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Media De-westernization is the first term that appeared in De-Westernizing Media Studies by James Curran in 2000. The research orientation aims at breaking through Euro-centric media studies to research Media theories or issues outside Anglo-American background.[1] Curran believed that media de-westernization research is more helpful for western scholars to understand the media world outside the Anglo-centered model of the Global South[1].

Media de-westernization expects to promote intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding[1]. Media studies as a product of the United States, communication research with American characteristics gradually spread to west Europe then diffused to the world to become the dominant view and paradigm[2]. On the one hand, de-westernization studies oppose western cultural hegemony, which displays in western perspectives and social cognition to recognize the world outside the West; on the other hand, the studies should reject narrow cultural nationalism. De-westernization can promote and protect cultural diversity around the world.

However, with the global impact of the pandemic, cultural isolationism leading to cultural polarization may become a significant obstacle to media de-westernization.

Historical Background

The media study has a strong color of ideological confrontation and cultural centralism during the cold war[3][2]. Four Theories of the Press[4], born in 1963 as the Euro-centered universal diagram of media systems, has conducted media research for 40 years. Taking advantage of Western standards as the benchmark of modernization, developed countries led by the United States adopted cultural hegemony[1][5]. They carried out cultural infiltration over developing countries, forming media studies flowing from Global North to Global South[6][7]. Media research is restricted to U.S.-perceived regional geographic boundaries or a single national boundary [8].

Globalization increases the possibility of dialogue between different cultures and communities group. Technological advances, improved media infrastructure, and globalization have facilitated the exchange and transmission of information beyond national legal borders and imagined communities. Global capitalism boosts media communication marketization downplaying part of government control on media regulation on transnational communication [1]. Traditional state-based media systems will not disappear but will be reintegrated into the context of globalization under the influence of various social relations such as ‘interactions among media industries, technologies, and users [9]’.

Application

Two popular areas of current de-westernization research are international communication and social media platforms development in Global South.

De-Westernization and Cosmopolitan on international communication

Silvio R. Waisbord finds that the Latin American media is not only the extension of the American media, and America cultural cannot dominate the Latin American media system[10].

The integration of cosmopolitanism and de-Westernization based on globalization aims to integrate politics, culture, and economy, multiple elements beyond the regional geographical boundary from the Western perspective [6].

According to Waisbord, cosmopolitan studies have two advantages:

1. Cosmopolitan as the platform could boost knowledge consideration from multi-perspective and knowledge from multi-direction[8]. 2. Cosmopolitan provides the opportunities to reach equal dialogues to realize global differences and similarities[6].

Waisbord suggests that analyzing neglected issues, joint problems across the border, and conducting comparative research are three methodologies for de-westernizing cosmopolitanism:

Analyzed neglected issues

Media de-westernization studies consider problems that does not exist in the West but appears in the Global South, extending traditional geographical boundaries[8]. Exploring the world outside the West helps expand the scope of research and challenge the existing Western models and experimental parameters. The Global South examples from non-western perspectives could check the broadness of universal models born in specific cultural contexts[8].

Media researches address problems from different angles[6]. For example, previous studies focused more on the speech control in authoritarian systems. De-westernization research can cope with news reporting methods from journalists under the control of information flow from authoritarian systems[11] .

Comparative research

Comparison of political communication draws on the journalistic context[12], avoiding US centrism. Hanusch and Hanitzsch (2019) classify four journalistic cultures: monitorial, advocative developmental, and collaborative culture. Countries with similar news cultures can build consensus through cultural similarities[13]. Established in journalistic culture as context reduces finding large amounts of differences rather than similarities in western and non-Western comparisons. For example, in the context comparison among Asia countries between Malaysia and Singapore, and Singapore and Qatar, both countries are within collaborative cultures[13]. Based on Asian values, countries narrow the gap between Confucian culture and Islamic cultures to build a shared sense of a harmonious society[13].

Analyzed common problems across the border

This de-westernization approach is to observe the coverage of various media outlets on global topics, such as news coverage of the Olympic games[6].

Social problems in individual countries, such as the populism and violence of social media, can also be part of the global problem for analysis.

Social media platform

Social media platforms tend to be defined in terms of the US as a universal standard[14], using user data in a collection of data, the analysis of algorithms, data circulation, and data monetization[15] to enhance user interactions[16]. In other words, US-centered social media platforms regard users’ data as the new market for capital accumulation[17]. People are concerned rights of privacy on social media because social media algorithms collect user privacy as a tool to make a profit for commercial purposes.

Countries in Global South develop on different paths in the social media industry.

China

China's social media platforms treat user data as national property representing public interest rather than private property controlled by private sectors[18]. Unlike the historical basis for the emergence of social media in the United States, China's media infrastructure has not developed equally across the country[3]. China regards the development of the digital industry as improving the governance capacity of the government and building a comprehensive government, driving the national economic growth to separate most Chinese people from poverty[19] [18] to reach China modernization [3]. Social media platforms in China has integrated e-payments, food delivery, bank transfers, and other services on social media. Digital platforms have become a public service system[19], eliminating the function express and debating public opinions. Social media is part of deepening China's reform and opening up and represents China's soft power[20] on Belt and Road initiatives[21].

Criticisms and Challenges

De-westernization studies suffer the obstacles from temporary accelerated deglobalization and criticisms of research approaches to cultural polarization[7].

