Before this class I had just a little blogging experience and was quite skeptical on how this whole thing would pan out.  Because when I think of blogging I think about people just chit-chating about their daily lives (no character limit twitter pages).  I never quite thought of it as a tool for a class.  It’s different than writing papers in the sense that the web feels more casual.  I noticed that too with fellow classmates on their blogs, it seems everyone is somehow more honest with their work and able to give their true opinion.

I expected the assignment to somewhat enhance my reading and writing skills.  It’s having the ability to articulate my opinions of an article onto a blog page.  And in my opinion those exceptions were met and I believe I have become a better writer and reader after these assignments.

I learned a lot about different media particularly because I am sort out of tune of what is actually is going on in the world.  This class introduced to people I never even knew like Berlusconi and Hugo Chavez.  I just don’t watch a whole lot of news so this class really opened me up to other cultures and how the media works in other countries.  So I wouldn’t say it helped me understand a particular issue better but it helped give me a general understanding of multiple global issues.

I feel the post about the Brazil Reading was my strongest post.  To me it the blog post that I summarized the article the best.  I had plenty of percentages and other stats to justify my opinions and I think the additional source helped drive the points home.  I even got a comment from someone from Brazil who writes “Yes, we Brazilians are extremely influenced by TV – it was also key to the expansion of several Christian churches, that belong national and regional TV chains. I just posted something about the topic: http://deepbrazil.com/2010/02/02/sunday-tv-marathon/ After that article it sort of hit me that the stuff we post anyone can see and respond too which is quite cool.

I feel the my last article ‘Think globally, act locally’ Reading was definitely my weakest I felt the summary of the article was only descent and I didn’t even include in additional source.  The reason, I am a procrastinator and of coarse I waited until the last minute to do my posts and unfortunately it shows in some of my work.  What could I do to improve it?  Not wait until the last minute to do it!  You know I always tell myself that and here I am, again.

As I said in the paragraph above, get a head start on the assignment.  Do the assignment throughout the whole quarter instead of waiting days before when the actual assignment is due.  That way I would of had time for multiple edits and more time perfecting the posts.

This assignment was awesome, I have never had to posts blog for a class and I kind of wish more of my classes was like.  As I said in the first paragraph, I feel blogs help us express how we really feel about a particular topic.  And if I find something interesting going on in the world of media, i’ll be sure to post it.

Hope everyone has a great Spring Break.

I really enjoyed the fast food comparisons to reality shows.  McDonalds to American Idol and Survivor.  TacoBell to Jersey Shore and Tool Academy (you could pretty much place anything from VH1 and MTV into that category).

Your last paragraph talks about target audience for each of the businesses and how both at looking to attract consumers.  Then your last sentence brings up a good point about the expansion of reality shows or fast food chains overseas for more revenue.  I know the article briefly touch base on this but you did a good job of applying and comparing that to the other fast food businesses.

I agree with Alex, Pokemon and Dragonball Z were both kick ass shows.  I don’t however see the aesthetics similarities in the Simpsons and Anime but, both productions do share the difficulties in dubbing and translating to other countries.  I found the the comment about comparing the Simpsons to American culture and anime as the portraying of Japan culture to be very interesting.   Fat, lazy and drinking beer, yep that’s America.

I also tend to agree with the your last paragraph in saying that our imaginations should not be limited to only real life situations.  Let the kids be kids and have some fun.

‘Think globally, act locally’ is an interesting article that talks about how media corporations have adopted and localized in China. The article focusing is on the Viacom owned channel MTV.  ”Viacom may well be the first American global media enterprise to significantly penetrate the China market and has drawn the attention of the Chinese public and officials alike.”

So how does a station like MTV which is all about Freedom of expression get aired in China?  By not saying a word about the Chinese government.  ”Like Viacom’s localization strategies in other countries, MTV renounced campaigning against the Chinese government for acceptance in China.”  China has a population of 1.3 billion people, it’s a hard market for big corporations to ignore.  And you have to censor some things to add millions of dollars to your revenue; as a business stand point it may be a solid investment.  So how does Viacom turn China into a cash cow?  MTV sells their China made syndicated program slots in different cities and then they just add advertising between the programs. (Cha-Ching)

Are stations like MTV a step in the right direction for process of globalization for China?  ”Chinese authorities and their media are more flexible, sophisticated and active than West has given them credit for… The culture requires the ability to achieve a smooth hybridization between the state and global capital that works through various economic constraints and political forces.” To me it is entirely plausible for other media companies to tap into the Chinese market.  And this could apply to other countries media markets are well, in the sense that as long as we embrace a localization strategy we can penetrate any global market.  Think globally, act locally.

In the article China’s Television in Transition the main thesis of the article in my opinion is that China’s media industry is developing rather quickly but at the same time it is being held back by the government.  ”Given that the media is meant to voice public opinion, and that the party represents the masses, the party must justify its control of the media when propagating its ideology.”  In China, the Chinese government plays a large part in censorship of the media.

The article starts off by talking about the history of China’s television industry. May 1, 1958 was the year of China’s first television station and by the year 1963 that number grew to a total of 36 stations (including relay stations).  And like many of the other broadcast stations we have read about the administration began to list the tasks and standards into their broadcast policy.  ”1) to propagate the policy of the Party and the State; 2) to report the achievement of the socialist cause; 3) to proliferate technological and social education; 4) to enrich the cultural life of people life of people and 5) to promote international exchange” Since the beginning the Chinese government as had control of censorship in it’s media.  Which is not to say that every other government in the world is perfect.  It’s just that China is probably one of the more stricter governments when it comes to censorship.

There have been however tremendous changes in the China’s television industry.  Several changes in the structure, policy and a step in the right direction for globalization.  But the author does point out that these advances technology and structure doesn’t exactly equate to the need of free expression of public opinion.

