Media Convergence in the World Market Whither India?

by Avik Dutta

Media Conglomeration in today's world has already encroached nationalist domains to take-over the global cultural and political space. It is not about a gradual development of simple media ownership transformation, but an imperialist accumulation toward unipolarity of global media. Noted Journalist Avik Dutta rediscovers the development of global media.

Introduction

The public medium of information and communication* have undergone a sea-change in recent years. The main feature of this change, which seems to be unstoppable, is that in the past, technology was dependent on a huge amount of capital, whereas now it is much cheaper and more easily available.

Secondly, even as we are excited by the new media technology and regard it is as omnipotent, it is worth remembering at the same time that the media is still inaccessible to the great majority of the world population. But the scenario is fast changing, with the underdeveloped countries trying hard to keep pace with the developed world.

The third important factor is the mixing and mingling of technologies; one single gadget is now able to offer a dozen facilities. News has become entertainment, and entertainment has taken on the aspect of news: in short, infotainment. This convergence between content and technology is now used as an instrument – or rather, a weapon – to boost the further development of the media. The increasing demand for satellite technology and information network; the craving for news spiced up with entertainment; the united assault of the radio, TV, computer network and the good old press or newspapers on the public mind – they have all conspired to present the media in a totally new garb.

The last point to note by way of introduction is that 90% of this union between technology and content is under private control, not only in the USA but also in India. Now that we are approaching the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the question that comes up uppermost in our mind is what kind of media is awaiting India in particular and the world in general.

Media and One World Market

Capitalism and globalization are co-eval. From its very birth in western Europe towards the end of the 15th century capitalism sought to develop a world market through its imperialist and colonialist henchmen in Asia and Africa. However, a single world market remained a dream, for by the beginning of the 19th century the world had come to be divided into two distinct parts: on the one hand, there were the militarily powerful and industrialized states and on the other the undeveloped and economically weak nations, some of them independent only in name. An additional factor, – namely, the international rivalry between the industrialized states and the empire – builders acting on their behalf – stood in the way of building a unified world market. Thirdly, in the mid-20th – century years of decolonization the USA emerged as a world power, seeking to economically take on the role of the old-style imperialists and lord it over the world. Simultaneously, during the post-colonial age the newly independent countries, too, were engaged in a struggle to rebuild themselves industrially. In this endeavour, many of them received the support of the Soviet Union, much to the chagrin of the USA. The cold war between the American and Soviet camps thus turned out to be a stumbling block in the path that could have led to the formation of a single world market.

The political disintegration of the Soviet Union has removed a serious obstacle in the path of American capitalism. It has come to dominate a unipolar world almost unopposed since the last decade of the 20th century. The political hegemony of the US has furthermore been bolstered by the development of electronic technology which seems to obliterate political boundaries. The new-born Multinational Companies (MNCs) have no respect for national identities; they are international. The owner of an MNC could be an American holding a German passport or a German carrying an American passport! Today’s media has likewise assumed the variegated character of modern multinational economy, being dependent on news and entertainment rolled into one: infotainment. No longer known by any distinct local or national birthmark, today’s media is a universal enterprise or a global industry.

The world has reportedly become a global village. But to what extent has the global media industry been able to spread its net among the people? How large is the audience composing today’s information society? Which part of society is reflected in this universal media enterprise? How extensive is the information society which is so hyped about? Would it not be correct to say that it is but the people of the more developed nations who really enjoy being part of the information flow? In other words, is the new infotainment really aimed at catering to the needs of the underprivileged many, regardless of their age and gender?

For the entire write up follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=827

Miguel Littin rips open wounds of Chilean history in film DAWSON ISLAND

by Pradip Biswas

This critic has met Miguel Littin, the rebel director of Chile at least four times in India. He is also a close friend of Mrinal Sen whose films have inspired him a lot. On each occasion, we have renewed our camaraderie and vowed to make and write cinema that has an aesthetic assault on conservative taste. Our friendship is still in tact and grows from strength to strength. A book authored by this critic called CINEMA OF MIGUEL LITTIN is now in the pipeline.

