scholarly journals If You Are the One and SBS: the cultural economy of difference

2020 ◽  
Vol 175 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-19
Author(s):  
Wanning Sun ◽  
Jing Han
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Cultural Economy ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
Industry Studies ◽  
The Media ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Broadcasting Service ◽  
The One ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Popular Television

If You Are the One ( IYATO) is China’s most popular television dating show. Since Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) bought it 6 years ago, the show has attracted a cult following among English-speaking viewers. SBS subsequently purchased several other Chinese reality shows, and the Seven Network launched its own version of IYATO. But none of these programmes have proven to be as enduringly popular as IYATO. Taking an industry studies approach, this article draws on the inside knowledge of one of the authors, and on interviews with several other SBS employees, to shed light on the media industry’s thinking behind importing cultural products from China, particularly against the backdrop of fear and anxiety about China’s influence. We also ask why IYATO has endeared itself to Australia’s English-speaking viewers in ways that the majority of Chinese media content has not, despite the Chinese government’s myriad soft power initiatives.

Chinese Television in Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642110120
Author(s):  
Alessandro Jedlowski
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Media ◽  
Chinese Television ◽  
Media Company

On the basis of the results of an ongoing research project on the activities of the Chinese media company StarTimes in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, this paper analyses the fluid and fragmentary dimension of the engagements between Chinese media and African publics, while equally emphasizing the power dynamics that underlie them. Focusing on a variety of ethnographic sources, it argues for an approach to the study of Chinese media expansion in Africa able to take into account, simultaneously, the macro-political and macro-economic factors which condition the nature of China–Africa media interactions, the political intentions behind them (as, for example, the Chinese soft power policies and their translation into specific media contents), and the micro dimension of the practices and uses of the media made by the actors (producers and consumers of media) in the field.

Othering as soft-power discursive practice: China Daily’s construction of Trump’s America in the 2016 presidential election

Politics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengxin Pan ◽  
Benjamin Isakhan ◽  
Zim Nwokora
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Discursive Practice ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Discursive Practices ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
Power Construction ◽  
The Media

The relationship between Chinese soft power and Chinese media has been a focus of a growing body of literature. Challenging a resource-based conception of soft power and a transmission view of communication that inform much of the debate, this article adopts a discursive approach to soft power and media communication. It argues that their relationship is not just a matter of resource transmission, but one of discursive construction, which begs the questions of what mediated discursive practices are at play in soft power construction and how. Addressing these oft-neglected questions, we identify a typology of three soft-power discursive practices: charm offensive, Othering offensive, and defensive denial. Focusing on the little-understood practice of Othering offensive, we illustrate its presence in Chinese media through a critical discourse analysis of China Daily’s framing of Donald Trump and the United States, and argue that the Othering offensive in Chinese media that portrays Trump’s America as a dysfunctional and declining Other serves to construct a Chinese self as more responsible, dynamic, and attractive. Adding a missing discursive dimension to the study of soft power and the media, this study has both scholarly and practical implications for analysing a nation’s soft power strategy.

From concrete walls to digital walls: transmedia construction of place myth in Ihwa Mural Village, South Korea

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1326-1342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youjeong Oh
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Media Representation ◽  
Cultural Economy ◽  
Property Value ◽  
Concrete Walls ◽  
Residential Neighborhood ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Construction Of Place

Media representation is not a neutral site for reflection of reality, but a process through which discourses are constructed and circulated. When presented in media, urban space is re-mediated and its meanings are newly configured. Discursive currents do not simply remain in the media sphere, but reshape the cultural economy of certain places by attracting tourists and inducing property value increases. This article examines the process in which Ihwa Mural Village, a disenfranchised residential neighborhood in South Korea, has become one of the ‘best photo spots’ for tourists through representation via three distinct types of media – murals, popular culture, and Instagram. The analyses focus on the double functions of each medium: branding function to create particular place meanings, on the one hand, and power to create distance between representation and community realities on the other. This dual tendency is reinforced by transmedia dynamics. When featured in diverse media, images of Ihwa Village proliferate, attracting more participants and enabling further transmedia interactions. Yet, transmedia image flows accentuate only visual and aesthetic qualities of place. The expansive and subtractive transmedia construction consolidates the place myth, while the same process advances its detachment from the reality of the place.

scholarly journals Netflix audience data, streaming industry discourse, and the emerging realities of ‘popular’ television

