February 25, 2007
For some countries, America's popular culture is resistible
Tyler Cowen in the International Herald Tribune:
An Indian Muslim might listen to religious Qawwali music to set himself apart from local Hindus, or a native of Calcutta might favor songs from Bengali cinema. The Indian music market is 96 percent domestic in origin, in part because India is such a large and multifaceted society. Omar Lizardo, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame, explains this logic in his recent paper "Globalization and Culture: A Sociological Perspective."
Today, economic growth is booming in countries where American popular culture does not dominate, namely India and China. Population growth is strong in many Islamic countries, which typically prefer local music and get their news from sources like the satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera.
The combination of these trends means that American entertainment, for largely economic reasons, will lose relative standing in the global marketplace. In fact, Western culture often creates its own rivals by bringing creative technologies like the recording studio or the printing press to foreign lands.
More here. [Photo shows legendary Pakistani qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with his brother, Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan.]
Posted by Abbas Raza at 11:55 PM | Permalink
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The fact that many increasingly look forward to alternate sources of information is a welcome sign.
The US Defense Department began airing Al-Jazeera on closed circuit Pentagon TV since early December 2006. Any body with even a casual exposure to typical media in the Middle East will not be surprised if soon all US missions will ask the State Department carry Aljazeera on its VOA-TV platform. That will happen as US diplomats find AJE's multi-regional coverage and multi-perspective insights so rich on AJE that they won’t afford to miss it.
To determine how effective this channel’s approach may watch any of its flag-ship programs i.e. Inside Story or Inside Iraq taking the act of balancing to a level of art while demonstrating its intellect, wit, and analytical strength.
Take the example of Iraq, a question with precious American lives and replaceable but huge resources at stake. Referring to the dearth of adequate and accurate information that ought to be available to US defence and diplomatic personnel, ex-Press attaché in Baghdad, Robert J. Callahan, says the ‘Americans in Iraq worked in a communication twilight. Nothing ever appeared in sharp focus.’ To many it is time to open new windows and let the fresh pluralistic views in. However, some advocating for accuracy in media aren’t seen putting their weight for supporting the Americans in getting a pluralistic picture on ground. They instead call for restricting plurality of opinion (by restricting channels like Aljazeera) to keep a US audience deprived of the option to ascertain the accuracy of facts for themselves.
Is the US any closer in getting the exact picture on the ground despite spending $ 2 billion a week? Callahan recently told the American Journalism Review that out of 1000 personnel at US mission in Baghdad, only 7 are fluent in Arabic: "Add to this the inability of most of us to read Arabic newspapers and understand television news programs.”
So those who treat availability of alternate information sources with suspicion must have their reasons for doing so. In a typical style of pick-and-choose, many who reported about slapping of restrictions on a news channel didn't include the missing paragraphs from the original Reuters story. Is this an inadvertent slip or an intentional bid to abet gagging of potential outlets speaking about bungling of funds by US contractors and their Iraqi accomplices?
"The Iraqi government is very sensitive about anyone highlighting the negatives in the country," said Dubai-based Iraq analyst Mustafa Alani. "They particularly don't like someone like Al Jazeera highlighting issues of militias, corruption and all the other problems. Jazeera has a real influence over Arab public opinion."
"I don't think they are picking on the Iraq government to undermine their credibility", Alani said.
"The Iraqi government is looking for a scapegoat to justify their failure in bringing security and stability to Iraqis."
Posted by: Jim Zackey | Feb 26, 2007 5:54:12 AM
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