Peace Journalism & Conciliatory News by Al Jazeera

How many of us actually know that the mainstream news channels that we are watching everyday is true, honest and reliable? In every news that you acknowledge and watch everyday, do you know the true context behind these news stories? In fact, on some news that we acquire, we saw and we heard was only just the an external base of the stories. In such implications, do we actually know that there is proportions of missing untold stories and angles thus lacking of background context too.

Do you realize that who is international justice now for world conflict? Where and who is the international criminal court that judges and decides for the world? And who owned all the majority well-known news channels that we usually watch? The news that we consume each and everyday are in fact were all filtered and control in bias by these mainstream channels. Indeed, all the news were reported are telling one side of the story only that only sides to their own benefits without any morality and honesty benchmark on reporting news ethics. ‘There are certain key features of the presentation of war on television that have emerged over the last decade of war reporting, which demonstrate the tendency to using entertainment formats: video/computer-game style images of surgical strikes by ‘intelligent’ weaponry; arresting graphics and pictures, and chat-show use of ‘experts’. As a result of this homogenisation of coverage of conflicts – bloodless and largely devoid of any real sense of death and destruction – the audience can be desensitised to the tragedy and horror of war’ (Thussu,2003)

Take for example, when we need to obtain the up-to-the-minute news, CNN and BBC News reporting channel will always be the first and foremost channel in mind. Nevertheless, these channels have in fact fascinated by the high tech reporting format, with ‘live’ war reporting in the media with ‘one-sided’ camera angle and the way of report resembles to the video-game format used to represent battle operations. Regularly, news were often reported upon the entertainment base, for instance, the war zone military ‘live’ news report. According to Zapotoczny (2009), the media was pleased that the commanders actually incorporated the media in its operations from the earliest planning stages. But, planning for the media in Operation Just Cause translated to keeping the media in the dark to ensure secrecy and then allowing a tightly controlled media pool in country after the start of hostilities. It is human’s instinct to have excitement and curiousity towards things that they haven’t seen or do and these news channels habitually take this prospect to report on ‘war and military’ live news report to attract audiences to watch and believe towards their reports. In an age of multiple 24-hour cable news networks together with satellite technology, the CNN effect will exert even greater pressures on the tension between the military’s desire to limit their exposure to combat and the media’s desire to be in the front lines. (Zapotoczny, 2009)

Do these channels actually indicates the real good and evil of the real absolute context in the news especially war? Do they often differentiate the perspective of who is us, who is them? Yet, the remedy of these implications is wholly obvious and conspicuous whereby the global west are conquering all the international news channels and turn out to be the justice for the international criminal court. They simply report news by exercising the word ‘us’ to generalize to the whole world audiences are alongside with them. How about ‘them’? Do the survivors and citizens in country of war wanted to distinctively discrete themselves to the world of ‘us against them’ and d0 all of them agree with the concurrent war seeing the civilian deaths, the ground of their homeland being destroy on devastation and their children to experience human face of war? Why do ‘us’ don’t find alternatives to the war? Things can definitely work out without war, negotiations with peace processes instead of cruel yet tough decision can work out definitely. Why shall ‘us’ to becomes the leader when it comes to a world international conflict? Why not to the opposition party to represent for the world? If ‘them’ were to lead and become the international justice, news reports might stand in a complete different perspectives in the contemporary world news.

Photo courtesy by: http://cpnagasaki.wordpress.com/2013/07/12/al-jazeera-journalists-quit-over-networks-biased-coverage/

    Where are the conciliatory medias? Which media reports to conciliatory news now? While, Al Jazeera is media who presents conciliatory news and now represent every angle of news, no bias, true from the of the news context, voice for the voiceless and yet they have the ability to change the audiences mindset into a balance and fair mindset. Al Jazeera was formerly build in Middle East and which earlier uses Arabic language on news reporting, then in the year of 2006, Al Jazeera decided to start on reporting in English language news that can cater to the demand for international audiences in the name of Al Jazeera America. Thus, many reporters and journalist in Al Jazeera were formerly from the CNN and BBC News that move to work at here. For the reason of journalist found the journalism freedom and ethics on reporting news, where else news were written and reported in the previous employment were controlled and filtered. As reported that, the channels are all media filtered and loss of conscience to the conciliatory reports and only shows what the government incorporates with the media channels wants therefore hereby in Al Jazeera, they found freedom, unbiased and ethical journalism.

    There are several critical consequences from reporting to a bias and controlled news whereby it deceits the understanding of the audiences from the distant war. Hence, controlled news reporting were always bias to their own decisions and acts hence, audiences were not exposed to the real and real ugly side of the war, for instance, bloodstream, cruelty on sacrificing survivors and destroying infrastructures  in the country war. Yet, audiences were considered to be lied on the news as there are lack of background information were told by the reports. Consequently, by reporting implicated bias news will yet to discovered and differentiate by the audiences and particularly to the global south where they resolve to decline the news for they understand and able to distinguish the actuality of the background context. However, medias should have a conscience to practice on writing and publishing peace journalism where it can actually helps, consider and values the non-violent responses to conflict instead of hard decisions to game cooperation significantly hence not conflict.