2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372110227
Author(s):  
Michael L Wayne
Keyword(s):  
Media Industry ◽  
Data Streaming ◽  
Industry Studies ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Industry Studies ◽  
Popular Television

Using the media industry studies approach, this article provides a history of the industrial discourses surrounding Netflix’s audience data. From Netflix’s entry into the streaming market in 2007 until late-2018, the company did not publicize information about viewership. During this time, executives’ public discussions of proprietary data are understood in relation to multiple organizational goals: differentiating the streaming platform from the traditional television industry, denigrating traditional television industry practices, and deflecting criticism. In late-2018, the company began selectively publishing viewership numbers for a small number of original titles to highlight the popularity of the platform’s original content. Although the company maintains its anti-transparency policies, the shift toward selective data releases has significant implications regarding Netflix’s relationship with the traditional television industry. This analysis concludes with a discussion of streaming audience data that situates in the emerging realities of ‘popular’ television in the context the medium’s broader transformations and continuities.

scholarly journals Culture As Soft Power In International Relations

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolae Haneş ◽  
Adriana Andrei
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Hard Power ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Will ◽  
The One ◽  
Optimum Solution

Abstract A global approach has almost generalized over the last decades, suggesting that human security and, related to it – society security- are among the most important themes of contemporary international relations. The management of the Yugoslavian crisis, the terrorist attacks of September the 11th, 2001, as well as the debates over US and its allies’ military interventions in Kosovo, Afghanistan or Iraq, pointed out, on the one hand, that states are not prepared to deal with the cross-border threats of the 21st century alone, and, on the other hand, the fact that military interventions (the “hard” approach to security) do not always represent the optimum solution in managing international security. However, peace-building and security building (the ”soft” approach) are usually more discreet, do not attract attention, do not draw the media interest. In recent studies, the issue of “soft” power and “hard” power has been increasingly discussed. “Soft” power refers to the power derived mainly from cultural and imagological sources, exercising its influence more through persuasion or by attracting the weak one to a particular model rather than by coercion. ”Hard” power consists especially of military and economic means contributing to enforcing the will of one actor over another actor. These two forms of power do not exclude each other, but, on the contrary, combining “soft” with “hard” means facilitates greater efficiency in achieving the main goal.

scholarly journals From watchdog to lapdog: political influence of China on news reporting in Malawi

Afrika Focus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mwaona Nyirongo
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
News Media ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
News Reporting ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Reports

The arrival of China in Malawi has been characterised by a growing sense of uncertainty among academics who have expressed concern over the intentions of the superpower in the country. There are fears that China would like to extend its influence to Malawi as part of a broader push to increase its influence in global politics and economics. That push is in part exercised through the media. This study analyses the perception of Malawian journalists on news media reports of Chinese activities in Malawi. It uses content analysis to understand how the mediascape had changed from 2001-2007 when China had not yet established diplomatic relations with Malawi, and the period from January 2008-2020 in which diplomatic relations with China have existed. The article examines the shifts in journalistic representations of China in Malawi and develops prompts and probes from which journalist interviews were conducted. From the content analysis, it appears that from 2001-2007, Malawian media, especially The Daily Times, was very negative about China, uncritically reproducing Western representations of China. This changed after January 2008 when the press leaned towards an acknowledgement of Chinese activities. Through interviews journalists have indicated that the Chinese government offers certain opportunities such as exchange visits to journalists, making it difficult for them to bite the hand that feeds them. This ‘soft power’ is backed up by the repressive power of the Malawian government that uses intimidation to force journalists to report in their favour, thereby helping to create a positive image for China in Malawi. Journalists report that the significant shifts in journalistic representations of China have been mirrored by changes in the conceptualisation of journalistic roles in Malawi’s mediascape. KEY WORDS: SOLUTION JOURNALISM, CONSTRUCTIVE JOURNALISM, CHINESE MEDIA, AFRICAN JOURNALISM CULTURE

Murder with Impunity: The Construction of Arab Masculinities and Honor Crimes

1970 ◽  
pp. 38-45
Author(s):  
May Abu Jaber
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
Male Authority ◽  
Cultural Networks ◽  
Gender Specific

