Wrapping Up Globalization and the Media

April 8, 2015

Globalization and media served to be an interesting topic for our group members. Each of us learned a lot about our individual topics, and as we commented on each other’s posts, we noticed many similarities and a general trend throughout the project. Globalization plays a key role in linking a wide array of people and cultures around the world, with the help of various forms of media.

Not only did we learn about globalization and the media through the research for our own blogs, but through reading and commenting on each others’ blogs we discovered similarities that link the various mediums. Here are some key points from each member of our group that we think embodies these similarities.

Mallory Fitzgerald: Globalization and the News

Mallory focused on how international news coverage in the media is seen by people from all over the world, regardless of time or location, and how this is a key aspect of  globalization. She uses international news agencies such as the Associated Press, Reuters, and Al Jazeera, to exemplify how news about major global events reaches people in countries everywhere. She emphasizes how, although international news is an important tool in globalization, it is vital to be aware of agenda setting and gatekeeping when using the media to access news coverage. Her main point, on how international news coverage in the media can be both a positive and negative agent of globalization, solidifies our group’s main idea that the media is a vital resource in globalization.

Sergio Lopez: Globalization and Sports

In his posts, Sergio emphasized how branding through advertisements plays a vital role in globalizing sports. Through links and videos that portray different companies’ brand products, he was able to aid us in visualizing how these companies reach audiences across the world. He also touched on major world sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup that reach global audiences as well. Through these major sporting events and branding strategies of companies, we are now more aware of the role sports plays in globalizing the world.

Tucker Genal: Globalization and Social Media

Tucker focused on different companies’ strategies using social media to gain access to global audiences. With examples such as Nike and Apple, he was able to convey how major companies with mass amounts of consumers gain access to them across borders. In his final post, Tucker tied in how these companies reach these audiences through social media, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. These posts further prove our theory that globalization is enhanced by media.

Tucker Rockett: Globalization and Television Broadcasting

Tucker discusses in his posts both the past and present of broadcast television. Starting with the claim that “broadcasting is not what it used to be”, signaling that it has become corrupt and not as wholesome as it once was. Through using examples such as controversial images in the Charlie Hebdo story, or Hilary Clinton speaking about Benghazi, reporters and broadcasters cast the elite in a less-than-favorable light. Tucker also touches on demassification, a term we have seen many times in this course, and one that is emphasized in advertisements such as Victoria’s Secret and Calvin Klein, both focusing on a specific demographic. Once again, this proves that our theory of media globalizing the world is valid.

Kamber Parker: Globalization and Film

In her posts, Kamber touches on how both films and television shows allow audiences across the globe to catch a glimpse and gain a perspective on various different cultures. She emphasizes that because these movies and TV shows are watched by people around the world, they have the ability to portray cultures in positive and negative ways. She uses movies from the major media company Disney and the hit reality TV show Keeping up with the Kardashians to exemplify how access to different cultures can be spread around the world through these mediums. This further solidifies our group’s argument that globalization occurs through the media.

Wrapping It Up

As you can see, our group members researched very different subtopics of media, yet we all found that forms of mass media directly correlate to connecting and linking various cultures and regions all over the world. From the World Cup to Disney movies, people from India are seeing the same things as people in California are. It’s a global world that we are living in, and it is crucial to see that media plays a large role in that.

Apple’s Global Advertising Strategy

March 19, 2015 by Tucker Genal

Apple Inc. is as global as it gets! They seek to connect us all on a global scale and define their products as platforms for potential.

Apples 3-point marketing philosophy

“Apple has used these principles to become the world’s most valuable company (measured by market capitalization) and one of world’s most valuable brands.” Their marketing technique embodies everything that globalization is about, as this article explains. They have united people around a brand. Apples brand is non-geographically bound community, easily allowing them to expand and gain more support. Apple has been able to convince people of their superiority their brand, to become a more popular product, as explained in this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/319618. They want people to grow as they grow and use their latest technology. They have done so through their advertising.