References:

el-Nawawy,Powers, M,S, 2010. A conciliatory medium in a conflict-driven environment?. Al-Jazeera English , [Online]. 6, 61-81. Available at: http://gmc.sagepub.com/content/6/1/61 [Accessed 05 November 2013].

Miles, H, 2005. The Inside Story of the Arab News Channel that is Challenging the West. Al-Jazeera , [Online]. 1, 1-56. Available at: http://books.google.com.my/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Gp0Kx76Ovc4C&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=al+jazeera&ots=ntVb1bhS2y&sig=pTlwcO9T7qoFYou2tpviAo-e9Fk&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=al%20jazeera&f=false [Accessed 05 November 2013].

Thussu, Freedman, D.K, D, 2003. Reporting Conflict 24/7. War and the Media, [Online]. 1, 1-10. Available at: http://www.wzaponline.com/CNNEffect.pdf [Accessed 05 November 2013].

Zapotoczny, W.S , 2009. CNN Effect. Military Leadership, Philosophy, Strategy and Tactics, [Online]. 1, 1-4. Available at: http://www.wzaponline.com/CNNEffect.pdf [Accessed 05 November 2013].

Protest Culture & Digital Dissent

The contemporary digital internet media have structurally turn out to be an impactful platform of the emerging political interest, reviving the protest culture and digital dissent. In the recent years, the growing figures of people who are more attentively obtaining daily news and precisely extra interested on attaining political news from the new media rather than the conventional traditional media. Mainly, people farther favor to the alternative medias in rival to the mainstream media, where they discover the uncovered enormous distinction points on concerning to this two medias can be factually distinguished.

Basically, mainstream medias are disseminate tied to the center power that statically run by publicly-owned groups which embodies on greater commercial than the adequate news values which resources the traditional medias, for instance newspapers, television and radio. Unquestionably that the mainstream medias were own by specifically one company whereby news releases were published in different languages and however the point were repeatedly twisting the same content. News releases were found bias by publishing only one side of the story from a single angle whereby news were seemingly reported for their owns constructive positive side only. In the mainstream media, there is only one side communication whereby readers can only read and receive the news ideas and there are no way for people to give ideas and voice comments as the medias were all in controlled. According to Gibson (2009), such methods, while they might bolster the integrity and independence of the fourth estate, only serve to deepen the culture of contempt towards politicians in the long run, it is argued, as the ‘default’ message transmitted to the public is that politicians are withholding the truth from you, the listener/viewer. Before the, revolution existence of the new media, people are deliberately believe to be narrow minded as their notions were shaped only by the mainstream media news whereby the only way to obtain news is from the mainstream media. Hence, as the mainstream medias are controlled by centered publicly owned groups, for instance, in the political view, the truth of the news sources from the particular parties were filtered and blocked to be publish. Moreover, there are only minimal sources for people to get news besides the mainstream media in those days.

While, people promptly choose to select on the alternative media whereby it essentially taking the form from the weaken civil-society and genuine individual expression that can certainly linked to the concurrent social movements by the civil society organizations and weak opposition parties. In fact, the revolutions of the alternative media are now replacing the ‘mainstream media’. As alternative media implicates to the new media whereby it consist of the new digital internet that incorporates social media, blogging and other internet networking tools. Despite, the rising of public interest on recognizing the alternative media to be the main media for them to gain news furthermore people holds the power, whereby they can be voiceless no more. People who currently knows and able to use the contemporary internet’s or social media specifically are indeed powerful in terms of voices authority are enable in the alternative media. These new user-driven modes of Internet interaction are seen as promoting the voice of the mass over established elites (Surowiecki, 2005; Grannick, 2006; Leadbeater,2007). Comments, satisfactory, dissatisfactory, agreement, disagreement, truth and any other freedom of speech can be voices out in the alternative media through social networks, blogging also the in trend mobile application and people found that they are empower and acknowledge for instance in political view. For instance, Barrack Obama have successful to congregate the opportunity to use the new medias to revive public for his voting campaign and effectively gain massive votes by using the new media to interact with the public. Indeed Trippi, in his account of his experiences during that campaign, talks extensively about the way in which the technology was explicitly used to break down the ‘us and them’ mentality that had dominated previous presidential campaigning ‘war rooms’ and establish a new grass- or netroots supporter-led model (Trippi, 2004).