Violence against women (VAW) continues to exist as a pervasive, structural,systematic, and institutionalized violation of women’s basic human rights (UNDivision of Advancement for Women, 2006). It cuts across the boundaries of age, race, class, education, and religion which affect women of all ages and all backgrounds in every corner of the world. Such violence is used to control and subjugate women by instilling a sense of insecurity that keeps them “bound to the home, economically exploited and socially suppressed” (Mathu, 2008, p. 65). It is estimated that one out of every five women worldwide will be abused during her lifetime with rates reaching up to 70 percent in some countries (WHO, 2005). Whether this abuse is perpetrated by the state and its agents, by family members, or even by strangers, VAW is closely related to the regulation of sexuality in a gender specific (patriarchal) manner. This regulation is, on the one hand, maintained through the implementation of strict cultural, communal, and religious norms, and on the other hand, through particular legal measures that sustain these norms. Therefore, religious institutions, the media, the family/tribe, cultural networks, and the legal system continually disciplinewomen’s sexuality and punish those women (and in some instances men) who have transgressed or allegedly contravened the social boundaries of ‘appropriateness’ as delineated by each society. Such women/men may include lesbians/gays, women who appear ‘too masculine’ or men who appear ‘too feminine,’ women who try to exercise their rights freely or men who do not assert their rights as ‘real men’ should, women/men who have been sexually assaulted or raped, and women/men who challenge male/older male authority.

News Probe: What Does It Tell Us about Chinese Journalism Today?

MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Hugo De Burgh ◽  
Xin Xin
Keyword(s):  
Social Functions ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Chinese Media ◽  
The Media

Investigative journalism is a genre of journalism which was until some 15 years ago widely thought of as an Anglophone phenomenon. Yet, sini.:e thc early 1990s Chinese investigative journalists have had notable achievcments and rheir work suggests promise of further surprises. The CCTV investigative programme News Probe deploys techniques and approaches that are apparently very similar to those in use in the Anglophone investigative journa­lism, but are there differences? And how may we account for the differeni.:es? The author showed four editions of News Prohe (translated) 10 two leading produ­cers and commissioners ofBritish television investigative journalism and asked rhem to comment on them; he provides their evaluation and then interprets the difterences iden­tified ancl places his interpretation within a context of current wcstern scholarship on the Chinese media. That the investigative genre now cxists in societies very different from thosc of which it was supposed to be uniquely a product givcs rise to questions about the con<litions that make for investigative journalism, the power of the media and their social functions in different societies.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from ethics: the 2019 Israel Folau media controversy as a case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1329878X2199289
Author(s):  
Jay Daniel Thompson ◽  
Denis Muller
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Rugby Player ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One

This article examines how freedom of speech is framed in the media controversy surrounding the Australian rugby player Israel Folau’s April 2019 Instagram post. A content analysis and framing analysis of newspaper reportage reveals that the controversy has been largely discussed in terms of whether or not Folau’s speech was being curtailed and whether this curtailing indicates a broader, ideologically motivated censoriousness. This discussion is problematic in that it says little about the actual substance of Folau’s post. This article argues that debates surrounding freedom of speech such as the one involving Folau could and should be enriched by an engagement with ethical principles. This engagement is premised on a commitment to the free exchange of views, while acknowledging that ‘speech’ is not always inherently beneficial for democracy, nor worth defending.

scholarly journals “As quiet as a mouse”: Media use in Azerbaijan

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (s1) ◽  
pp. 893-911
Author(s):  
Ilgar Seyidov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Supportive Role ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One

AbstractDuring the Soviet period, the media served as one of the main propagandist tools of the authoritarian regime, using a standardized and monotype media system across the Soviet Republics. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, 15 countries became independent. The transition from Soviet communism to capitalism has led to the reconstruction of economic, socio-cultural, and political systems. One of the most affected institutions in post-Soviet countries was the media. Media have played a supportive role during rough times, when there was, on the one hand, the struggle for liberation and sovereignty, and, on the other hand, the need for nation building. It has been almost 30 years since the Soviet Republics achieved independence, yet the media have not been freed from political control and continue to serve as ideological apparatuses of authoritarian regimes in post-Soviet countries. Freedom of speech and independent media are still under threat. The current study focuses on media use in Azerbaijan, one of the under-researched post-Soviet countries. The interviews for this study were conducted with 40 participants living in Nakhichevan and Baku. In-depth, semi-structured interview techniques were used as research method. Findings are discussed under six main themes in the conclusion.

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