Apple uses very creative advertising techniques to get that message across, and to demonstrate how versatile their products are. They want the world to feel apart of what they are creating. One of their latest advertising campaigns is called “Shot on 6” where photos taken from the iPhone 6 around the world have become featured here: https://www.apple.com/iphone/world-gallery/

These pictures are from all over the world and this technique shows people how good their product can be, and makes them want to go out and test it for themselves. These pictures taken by the iPhone 6 literally hit home with a large portion of the world and connects us all through a single brand (Apple).

What makes Apples ads so affective?

They are mostly universal and try to connect to as wide of an audience as possible. This video is one of the best examples I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoE9XxXUatA

Apple Inc. was not always a global brand, they had to climb their way to the top. They had to build trust in their products and gain support slowly. This article: http://www.ibtimes.com/apple-iphone-six-years-stunningly-successful-advertising-campaign-video-1414562, shows the advertising campaign of their iPhone product over a six year span.

It is very interesting to see how far Apple has come and it will be even more interesting to see what they will do next to stay on top.

The Globalization of International News: Groundbreaking or Problematic? By Mallory Fitzgerald

How dedicated are you to staying up to date with the most recent international news stories? Regardless of whether you are an avid newspaper reader or CNN addict, in todays technologically driven and mass media controlled society, it is harder to not be informed about the events occurring around the globe.

Why is this so? The development of mass media has changed the world by giving people the ability to connect regardless of geographical location. This concept, known as globalization, “refers to the rapidly developing process of complex interconnections between societies, cultures, institutions and individuals world-wide”.

It was almost impossible to be a functioning member of society in 2014 without hearing about big stories like Je Suis Charlie, Ebola, or the Sony Hack. Every newspaper, news station, radio station, and more were reporting on these huge international news stories.

International news, especially news agencies, are agents of globalization. For example, the Associated Press, United Press International, Reuters, and Agence France, known as the ‘big four’, provide ninety percent of foreign news printed by the world’s newspapers. These gatekeepers decide what stories are the most important for the world to know.

There are many positives to this globalization of international news, but what is important to keep in mind is what are the stories are we not being told? News agencies are agenda setters. Agenda setting is, “the process through which issues bubble up into public attention through mass media selection of what to cover”(Vivian 371). So although the globalization of international news has allowed stories and opinions to be shared and spread across the world, it is important to not become a passive consumer of news. Find out what news agencies aren’t telling you. Just because it isn’t on the front page of the New York Times does not mean it is not important to be informed about.

Globalized Films

Do you remember the last movie you watched? Try to remember the director and where he or she is from. Chances are it is not in the United States. Majority of the world’s  filmmakers back in the day were mostly based in Hollywood. Today, they are non-US based directors who bring diverse and ideological projects to the big screen—and are making the big bucks while doing it.

Brazil’s World Cup Media Coverage

The other side of Brazil’s world cup

A poor young boy in Brasil being an spectator of the world cup. As close as he can get to the World Cup.

Although sports such as basketball, baseball, football, golf, and boxing continue to attract spectators around the world at a fast rate, it is clear that soccer is still the world’s dominant sport. For this reason, the World Cup is the most important tournament in the world. It is known to unite different countries together as spectators while creating forever lasting memories. However, as Brazil’s World Cup came to an end, the media coverage did not only transmit images of connected spectators from different parts of the world, but also uncovered the dark side of the World Cup.

Regardless if you are a soccer fan or could not care less about the sport, there was not anywhere this summer you could go without having media coverage about the World Cup games. The media convergence set the stage for the audience to be part of the World Cup. People around  the globe with access to television, internet, or cellphones were able to be part of the World Cup every minute wherever they went. As the media created a sense of unity through the World Cup, it also provided knowledge on disasters of the tournament.

Previous the World Cup there was a lot of controversy due to the internal problems in Brazil. There was tension between the government of Brazil and the citizens. The mass eviction, violent protests and  worker’s deaths then became the dark side of the tournament. As the media demonstrated a different side of the cup, it was clear to the audience that the people of Brazil did not benefit from the World Cup. Instead, the images showed across the globe demonstrated the injustice that was caused by the tournament.