The agitprop director Miguel Littin of Chile has since ripped open the cruelty and wounds of political history of Chile during the era of Salvador Allende, the first communist President of Chile through his latest film on Dawson ISLAND, 10. Based on the diary of a prisoner of war by Sergio Bitar, the film traces the darkest times of Chile when the CIA along with the rabid cruelty of the military Junta overthrew the legitimate, popular Government of Allende, destroying the democratic power-sharing of thousands of Chileans. "A story starts when someone is born, someone dies, someone leaves, or someone arrives."—says director Miguel Littin, quoting Ernest Hemingway. Dawson Island 10 is a cinematic manifesto that highlights the abysmal horrors imposed upon the ministers, senators and deputies of Allende who were banished in a hill-ridden, deserted island by the Military regime backed by CIA.

The digesis of the film exposes the arrival in September 1973 of approximately 50 former Chilean President Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity ministers, senators and deputies to Dawson Island, a concentration camp "at the end of the world". The latitude estimated signals 53 South at the western end of the Strait of Magellan—and introduces a political crime largely unknown by the world, let alone most Chileños; a calculated historical omission that acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littin sought to redress through his feature film Dawson Island 10 (2009)."We wanted to change history, but destiny led us to this strange sensation of uncertainty and defeat. What did we do wrong? What mistakes did we make?", lamented Sergio Bitar, a Dawson Island prisoner, and author of Isla 10. To bolster the significance of the political film, Baldovino Gomez, Dawson Island prisoner said: "I felt like the protagonist of one of those World War II movies. When we arrived at the camp, some of us cried to see so many wire fences. There were 27. It was difficult to believe”. The film is the first Chilean-Brazilian co-production and likewise represented Chile at Spain's Goya Awards.

While tackling an issue of highly pointed political nature, Littin hinges much on obtaining materials and memoirs related to Jose Tohá whose testimony at the Chile Information Project looks vital and relevant. According to Jose Toha: "The island produced an enormous feeling of isolation, of intense cold, wind, few sunny days. It was a prison, surrounded by water, with absolutely no escape. One of the great things was to be allowed to carve the stones: it relieved the stress and for some brought in some income.” Sharp agonies of the prisoners and their hellish life in concentration island is captured with vibrant authenticity by Littin. Each political character, given his cool and polite tolerance under cannibalistic ruling force, stands out. What is sharply evident is the inhuman tortures and humiliations inflicted on the innocent politicians, more human than humans. A reading into the ensemble visual frames, marked by treachery, damn lies and furious military treatment, tends to acquaint us with the tragic history of betrayals, ignominy, animalism and macabre acts of CIA pulling the strings. All that appears is ghastly, infernal and subhuman. Littin has made it clear in his interview: "that the book and the film were two different bodies, but with the same soul." 

For the entire write up follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1515

Jhumpa Lahiri: The Immigrant Experience In Unaccustomed Earth

by Dr. Anushna Biswas

Dr. Anushna Biswas in this account unfolds not only the Unaccustomed Earth or Jhumpa Lahiri but the supercultural association of women with the contemporary postglobalized world.

In the works of immigrant writers, the focus on women seems to be worked upon in the light of ‘globalization’. Women now are no longer confined within the four walls of a family. They deftly handle both looking after their family as well as their external jobs. They have set foot on the moon, they are computer wizards and they largely occupy the pasture of profession dealing with the media. The space of identification with the world has expanded for women. They are no longer culturally specified. They can be seen in crossover to an international diaspora. Their struggle is no longer confined to gender bias but also against alienation in a foreign land. Women are now found to be the confluencing point of the East and the West. Here, it is important to observe how they succeed or fail to walk the tightrope of the freedom of the West and the ethos of the East.  In this context, I have tried to anatomize Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earthwith an impartial scalpel. It may be mentioned the title of the book is borrowed from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s quote and strongly so.

In society a woman plays the role of both a maker and a breaker of a family. She is the one who preserves the family ethos. But when she is brought to the verge of rebellion, she has the power to debunk all the blueprints of the society. Woman’s role defines the greater sociological matrix of the society. Through the image of a woman the writers construct and deconstruct her identity vis-à-vis the family and the society. Such portrayals, as Patricia Meyer Spacks says, in her Female Imagination: “to investigate how to use their creativity and to combat their characteristic difficulties”.