 

Picture courtesy of: http://appliedpdgroup3blog.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-tweets-and-status-updates-heard.html

Picture courtesy of: http://www.glogster.com/lisabui/social-media-and-arab-spring/g-6lmma6plo03e2fgirds0oa0

Picture courtesy of: http://www.unc.edu/~wchae/arabspring.html

    Though, the alternative media have initially contribute and provides truth the public but it is however it has raise the contradictory point of outlook where it actually foster to the contemporary digital dissent. Digital dissent are now exploiting the whole new level of the traditional media of political democracy agenda and rivalry. It have developed to a ‘discursive space’ whereby are tremendously most effective and fast in outsourcing news and information through Facebook, Twitter, blogging and viral videos. For instance, the Arab Spring movement have been revolutionized in a superb fast pace because the proficiency of the Arabians to use the new media, specifically through viral videos and influences countries to countries on the protest culture . While talking about our local, proficiency of using the new media also revive the interest of protest culture, take an example of the recent massive ‘Bersih’ protest. Through the use of new media, the protest have activated and assemble an outsized amount of people to join the protests. Thus, political party have found the importance and effective to the use of new media in reviving and recruiting public interest on their political notices and hence, Bersih have been in continuously reformed for several times up to Bersih 3.0. Unseeingly, the new media have acted as a debut platform for protests agenda. Gibson (2009) have stress that the aggregative feed services give the masses an ability to select and edit their news content, removing or at least reducing the agenda-setting power of a few unelected gatekeepers sitting atop centralized media conglomerates based in capital cities.

Picture courtesy of: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2012/05/07/political-enjoyment-in-malaysia-from-rpk-to-bersih/

Picture courtesy of: http://thebackpackr.com/bersih-2011-in-photos/

   The powerful, decentralized and primarily monopolized parties will be in the stake of  threat by the revolution of digital dissent. At a contradictory drawback point of view, it is nevertheless virtuous for the certain political parties, news reporters and to those unpowered people to voices out their freedom of speech to adhere but it conversely created the unwanted crisis like the concurrent protest culture and digital dissent .

References:

Rachel K. Gibson,2009, NEW MEDIA AND THE REVITALISATION OF POLITICS, Representation, 45:3, 289-299, DOI: 10.1080/00344890903129566

SUROWIECKI, J. 2005. The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Anchor Books.

TRIPPI, J. 2004. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. New York: Regan Books.

Global Crises, Global News

Everyday in our newspapers, more or less I believe there will be a petty article are concerning on global warming and climate change at either which corner of your reading. Well, after reading it do you have a conscience of either taking simple action on rejecting yourself to drive a car where it produces substantial volume of carbon dioxide and instead cycle will do better? Or have an urge of having a crucial determine to get yourself involve as a part of an association or organisation to help the world to spread on the importance of climate change?

Picture courtesy of : http://www.soxfirst.com/50226711/pacific_islands_climate_change_litigation_threat.php

Have your heard of the rising sea level due to the ice melting in the North Pole? I strongly believe that everyone knows about the ice melting in the North Pole only. Have you heard of the untold stories by country Kiribati, a small island that lives by countable amount of citizens that located in the Pacific Ocean is now having critical threatening over the rising of sea level that made the citizen there having crises of living on the sea (rises of sea level to the walking ground), consuming unclean water that contaminated by the sea salt water and crises high tide sea level that destroyed the harvested crops. Since, it is a very small country that only handful of people from the world nation knows about this country. People in this country have no influence power of voicing out their crises whereby they have left with no choice but to let down their dignity to become asylum seeker and leave their endanger climate changed country for survival solution. They are forced to leave their home island to Fiji and some illegally self migrated as refugee to Australia and New Zealand and however these countries have been unwillingly to accept and rejecting this asylum climate change refugees to be landed on their country.

One thing the global media have a sense of credibility for publishing such critical news to the world that it have been helping to magnify and voices out for the ‘voiceless’ for instance for the nation of Kiribati. However, how do you find the vital articles that publish on the newspaper concerning the world’s climate change is precisely trustworthy, credible and honorable? Many have been criticizes that journalist that reporting news relating to climate change have been initiating publishing ‘false balance’ or ‘superficial balance’ bias and iniquity information. Sullivan (2012), has stated that false balance is the a type of journalistic practice of giving equal weight to both sides of a story, regardless of an established truth on one side. And many people are fed up with it. They don’t want to hear lies or half-truths given credence on side, and shot down on the other. They wan some real news. Many journalist are practicing on a lack of etiquette on reporting news whereby they intentionally reports on ‘false balance’ information to the be publish on the media. In terms of climate change news, Ward (2009), remarked that, in effect, reporters may for too long have been balancing opinions about science when in fact they might better have been evaluating and reporting evidence based on the science. What scientist have been stated and given their empirical studies on scientific explanations on the truth of climate change have simply edited and ‘balance’ their experimental facts whereby some of the journalist have lack of knowledge of this precise climate change and wanting to balance it in their own personal way.

Journalist must work on a correct basis of work in terms of etiquette and practice to excuse as much as possible of having intention to report on false balance news on the concern of global climate change as a part of world nation. For instance, they should stand by the news balance of classifying the most important and factual information without editing and adjust any inequality on it and avoiding to report and balancing both sides of the story and factual statements. The false balance that have been made by the journalist have put the world public nation understandably confused about the facts about climate change and made them unseeingly uninterested about this serious global crises.