The video below shows a story of a Chinese journalist form the late 90′s reporting about poverty and employment in Shanghai.  But after covering this sensitive story her boss tells her to change the report to cover positive angles instead.  He also tells her that must not contain any criticism of government or question a single government official.  Smells a little like government propaganda to me.

The main thesis of the article Cartoons from Another Planet: Japanese Animation as Cross-Cultural Communication in my opinion would be the American misunderstanding of anime as the same thing as a cartoon.  The author defines anime as “a delightfully inventive reference manual into the world of Japanese symbols, folklore, religion, history, social musings and aesthetic traditions.”  Anime and Manga (Japanese comics) are targeted to all audiences.  The article talks about in Tokyo is not uncommon to see children, girls, and business men reading Manga on a subway train.

But what about the graphic violence and sexual imagery in some anime not geared toward children, tentacle love Hentai anyone? (please don’t google that)  The author defines Anime again as “another form of escapism, a medium for those well-behaved Japanese to partake in unabashed bacchanalian excess through run away cleavage and in-your-face brutality.” Despite this mature anime Japan’s violence and sexual crime rate were both down significantly during the periods when manga and anime were the most popular.

I found the paragraph talking about the different Japanese symbolisms used in Anime to be very interesting.  An example from the article is the use of a cherry blossom tree which means two things:  1) that it is spring, and 2) someone from the story is going to die.  Another use of Japanese symbolism is when a male character notices a beautiful girl and their nose will start to bleed.  It’s little things like this that I find fascinating about other cultures.

The only two animations from Japan I remember really getting into were Pokemon and Dragonball Z.  When I was a kid cartoon network use to have an animation block running at midnight called Toonami.  Some of the programs they aired were Sailor Moon, Robotech, Gundam Wing and of coarse Dragon Ball Z.  Below is a clip from DBZ and for those of you who have never seen the show when a person’s hair grows straight up and turns yellow you become a Super Saiyan (translation- a total badass).

Like I said total badass.

“Excuse me, can I purchase these comic books with my dignity?”

So what is McTV?  The author of the article McTV – Understanding the Global Popularity of Television Formats defines McTelevision as “the selling of programming ideas with a track record that are sufficiently flexible to accommodate local cultures to maximize profitability.”  This articles examines television formats and it’s effect on the global market.  It also talks about how television is promoting interconnectivity worldwide.  In which countries will take existing television programs and convert it to their own format.

America invented the television and many other countries have adopted the “American” model.  But now countries have been able to penetrate the dominate US television market.  Show formats like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Survivor, The Office, Ugly Betty, and Big Brother did not originate from the US.  The article mentions that the “US influence is slipping” and “TV imperialism goes into reverse.”  We are not only becoming a major exporter of popular television formats but an importer as well.  The article goes on to mention that in the late 1980′s the US provided 71% of the total world market in television material.  That number dropped to 60% in 1995.  But don’t worry fellow media majors as far as revenue goes, the Hollywood studios are still on top.  In 2001 the six major Hollywood studios raked in 4.5 to 5 billion, that’s more than the rest of the world combined.

I found an article online that expands on the history of US programs. “Borrowing from overseas TV formats is not exactly new, but previous examples were far more subtle or went through substantial adaptation for U.S. tastes. All in the Family, Sanford and Son, Three’s Company and Cosby all had roots overseas.” (Associated Press)  Buying (and sometimes taking) formats from another country and adapting to your cultural is a just one small step for globalization in the television industry.

Citation: U.S. importing TV shows from the rest of the world

I too agree with the author in saying that a person like Berlusconi should not be in office.  It’s ashamed that his ties to the media have prevented him from getting prosecuted for all of his crimes.

I found an article online that list all the things he been charged with.  From illegal financing of political party to tax fraud to bribing a judge the man has had nine criminal proceedings against him (and that’s only the ones that have reached a final appeals court).  And if you ask me that’s nine too many criminal proceedings for a prime minister.

Citation: http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=587107

http://waxyshoes.wordpress.com/

I too agree with the author in saying that Canada’s media content needs to define their culture identity. Canadians need to produce their own content to help push their media industry further. But being located to the largest producing country of media can pose a huge problem.

I found a website that lists the actual rules of Canadian content. For example for radio to qualify as Canadian content the production must follow the M.A.P.L. system. (M) Music must be composed by a Canadian, (A) Artist must be Canadian, (P) Production and performance must have been in Canada and (L) Lyrics must written by a Canadian. It seems to me that Canada is on the right path.

Citation: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/cultural_policies/canadian_content_rules.cfm

http://amcmedia.wordpress.com/

“Globalization of Media: Key Issues and Dimensions” is interesting article that talks about how the world has changed in terms of global content.  The author mentions twenty years ago people talked about “Americanization”, and how it was only American media that countries would import.  But now we are more connected and other countries import their media from all over the world.  The article also mentions that of the top 10 global media firms six are American.  Which means American still plays an huge role in global media.

The article also talks about international syndication and how not every successful program in America does well international.  In the article the author talks about Seinfeld being too United States.  The jokes of the show are too narrow and the international audiences won’t get the American references.  On the other hand a show like Baywatch does extremely well international because let’s face it bouncing sweater puppies does not need a translation.

I found an interesting article on NPR talking about American syndicated programs in China.  The article talks about a group of China-based fans of American television posting subtitled American content.  “The captioned scripts are the raw material. Han says they take those scripts and turn them into creative Chinese translations. ‘We are concerned that every character gets his own personality,’ says Han. ‘We’re not just making subtitles; we’re making better subtitles.”‘ (Chinese Fans Follow American TV Online – For Free)  It’s all about making the content relevant and enjoyable to your audience

Citation: Chinese Fans Follow American TV Online – For Free