Daya Thussu's article "Mapping Media Flow and Contra Flow," seeks to both summarize and analyze the current state of the global media flows. Thussu contends that the periphery of the world, including many developing regions, are now "talking back" through their own media production facilities, news networks, movie studios, and radio broadcasts. Al-Jazeera is one of the more famous examples of this movement, to be sure, and there are budding movie industries popping up in places like Nigeria (Nollywood). But how does this all stack up against the media giants of the world: the USA, Britain, and India?
Well, the answer is pretty much in the question. The Giants are still the Giants, despite an increased voice from smaller firms and media outlets. I certainly didn't know about Nollywood until it was brought up in class this last Tuesday. One of the primary reasons of this is simply that these smaller voices simply get lost in the wash. Thussu and many other authors have done a line by line analysis of media exports and imports for several countries, and found that for a large number of them, US media vastly outnumbers national media in the marketplace. Of course, this US media is often modified or glocalized so that it can better suit the country that it is airing in. In a country with very little national media production, it could be difficult indeed to find a time slot on television or the radio, when foreign owned programs have already bought up the best airtime. The voices from the periphery are not always heard in this environment where we have at the same time incredible diversity in individual channels and programs, yet relatively few suppliers (McChesney)
I agree with you that Giants are still Giants. There is no doubt that voices now emerge from the periphery too, but how far they are heard is the main question. I know Bollywood (India) churns out a lot of films and other stuff, but all of them are in Hindi (the local language). They can fulfill the information and entertainment of the diaspora, but they cannot penetrate the Western market. Al-Jazeera is an exception which broadcast in English. About it we can say that it gives an opinion alternative to the mainstream Western media.
ReplyDeleteBollywood and Nollywood (Nigeria) are producing a lot of stuff, but they cannot compete with Hollywood--in terms of quality. Also most of films produced by Bollywood are conceived and directed under the influence of Hollywood. I mean for Bollywood (and probably for Nollywood, too)Hollywood is the standard.
"Media does not tell us what to think, but rather what to think about."
ReplyDeleteIf we believe this statement, then it does not matter that Bolly and Nollywood use a Hollywood format. The format probably makes it more approachable for audineces abroud who are used to it. The importance is that they are producing content, as they are putting themselves on the map of filmmaking, and more importantly, getting their voice out there. The problem with the media giants is that they don't leave room for us to receive cultural products in return. There is no cultural exchange, just delivery. It could be considered a good start that movies follow the Hollywood format, just for getting people to watch. Once we begin to think about these cultures, then we might be more open to accepting other aspects of their culture, even different movie formats, into our lives.