Reference:

Barrett LC. 2012. NYT uses false balance while reporting on false balance. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/nyt_uses_false_balance_while_r.php. [Accessed 25 October 13]

Pearlman J. 2013. Man from Kiribati seeks recognition as world’s first climate refugee. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/kiribati/10383018/Man-from-Kiribati-seeks-recognition-as-worlds-first-climate-refugee.html. [Accessed 25 October 13].

Sullivan M. 2012. He Said, She Said, and the Truth. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/16/public-editor/16pubed.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all&. [Accessed 25 October 13].

Ward, B, 2009. Journalism ethics and climate change reporting in a period of intense media uncertainty.Ethics on Science and Environmental Politics, 9, 13-15.

An Ugly Truth or A Beautiful Lie

Once, newspapers was one of the most assure, reliable and credible source for people to acquire certain precise news and information. Thus, it was one of the main source of medium that people will solely belief on its content without doubting any uncertainties. Furthermore, slowly as the technology needed to developed and news update can simply get from various types medium like radio, television and online internet. Once, newspapers is one of the most reliable source of news were now become one of the untrustworthy or I suppose a type of dishonest information medium provider which either television, video or the internet are dependable too.

Or in another words, the news values became deceptive nowadays where the foremost influence be can probably found in the journalist’s working etiquette on news publishing or media owners are safeguarding themselves in such a way for business profit. Today, not most of all the journalist have etiquette on reporting, writing or publishing a news article either they over exaggerate hence they simplified it and some might happen to miss out some important information which be useful for readers or people who related to that particular news and news transparency are challenging for them publish. Values and rules of certain journalist have been practiced imprecisely immoral whereby the media owner have somewhat to walked through the fault of it.

 Picture courtesy of: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/racial-and-religious-exclusivism-rapped/

        Just this year, during the Malaysia’s 13^th General Election I found that I have actually learnt that newspapers media companies have certainly play a very big part on publishing news and were obliquely and partially monopolized by the government. I have also learnt that newspapers that have been in relation with the government have been biased in reporting news to the citizen whereby the company itself are trying to assured themselves from publishing news that relates offense certain political or government bodies. However, still I have been contradicting whether this source of information were true or have I been unassumingly influenced by another misleading news by another new source of news provider which is the internet.

I admit myself a part of technological savvy villager from the ‘Global Village’ to adhere various source of information and news here. As born by the Generation Y, I doubt many of us here get news and information by this convenient informant of news provider. In fact, the social media website, for instance, Facebook and Twitter have been the leading and largest form of website that people tend to get information and news. Cottle (2011) have stress that indeed some have been so bold as to label them as the ‘Twitter Revolutions’ or ‘Facebook Revolutions’ in recognition of the prominent part played by new social media, whether in the co-ordination of mass protests, communication of real-time images and up-to-date information, or processes of contagion across places. The Arab Spring movement have been certainly very much play and influence by the strong communications of viral videos in Facebook and tweets in Twitter which can portray to world of how strong is the social media websites can be strongly influencing by credible and incredible news and it will however stretches massive powerful impact either positive and negative on the political view.

In my assumption for new values, we all standing as the reader point of view, we will need to have a strong determination and adapt to the ability to differentiate distinction from the untruthful and incredible news and be smart on choosing which to believe and what not. While, from the view of journalist and media owner must have the sense of quitting and putting aside of their own beneficial where one news can actually influence a lot of people perception, feeling and thought. I am here still reading various types of news from different medium and thinking to myself whether the news is true by transparency or spinning and turning within the truth of the news have been played apart….

Lastly, I would like to share how I personally shape a definite believe that our country’s news values haven been in control and transparency of news does not signifies any priority. Besides, the social media have been playing a big role in news releases and have been playing a vast impact among people. Here I share a blog of my ex-classmate sister’s biggest fear and tragedy of her life and family which is indeed one of the saddest case of the year.

References:

Cottle, S (2011) ‘Media and the Arab uprisings of 2011: Research Notes’ 2011 Journalism 12: 647 available online at http://api.ning.com/files/CNFhpNFhUT*24guoaYVkLHrjkGDSXAhyiaR1*95ttbmPU6YLdzZfC2CVKzOf4fwLzPItHz8OqcP9N*2Yj5Ystb6gaqdNy9hG/CottleMediaandtheArabUprising.pdf

lipstiq.com. 2013. DAUGHTER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HER MOM’S DEATH. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.lipstiq.com/2013/04/22/daughter-speaks-out-about-her-moms-death/. [Accessed 19 October 13].

Netto, T, 2011. Twin Scourges of Malaysia rapped. DIN MERICAN: THE MALAYSIAN DJ BLOGGER, [Online]. 17, 1. Available at: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2011/02/09/racial-and-religious-exclusivism-rapped/ [Accessed 19 October 2013].

OH NO!!! What?! Kath & Kim Lost in Translation in U.S?