A woman seeks not just empowerment but also recognition of the self. In her comparative analysis, Meyer Spacks points out that there are two writers who believe that it is emotionally possible for a woman to achieve what they want. They are Charlotte Bronte and George Eliot. In marriage, motherhood and taking care of husband and children a woman discover her ‘self image’. It is important in social system to see how a woman struggles to discover her support system through her strength of survival in the society. A woman is supposed to balance her emotional and practical needs which often do not get recognized. About such mind-set, Meyer Spacks intones: “Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell define in fictional terms the delicate emotional balancing point on which women must poise between commitment to others and preservation of their selves”.

For the entire write up follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1578

The Scape Exclusive:Up, close and personal with Annie Griffiths

by Abira Pathak
 

The city of Kolkata had a rare date with Annie Griffiths Belt. Photographer extraordinaire, she has been one of National Geographic’s foremost photojournalist and lecturers, joining the house in 1978. Her passion has taken her across thousands of nations and she has garnered a gamut of experience. She has worked in dozens of magazines and global projects, some of which are the rarest and choicest works in photojournalism across the globe. She was a visiting professor of photography at Ohio University in 1986-87. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Ripple Effect Images, a non-profit organization, which documents the effect of climate change on communities around the world, as well as the programs that help poor women cope with environmental change. Born and brought up in Minnesota, she commenced her professional career while she was still in school, working as a staff photographer for the Minnesota Daily. She was awarded from the National Press Photographers Association, The Associated Press, The National Organization for Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.

She has several publications to her name. A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel, a photo memoir, published in 2009 created ripples around the world. Her latest publication, Simply Beautiful Photographs, published in October, 2010, is a visual extravaganza that appeals to the aesthetic. It comprises of some rare, unused photographs from the archive of the National Geographic Magazine. She graced the ongoing 35th Kolkata International Book Fair partially to promote her publication and as a part of her ongoing tour of discovering India. Our Scape correspondent, Abira Pathak, was lucky enough to have a one-on-one tété-a-tété with this very unassuming and elegant lady:
Scape: You are one of the first women photographers in the stalwart channel, National Geographic. How was the journey?
 

Annie: I think being a woman, it has been a wonderful advantage…I really do. You know, I think it’s an advantage because women are less threatening and the kind of work that I do, you want to blend in. you don’t want to draw attention to yourself…and so people are less intimidated by a strange woman walking into their neighborhood in a strange way! I always thought and found it to be an advantage… (Smiles)

Scape: You have had an extraordinarily illustrious career with zillions of experiences almost everyday! Any certain incident or incidents that you would like to share with us…

Annie: I did another book a couple of years ago that’s called, ‘A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel’…and it’s like a photo memoir…of memories that I have in kind of my journey through all of that! And there are just so many. There are just days when I used to connect with the people… I had a very very touching day in Pakistan one time and I was in this very very remote village and the people were very poor and yet they showed me every kindness. They offered to let me sleep there, they fed me and they played music for me. It was like even though they had nothing but they gave everything to a stranger. Those days really…you know…they can’t be replaced. It was such a privilege! 

For the entire interview follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1806

The Scape Exclusive: Jordon Pleasant in his Linguistic Journey of Latin to Arabic

by Shreya Das

A Fulbright Scholar, a linguist, a ‘translator’, who spoke about Literature, Cultures, Aesthetics and Jibananda Das. His journey of linguistics started from Latin and also travelled the Nile valley to explore the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. He believes in theories but hardly implement it practically. Shreya Das took the opportunity of his presence at the 35th Kolkata Book Fair to rediscover his journey and experiences.

 

Scape: What inspired you to start translation of Bengali Poem?

Pleasant: Hmmm… actually my inspiration first came from reading Geetanjali that was translated into English. When I first read it, felt so beautiful that I decided if I could do something in my life to learn and study Bengali, to read Geetanjali in original. So it was Tagore who inspired me into Bengali Literature.

Scape: So how does it feel to be part of this ‘Fair’ on Tagore’s 150th Birth Anniversary?

Pleasant: Yes…it’s a huge honour for me to be here. After 150 years, his influence is just as strong if not stronger than it had been when he was alive. It’s a great honour for me to participate in this legacy.
 
Scape: I read that you know 10 languages, and it all started with Latin…

Pleasant: (Laughs) Yeah… as a child I was very involved in literature, particularly in English literature and then the process of studying English literature led me to the process of studying Ancient literature. And the tradition of studying English literature is often linked back to the ancient Roman Literature. I was only ten when I took my first Latin class, and I fell in love with learning languages. After learning Latin I wanted to learn every language of the world. (Smiles) unfortunately that’s not possible but I learnt some of them.

