PART 1: INTRODUCTION TO CULTURE IMPERIALISM AND NEW MEDIA

Cultural imperialism is one-way flow of international messages or media products, especially news and television flows, from a few metropolises. Due to new media, it has reduced time and space barriers, resulting in what communication theorist call “Global Village”.

Globalisation has led to the dispute over cultural dominance. One such debate centers on the rights governing bodies possess to control media owners. Because media owners hold great power over information they choose to transmit, and hence influence, to their audience.

The contents of new media products can be censored, but a culture should not.

 Introduction to New Media 

Wikipedia defined New Media as: “… a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community formation around the media content. Another important promise of new media is the "democratization" of the creation, publishing, distribution and consumption of media content. What distinguishes new media from traditional media is the digitizing of content into bits. There is also a dynamic aspect of content production which can be done in real time, but these offerings lack standards and have yet to gain traction.

Most technologies described as "new media" are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, and interactive. Some examples may be the Internet, websites, computer multimedia, computer games, CD-ROMS, and DVDs. New media does not include television programs, feature films, magazines, books, or paper-based publications – unless they contain technologies that enable digital interactivity.

Nevertheless, in seeking a definition of “New Media” we need some basic tenets that can help us get a better positive understanding of what New Media is beyond what New Media isn’t. New media can be characterized by the variegated use of images, words, and sounds. These networks of images, sounds, and text data are different from old media formats such as hardcopy newspapers because of the nesting characteristic.

Nesting is a way of organizing of the presentation of information according to subjects while paying secondary attention to context. In the place of context, nesting (most commonly seen in text or image hyper-linking) is a format that fosters organization in a way in which elements interact with one another instead of simply following a straight order. This new organization of data does not require a “back story” and each interactive element of information stands alone.  New media requires a non-linear interpretation, since many sources are often oriented around the same subject-center, but are not always collated. At the end of the day all this means is that one of the primary characteristics of new media is that it is freed from the linear restrictions of older formats such as newspapers, books, and magazines.

The exchange of ideas and images are is of primary importance in considering the potential for new media. Not only are political horizons widened but so too are artistic and educational ones. Today, there is a tremendous ability for individual users who write, paint, report, educate, etc. to make connections to one another in a way that might allow them to circumvent the conventions of institutional and closed opportunities.

One thing is very clear: New Media is experiencing the growing pains of “the Wild West.” New Media itself is neutral new technology evolving all the time. It is up to the user as to whether it is good or bad. 

Therefore The fact that we are all human does not mean that we are all the same. Culture is learned. Culture is never static. It is dynamic. Every moment we are being transformed, always growing - like the cells in our bodies. It changes exactly the same way as human beings change. We cannot romanticise our culture. Our grandfathers did not walk on the same top soil as we do and our children will have different soil. I would never dare tell my mother where to place the flower pot in the living room. Today children can easily change the position of the flower pot in our living room even without consulting me. This transformation is so gradual and not sudden or abrupt. Culture is a continuous process of change but in spite of the change, culture continues giving a community a sense of identity, dignity, continuity, security and binds society together.

The effect globalization has had on culture is immense and diverse. It has affected people's cultural behaviours in different ways. People have had to change their living ways. The loud echoing advertisement rhythms of the famous Coca-Cola drinks can be heard across boundaries in towns, cities and townships and even in remote rural areas where drinking water is a problem to get. Globalization in Africa involves one fundamental project: that of opening up the economies of all countries freely and widely to the global market and its forces

 For Africa, all the central planks of the process of globalization have been implemented over the past decade-and-a-half as structural adjustment programmes. Countries have deregulated foreign investment, liberalised their imports, removed currency controls, emasculated the direct economic role of the state, and so on. The results have been to further undermine the internal, national productive capacity, social security and democratic integrity of these countries. So that is basically how globalization has impacted on Africa.

CONT...... PART 2: Effects of New Media, Culture Imperialization on Indigenous Culture of Marriage and sexualisim

by Auma Ibrahim IS/1104/13