 

Kath & Kim of American’s Molly Shannon and Selma Blair

and

Australian’s Jane Turner and Gina Riley

Picture courtesy: http://i.dlisted.com/files/kathandkimno.jpg

Kath and Kim of the Australian’s famously love well known originated production have attracted the attention of the America’s producer Ben Silverman to make an American version of Kath and Kim. By having the adaptation of the Australian’s version to translate to the American’s, many criticisms challenged about the translation lost in terms of the content of comedy as well as the screenplay character. In this case, cultural translation is the drawback of adapting a local television in to the global context where cultural differences occurred.

Even though, Australia and American share the same language and more or less the same cultures however and yet we there are heaps more of distinction in terms of their cultural perspective and expectation. Kath and Kim is a type of comedy series where humor is the major script content of the series, in order for the American to adapt to it, so it have to be consistent of making the series humorous too. The major issues comes in where the lost of translation in making off-track humor by the American shadowing the Australian’s version.

The Australian’s version screen played by Gina Riley as Kath whom the mother of Kim cast by Jane Turner, whereby the characters in this series were made originally humorous by their fashion appearance and characteristic. S. Turnbull (2004) have make a remark that even more significant may be the choices that are made about casting and the character of the ensuing embodied performances. However, the characters of the American’s cast have been receiving criticism by the local Australians of the remake of the American’s Kath and Kim. The lack of chemistry of Selma Blair played as Kim which critics her of unseeingly fails to mirror the expectation from the original Kim by Jane Turner. Some have criticized that Selma Blair did not portray the original Kim instead she look more of like a tabloid princess like Paris Hilton. S. Turnbull (2004) have suggested that what has been ‘seriously lost in translation is the role and place of irony; how character, imagines him/herself to be and how they appear to be the audience.

Since, since Kath and Kim is a comedy series, it may need to consider a lot of innovative inside jokes to be understood as a humor, then, when it is hybridized to the U.S and U.K series, the local simply could not understand the Australian humorous setting they try to picture. The Australian Kath and Kim was acclaimed to be creatively hilarious and jokey but when it is translated to the American series, it might be understand and catch the laugh of the Americans as attempted to expect. This is mainly because of the cultural differences and translation that different media consumption and patterns by different country.  “The successful translation of a comedy depends not only on the translation of the cultural context from one locale to another, but also the kinds of production deals which are made and the expectations about audiences which are then inferred.” (Turnbull, 2008)

The expectation and taste of consumption may be vary and different which disseminated the issue of lost in translation of adapting local series to transnational television. For instance, in terms of the differences language of jargon and slang used by these countries have issued to the lost of translation of humor content comedy of the series. Hence, also due to the cultural differences and languages spoken, certain gags will make a sense of provoking and off mannerism rather funny.

Still, not certainly a cultural translation will be indisputable lost in translation whereby research and many considerations were needed to be made beforehand.  Translation in relations of language, cultural differences, cultural identity, verbal and non-verbal communications and gesture to avoid any implications of lost in translation to receive high viewership and also acceptance for a transnational series or movie and especially for comedy series. Lastly, there is several more transnational series that received good viewership, The Office is one of the successful high demand series from the British and Americans.

 

Just to share some interesting site of 10 American TV adaptations that went horribly wrong:

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/20279/10-american-tv-adaptations-that-went-horribly-wrong#ixzz2gBeu1Fqh

 

References:

theage.com.au. 2004. Kath and Kim Go Global. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/25/1090693831917.html. [Accessed 27 September 13]

 

Transnational Film

Transnational film has enabled every different distinctive form of culture, people and art fusion merge into a multi-culture’s pride rather than a single culture distinction. Hollywood was the one and only who conquer worldwide media capital that inspires a lot other media films in terms of the content, fashion, music and arts. From my point of view, nevertheless in today’s film it have went transnationally where cultures around the world have been equivalently correspond inspires as well as influences each other. Some may have argued the contradiction between the distinction of globalization and transnational have equal significance meaning in terms of sharing cultures in films. For instance, many have been mistakenly interpret the distinction meaning of globalization equals to Americanization that may sort the cause cultural and media imperialism.  Marie Lien Sunde (2009) has maintained that ‘In order to avoid these (negative) associations I have chosen to use the more neutral term transnational. The trend is neither protesting against or purely celebrating globalization, therefore it is more accurate to name the trend after what area of the globalization process it is exploring, namely the transnational spaces emerging as a consequence of globalization, particularly those emerging in the drama occurring when core and periphery cultures meet.”

In the article of The Transnational Trend in Hollywood Popular Cinema’s New Transnational Aesthetic  by Marie Lien Sunde (2009), the author have studied that transnational films started to be in practice and trending because of the impact of the ‘September 11 Attack’. The trend started in the immediate post-9/11 period with a number of war films taking place in non-American countries, but it was with the film Hotel Rwanda that the trend reached its purest form in including non-American protagonists (Marie Lien Sunde, 2009). Talking about acting in a Hollywood film by Non-American Protagonist, there were numerous Chinese actors and actress for instance Tiger Chen, Karen Mok and Simon Yam in the movie directed by Keanu Reeves named Man of Taichi, also the infamous The Memoirs of Geisha screen played by Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh. For a better example, Jackie Chan were also one of the famous yet inspiring Chinese actor who act as a protagonist in many movies like Rush Hour and Karate  Kid.