The decline of globalization

De-westernization research was born at the beginning of globalization and the end of the Cold War. Globalization led by the United States has promoted the extensive flow of capital worldwide[1], which is the foothold for de-Westernization to promote international communication[6]. Since the Trump administration, US isolationist forces have risen as dominant voices[22], and the epidemic in 2020 has damaged global production and supply chain. The Russia-Ukrainian war in 2022 may have been the last straw for ending globalization[23][24].

Cultural polarization

Norris and Inglehart on Cosmopolitan communications propose that cultural polarization displayed in the rejection of transnational information flows and launching of culture wars between the Global North and Global South, confrontation between West and East to protect local cultures from imported values, ideas, and images[25]. Example: Taliban banned female education in Afghanistan[26].

Techno-nationalism

China authorities run grand propaganda[27][28] to overseas Mandarin speakers, such as on WeChat platform, through strict censorship on information circulation and ideology one-direction indoctrination[29].   

See Also

Comparing media systems

Cosmopolitanism

Globalization

Nationalism

Reference

  1. ^ a b c d e f Curran, J. (2000). De-Westernizing Media Studies. Routledge.
  2. ^ a b Esser, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2013). On the why and how of comparative inquiry in communication studies. In F.Esser & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), Handbook of comparative communication research (pp.3-22). Routledge.
  3. ^ a b c Zhao, Y. (2012). Understanding China's media system in a world historical context. Comparing Media Systems Beyond the Western World, 143–174. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139005098.009
  4. ^ Siebert, F. S., Peterson, T., & Schramm, W. (1963). Four theories of the Press. University of Illinois.
  5. ^ Cloud, D.L. (2019). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Communication and Critical Cultural Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190459611.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Waisbord, S. (2015). De-Westernization and Cosmopolitan media studies. Internationalizing "International Communication", 178–200. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv65sxh2.11
  7. ^ a b Waisbord, S. (2022). What is next for de-westernizing communication studies? Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17447143.2022.2041645
  8. ^ a b c d Waisbord, S., & Mellado, C. (2014). De-Westernizing communication studies: A reassessment. Communication Theory, 24(4), 361-372. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12044
  9. ^ Flew, T., & Waisbord, S. (2015). The ongoing significance of national media systems in the context of media globalization. Media, Culture & Society, 37(4), 620–636. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443714566903
  10. ^ Waisbord, S. (2000). Media in South America Between the rock of the state and the hard place of the market. In J., Curran, M.J., Park (Eds.), De-Westernizing Media Studies (pp.43-53). Routledge.
  11. ^ Lee, F. L. F., & Chan, J. M. (2008). Professionalism, political orientation, and perceived self-censorship: A survey study of Hong Kong journalists. Issues and Studies 44 (1): 205–38
  12. ^ Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1975). Towards a comparative framework for political communication research. In S. H. Chaffe, ed., Political communication: Issues and strategies for research (pp. 165–95). London: Sage.
  13. ^ a b c Hanusch, F., & Hanitzsch, T. (2019). Modeling journalistic cultures: A global approach. In T. Hanitzsch, F. Hanusch, J. Ramaprasad, & A.S. de Beer (Eds.) Worlds of Journalism (pp.283–308). https://doi.org/10.7312/hani18642-012
  14. ^ Steinberg, M., & Li, J. (2017). Introduction: Regional platforms. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 4(3), 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1163/22142312-12340076
  15. ^ Dijck, Poell, T., & Waal, M. de. (2018). The platform society. Oxford University Press.
  16. ^ Katz, & Blumler, J. G. (1974). The Uses of mass communications : current perspectives on gratifications research. Sage Publications.
  17. ^ Davis, M., & Xiao, J. (2021). De-westernizing platform studies: History and logics of Chinese and US platforms. International Journal of Communication, 15-20.
  18. ^ a b Davis, M., & Xiao, J. (2021). De-westernizing platform studies: History and logics of Chinese and US platforms. International Journal of Communication, 15-20.
  19. ^ a b Schulte, B., & Svensson, M. (2021). Of Visions and Visionaries: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in China. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 50(1), 3-11.
  20. ^ Su, C., & Flew, T. (2020). The rise of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (BAT) and their role in China’s belt and road initiative (BRI). Global Media and Communication, 17(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742766520982324
  21. ^ Thussu, D., Burgh, H. de, & Shi, A. (2018). China's Media Go Global. Routledge.
  22. ^ King, S. D. (2018). Grave new world: The end of globalization, the return of history. Yale University Press.
  23. ^ Posen, Adam S. The End of Globalization? What Russia’s War in Ukraine Means for the World Economy. Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2022-03-17/end-globalization
  24. ^ Ahmadi, B. (2022). Taliban’s Ban on Girls’ Education in Afghanistan. United States institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/04/talibans-ban-girls-education-afghanistan#:~:text=On%20March%2023%2C%20the%20first,barred%20girls%20from%20further%20education.
  25. ^ Norris, P. (2009). Introduction. Cosmopolitan Communications: Cultural Diversity in a globalized world (pp.3-71). Cambridge University Press.
  26. ^ TRT World Now. (2021). What will a Taliban take over mean for Afghan women? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjYh6p0CGi8
  27. ^ Chen, T. C. (2021). Xi Jinping’s grand strategy for digital propaganda. In Research Handbook on Political Propaganda. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  28. ^ China Media Project. (2021). Telling China’s Story Well. Telling China’s Story Well.
  29. ^ Luqiu, & Kang, Y. (2021). Loyalty to WeChat beyond national borders: a perspective of media system dependency theory on techno-nationalism. Chinese Journal of Communication, 14(4), 451–468. https://doi.org/10.1080/17544750.2021.1921820
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