but shifting e.g. Netflix/Social Media)
News is in general mainly local
Social media are global in scope, but local in use
And local variations Weibo, Telegraph, Threema
Gloal communication: mix between global and local
‘Communication can be seen as an agent of globalizing processes in economic, political and social-
cultural fields that interconnect large numbers of people across the globe.’
- Does not automatically mean tendency to homogenization (global village)
- Can be questioned in an internet age ‘filter bubble’
Intercultural communication
- Focus on communication in different cultural contexts
- Focus on the individual skills—verbal and non-verbal—to communicate
- Strong focus on language/culture/interpretation
- Less on technical medium transporting communication
- Not part of this course
Flows and stories (Hamelink):
Flows = motion
2
,Castells: ‘society is constructed around flows’
Information, goods, money flow across borders
- Multi-directionality of movement (Hamelink)
Linear, circular, top-down, bottom up, engineered and spontaneous
BUT flows highly uneven, inclusion/exclusion
Stories
- Learn and create meaning from stories
- Stories move over borders
Dominant stories (Hollywood, Netflix, CNN, Reuters)
Counter-stories (local actors, indie movies, alternative news)
- Flow of ideas, opinions, observations, knowledge, information, data, sounds, images
Why study global communication?:
Global communication is the grease of globalization
- Starting with colonization (and even before)
- Economic, political, cultural cross-border processes supported by communication
Often supported by technological change
Writing (stone-papyrus), printing press, telegraph, phone, radio, satellite, internet, etc.
Communication
- Flows of people supported by communication (tourism, migration)
- Flows of goods and services
- Flows of meaning (how we see other cultures) – how it is distorted
- Military interventions
Studying global communication
- Understanding these processes
- Appreciating global developments and different cultures
Lecture 2: Modernization
First part no slides (questions)
How did the number of deaths per year from natural disasters change over the last hundred years?
- It decreased.
In low-income countries across the world in 2022, what share of girls went to school until at least age
11?
- Around 60%
There are roughly eight billion people in the world today. Which map best shows where they live?
more than half the world population lives in Asia.
How many of the world’s 1-year old children were vaccinated against some diseases in 2022?
- More than 85%
How many ppl in the world have some access to electricity?
- 90%
In the last 20 years, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has..?
- More than halved.
According to the United Nations, the world population will increase by another 2.4 billion people by
another 2100. The main reason is that there will be more….
- Adults (age15-74)
There are 2 billion children in the world today, aged 0-14 years old. How many children will there be
in the year 2100 according to the united nations?
- 2 billion
3
, Worldwide, men older than 25 have spent 8.9 years in school, on average. How many years have
women of the same age spent in school?
- 8.4 years
What is the life expectancy of the world population?
- 70 billion
Where does the majority of the world population live?
- Middle-income country’s
Tigers, pandas and gorillas were listed as threatened species in 96 since then have any of these
species become more critically endangered?
- None of them
The global climate experts believe that over the next 100 years the average temperature will:
- Rise
Lecture Notes:
The world today is fundamentally different from what we have seen in the past!
Last 10/15 years a lot of African country’s first starting to adept mobile phones/ smart phones
which allows them to use internet.
Problem in Lockdown (dives rich households everyone has their own laptop etc) (in dives poor
households there is one computer for example for 4/5 persons) problem for education – we
adapted the way we look at devices due too covid (what we can and can’t do with mobile devices)
Digital literacy (what are the skills of ppl)
Instruments: dollar street.com (how ppl live in different country’s) & Gapminder.com
Modernization:
Introduction:
What is development communication?
- Started focused on decolonization – how can communication help to curve modernity?
- How can we change thru communication?
- Communication strategies aimed at transforming and improving existing situations
- E.g. alleviating poverty, reducing child mortality, promoting universal access to education,
changing agricultural practices, …
Why study development communication?
- Central in the debate on international communication
- International structures have an impact on all countries
- International communication is aimed at change, so is development communication
Definition of development communication (DC):
- Relation between development and communication
- DC is the field of study that examines the relation between development and communication:
- Almost all authors agree that there is a relationship, but there is disagreement on the nature
of this relationship
- Questions asked: how are both processes related to each other? Does communication
influence development? Or does it work vice versa? How does the influence work?
- Very difficult to formulate an unambiguous definition, because of evolving interpretation of:
- Development
- Communication
- Causes and solutions for development problems
4