However, other than movie by the Hollywood, Walt Disney Animation has been producing transnational film too over the motion cartoons. As we can observe that several Disney’s well-known cartoons adopted stories from another culture, for instance, Aladdin was based from India, Pochahontas was the aboriginals of Red Indian also Mulan from China.

Aladdin by the ambient of an Indian Palace

Picture via: http://uweb.und.nodak.edu/~natika.baker/aladdin.html

Pochahontas’s family wearing traditional Red Indian costume

Picture via: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/chief-powhatan

The sword held by Mulan represent the China’s traditional weapon

Picture via: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Mulan

In my opinion, I thought that transnational film must not be a negative revolution where people always percept that it may shallows and imprecise one’s culture. However, I can simply point out the positive perspective of transnational film, for example, production from Walt Disney Animation has produced a lot of transnational animation film. In this case, Walt Disney cartoons were mainly targeted on children audiences which I think it is one type of learning process where children can learn and acknowledge about the cultures outside from the world. It is hard to teach children about cultures, which it is simply difficult to understand where if teaching an unfamiliar culture from the person who does not belong to the culture may most probably affect the circumstance of negativity of ‘racism’. I suppose that Walt Disney has produced a lot of cartoons where the protagonist of it were always be the good ones which I can stretch my point of view. Hence, children can learn the other culture without any negativity in mind for the reason that children’s rational is very straight forward and simple moreover what they ought to watch and perceive were directly from the portrayal of cartoon itself and nothing out of the box.

Personally from my thought, transnational film was a type of learning process for all types of audiences. Cultures from different country can be expose in certain films where audiences can learn the unfamiliar cultures around the world and people can avoid from living in the proverbs of ‘frog underneath the coconut shell’. I consider myself a shallow person, a lot of times I learn things from the films that I have watched especially gain knowledge about places that I have never been before. Apart from learning things from the films, productions who adopt of practicing transnational film should get applaud for they have learn to acknowledge to circumvent from cultural and media imperialism.

References:

Marie Lien Sunde, I, 2009. The Transnational Trend In Hollywood . The Transnational Trend in Hollywood Popular Cinema’s New Transnational Aesthetic, [Online]. 1, 6-9. Available at:http://www.ebha.org/ebha2008/papers/Nicoli_ebha_2008.pdf [Accessed 14 September 2013].

 

Media Capital

To warm for a better understanding with my discussion later on, here’s a simple scholar’s quote from Michael Curtin:

“ Media capitals as sites of mediation where complex forces and flows interact, where they are not bound and are meeting places of where new mass cultural forms become possible.” Curtin (2003).

The emerging of creative industries is going through the no boundaries state transnationally where the biggest original media capital production is circulating to anywhere of the world. Curtin (2003) also refer that  “I understood media capital as a center whereby the production of media content are initially circulated in the local level but have transcend geographical borders to arrive at other nation-states”. Originally, Hollywood’s production were merely meant to deliver the productions of the creative entertainment for the locals but it unintentionally exports their productions regularly roving around the world without the pace of control where it went globalized. Thus, audiences now do not take any thoughts of where the productions originated from, as well as it serves them entertainment, they take the delight on it. Curtin (2003) have state that “Instead these flows emanate from particular cities that have become centers for the finance, production, and distribution of television programs; cities like Bombay, Cairo, and Hong Kong. One might refer to these cities as media capitals, since they represent centers of media activity that have specific logics of their own; ones that do not necessarily correspond to the geography, interests or policies of particular nation-states.”

In Michael Curtin’s article, he researched on the biggest emergence media capitals and stated that there are three largest cities that have been the most dominant media capitals which is Hollywood, Chicago and Hong Kong. Throughout  the research, he also found out that the rapid growth of movies production from China and India have been on the track of becoming one of the potential new media capital too. However, there is argumentation of the neo-orientalism to the new media capitals for example from the India movie and drama production. The argument from the media imperialism have blame that the Indian etiquettes  of over exaggerating on their productions content in movies, dramas and news where they described that the content is very inequity to be send out. Nevertheless, this is one of the negativity of multi directional flows and media imperialism side to be understood.

Hollywood has been the world most successful conglomerates on pioneer of producing excellent movies where it simply flows in to the worldwide salutation. It has been the biggest movies paradise where the masses of best movie productions from all over the world were inspired by the Hollywood’s works. The multi directional media flows have made the world knows massive much about the Hollywood’s pieces like Titanic, Avatar and many more good movies in the box office. However, what I meant of the multi directional media flows which it also teaches us the cultures of the origin western where we slowly embedded in to their cultures too. From watching the movies productions from the west, the locals and very much people around the world are fancy with the western cultures in terms of their attire, food, daily lifestyle and as well as their language. I suppose, Malaysian have been regularly watching the western movies adopted to speaks good tongue of English where I think it is positive multi directional media flows.

Meanwhile besides Hollywood, Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited mainly simply called as TVB for instance,  is one of the of largest competence media capital who produced populated high demand dramas over many countries. TVB holds a very powerful media capital where I believe the Hong Kong TVB have come to the stage of globalize and internationalize where it have drastically emerged to every corner of the world where I strongly believe of when there is a Chinese communities means there will be the existence of TVB. I personally grew up watching Hong Kong dramas where sometimes I am terribly addicted to it and spent my whole day catching up the whole series. Many of the Chinese, spend every night waiting for the new episodes release the series they are catching up where TVB really get very high revenues out of it. Then, other than watching dramas TVB also runs a lot of talent programmes that made their productions to be high on demand, for example, the annual Miss Hong Kong and Chinese International that broadcasted live in many countries. Other than, television productions from Hong Kong, this media capital itself also adapted the flow from the West of coming out of their very own music genre which is the Cantopop where the well-known Hong Kong singers like Jackie Cheung, Eason Chan and etc.

Lastly, the multi directional flows have made big impacts on the world’s entertainment field where Hollywood movie are now conquering our local cinema’s slot compare to the local movie productions. As well as, the TVB dramas have conquer the Chinese communities in Malaysia to watch it rather than the local drama productions.

Curtin, M 2003, ‘Media Capital: Towards the Study of Spatial Flows’, International Journal of Cultural Studies, vol.6, no.2, pp202-228, accessed 5/9/2013,http://ics.sagepub.com/content/6/2/202.

Global and Local Selves in Hip Hop

Hip hop was originated from America mainly in the California and it is also more populated by the African American in this culture. However, the diasporic networks slowly having the young Samoans leaving their homeland for New Zealand and United States of America and they have slowly they have embodied the hip hop dance in the mixing of their very own Samoan’s traditional dance and let them blend into the metropolitan communities of United States. However, before the TV reality show of ‘That’s Incredible’ featured the Samoan youths dancing, hence this reality show have also broadcasted to New Zealand. After the Samoans saw the representatives of their own people featured in the television they felt empowered and a lot of them starting to learn the art of hip hop because rarely the mass media will include the ‘colour’ type of people. It is also referred by Henderson (2006), prior to the mid of 1980’s, television and film featured only the predominantly white actors, newscasters, talk show hosts and commentators. This is how hip hop culture slowly influence, glocalised and hybridized around the world.

If you throw me a simple question and ask me ‘What is hip hop?’ without any hesitation or referral I will definitely rap this words from my mouth, ‘YO! Whatzzup, whatzzup?! You got that swaggin’ yo!’. Beyond any doubts, if you were to throw this question to anyone, I bet they will definitely bounce you the same answer as me. Undeniably, what make us simply know how to answer that modest question is that we are too exposed with the Western songs that we have been listening in the radio or music videos.

Drissel D (2009), has stated that hip hop has often depicted as the world’s leading pop-culture phenomenon and is arguably the best-known music genre to originate in the United States since rock and roll. Both the presence of glocalisation and hybridity has brought the culture of hip hop become a popular culture in the world. In terms of hip hop, there are four elements of different genre which is the Mcing (rapping), DJing (audio mixing and scratching), Graffiti (urban inspired art) and Breaking (beat boxing). These four elements have glocalised around the world and also in terms of Malaysia we have the infamous local DJ which if DJ Goldfish doing audio mixing and scratching, the talented beat boxer Shawn Lee and also the local hip hop singers KRU, Poetic Ammo and Too Phat and also Malaysia’s entertainment company have organized many breakdance competitions for the local youth to participate.

Local infamous DJ Goldfish.

Picture via: http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=_VQ_Khy-USqO6M:&imgrefurl=http://loveyouwrongtime.com/tag/henry-golding/&docid=WUX2mJQDLxYVyM&imgurl=http://loveyouwrongtime.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/goldfish.jpg%253Fw%253D199&w=479&h=720&ei=YdghUu-2CIePrQeVu4CgDg&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:1,s:0,i:84&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=196&tbnw=146&start=0&ndsp=18&tx=49&ty=152

Local Hip hop singer, rapper, Too Phat

Picture via: http://www.google.com/imgres?sa=X&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=tmS8fmVy7TyDVM:&imgrefurl=http://rapperfamily.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html&docid=olhQTktwaDrQXM&imgurl=https://destimes.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/d6c2f-toophatag2.jpg&w=250&h=250&ei=ytghUsLcEInyrQfO0YCQBA&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:0,s:0,i:81&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=188&tbnw=188&start=0&ndsp=20&tx=94&ty=122

Nevertheless, hip hop is often picture by people that have less moralism and filled with negative words. Also Drissel D (2009) have stated that ‘While many people characterize hip-hop in positive terms as a potentially lib-erating and empowering force for oppressed minorities and poor people around the world;  others depict the subculture in highly negative terms, contending that the reputedly gang inspired rap music of hip-hop tends to glorify narcissism, hedonism, intolerance, misogyny,and violence’. Thus, in my own opinion, I always admire how the rappers can express themselves in good conscience, their distinctive graffiti artwork and their artistic yet skillful break dance.

I am a more sentimental person who listen to slow music and slightly less prefer to the hip hop genre. Anyhow, here is a video that I would like to share with you, a song from Eminem titled Mockingbird which I personally felt his heart-touch expressive lyrics through the song.

References:

Drissel, D, 2009. Hip-Hop Hybridity for a Glocalized World: African and Muslim Diasporic Discourses in French Rap Music. THEGLOBAL STUDIES JOURNAL, [Online]. Volume 2, Number 3, 1-2. Available at:http://www.academia.edu/1591080/Hip-Hop_Hybridity_for_a_Glocalized_World_African_and_Muslim_Diasporic_Discourses_in_French_Rap_Music[Accessed 31 August 2013].

Henderson, AK 2006, ‘Dancing Between Islands: Hip Hop and the Samoan Diaspora’, The Vinyl Ain’t Final: Hip Hop and the Globalization of Black Popular Culture. Basu, Dipannita and Sidney J. Lemelle, eds. London: Pluto Press, pp. 180 – 200.

Internationalising Education

Picture source by: http://joshuaps.deviantart.com/art/Foreign-Exchange-5-48440042

Nowadays, many local students may refuse to go abroad their country to go for a higher education which is mainly because they are afraid of the difficulties to adapt to another country’s culture. It usually happen by the students from Asia because of the high level of uncertainty avoidance which actually we couldn’t doubt ourselves from it. It is because the barrier communications occurred between the international students and local students in a higher education settings where the international students very minimal interested on communicating with the non-local students.

Acculturation normally takes place by the international student because they simply apply self-formation that have idealized by Marginson (2012) as international students manage their own lives and continuously fashion their own changing identities. However, many international students have acculturated to the host’s country culture where it is mainly because they want to blend in and survive the chances of communications with the local students. And yet, research shows that most of the local students do not seem too interested to interact with the international students. I personally think that language is the first barrier of communication within the intercultural and cross national communication avoidance happens. Hence, it kinds the international student to put harder effort like improving their English and somehow learn the Australian’s accent to communicate well with the local students. I believe in terms of language, when one speaks similarly like my own mother tongue I will more likely and easier to communicate with them. Thus, not all Australians are parochial and refuses to communicate with the international students, which I thought that when they do so it because they do not how to approach them and worrying that they do not understand English which is because they generalize that all Asians are poor at the language. Likewise, international students also understand that they are weaker in that language and that is why they learn so hard of the host language and without realizing they have acculturated with the Australian’s accent. These students felt that if they can speak that Australian’s accent more likely the can easier blend in and become more comfortable yet closer to the local students.

In fact, ‘multiplicity’ have often live in the international student which Marginson (2012) have referred as students mostly displaced ‘coming home’ in which home itself changes and the student becomes turned into something resembling a local, often after an agonizing inner conflict. As referred to this ‘multiplicity’ statement, to be honest, I myself will feel offended or just bare irritated by how my friends who studied abroad can wholly change in their accent of English. Which somehow I thought that they felt more superior and fancier to speak in that accent and forgot how they actually speak normal English back in their home country. At some point, I realized that I may be too sensitive by judging them in such way because as I mention that international student tried hard to acculturate to their culture and language and somehow they get used to it and may not purposely acculturate to their cultures. In fact, this type of changes or how Marginson (2012) explored as ‘hybridity’ which he explained it as often hybrid self-varies in the way the talk of multiplicity- as the student moves between one life setting and another, the blend of identity changes. It is very challenging for the international student to adapt to another country’s culture just to make themselves comfortable with their living while studying in that particular country and takes acculturation of cultures in to challenge.

In a nutshell, there is ways that particular parties can make a different on international students who studied abroad more balance in overall cross-natural and intercultural communication in terms of international education. International students shall be treated as the same dignity as equal standing and rights without counting on where these people originated from the around the world. The local students shall lower down their parochialism and ethnocentrism towards treating in international students.

Reference

Marginson, S 2012, International education a self-formation: Morphing a profit-making business into an intercultural experience, lecture, University of Wollongong, delivered 21 February.

Globalization

How did we now know about almost all the world famous brand that we just saw in the pictures above? How Mc Donald has successfully become the fast food chain that it can be found in any corner of the world and how often do you see the Coca Cola advertisement on TV or billboards on the road? Nevertheless, we don’t find it no surprising seeing an Indian lady putting on a Nike shoe with her traditional saree? Globalization have made all little wonder takes place in the world. Nevertheless, globalization has led to homogenization in terms of cultures, languages and international world views. Human’s work pace have extra incentives from the contribution of the good side of the rich technology from integrity of globalization which it produces excellent works on intercommunication from everywhere part of the world to connects together. However, there’s also the bad side of globalization that have made the world share a homogenize cultures. The rich technologies have made communications easier of different cultures of people to share their ideas and minds have steered them to be unable to call to mind about their own cultures and tradition. Globalization has made the easiest communication for people to connect have made people use it out of norms and ethics that have made the increasing number of terrorism, exploitation, monopoly power and capitalism.