Scape : You have also learnt Egyptian hieroglyphics. So if you could put some light on that…

Pleasant: Well… Egyptian hieroglyphics were interesting. Actually Egyptian hieroglyphics don’t contain any literature for say, both were used for simple documentary purposes. I studied Hieroglyphics more to learn how to change photographic system to lithographic system. Previously the first writing system was pictograms then shortly thereafter they also developed phonetics alphabets, so I even studied that. It was interesting but there’s very literature to study in that.

Scape : Currently which Language are you studying?

Pleasant: I am learning Arabic now.

Scape: You have learnt and still you are learning so many languages, how would you endorse it?

Pleasant: All languages are inter-connected at some point, and are used to communicate verbal things. They all support vast bodies of literature which are wonderful and beautiful. I think most important similarity among all languages is that we can use them to communicate and create some beautiful literatures.

For the entire interview follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1812

The United States now poses the Greatest Threat to civilization of any country in History

by Edward S. Herman

 

Noted media analyst Prof. Edward S. Herman unfolds the core of global militarization and neo-liberalism to establish the threat of US supremacy to the third world nations.

This harsh title is not based on the belief that U.S. leaders are the most vicious ever, although they are amply arrogant, ruthless and even vicious, rendered more hypocritical by the veneer of self-righteousness and Godly service. Rather it rests, first, on the facts that they have far more destructive power than any predecessors, have already used it and threaten to escalate their violence, and are not only subject to inadequate constraints but operate in a political culture that is volatile, manipulable, and contains threatening irrational elements. The rise of U.S. destructive power, far beyond anything related to national “defense,” and far beyond the capabilities of  any potential rivals, was clearly purposeful and designed to serve both the transnational business and financial interests of  the U.S. elite and the contractor-Pentagon-politician vested interest in militarization—the military-industrial complex (MIC).

The so-called “defense budget” should properly be called an “offense budget.” This  budget, of enormous size—now exceeding the total for the rest of the world taken together--and the increasing aggressiveness of  the U.S. elite in using its military superiority to “project power” by threats and violence in distant places, has put great pressure on other countries to build up their own arms. They need the arms not only to defend themselves against possible U.S. attack, but also against the U.S.’s use of  its military superiority to establish threatening alliances and bases on their very borders. Such alliance building and basing has been carried out against substantial powers such as Russia and China, as well as lesser regional powers such as Iran. With imperialist arrogance, U.S. officials and pundits have found the arms budget increases and weapons-testing responses of these lesser powers to be “provocative” and “challenging.” But these responses are absolutely inevitable, and the U.S. offense budget and power projection promotes the advance of an already emerging new arms race.

For the enite write up follow the link : http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1420

Julia Kristeva: Semiotic Voyage

by Pradip Biswas

 

 

Julia Kristeva, the poststructuralist icon in post-modern literature, is a vigilant outsider. Thus is she widely known among the women filmmakers of the international cinema. Often addressed as “bonkers”, Kristeva could defy any slanging match pelted against her works and her semiotics. She is famous for discovering “inner garden” that helps her followers to make shape of intimacy, call for digression in conventional codes and iconoclast in defining cold-layered “modernism” running strong in time-flows.

While this film scholar and semiotic analyst took some women directors and their films from France , Peru and Danemark, he finds an unique conflation of Kristeva’s semiotics found in interpretation and those image-oriented films of the said filmmakers. The women directors are Claire Denis, Claudia Llosa and Sussane Bier whose films have a close propinquity with feminist agenda. As always, Kristeva seems to be associated with three concepts she now likes to pass off as gaff. Le semiotique is the glittering idea that speech thrives on through sub-verbal codes as by what is actually said. According to her the real pulse of signification is done in the "cleavage between words and meanings". Such proclivity of Kristeva indicates the sub- or pre-verbal construct is something that, in a way, she now associates with the liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Said she:” "All my childhood was bathed in this.”

The critic John Sutherland of Britain has noted: “The second of Kristeva's hallmark ideas is what she calls `abjection’. Why, Kristeva inquires, are we fascinated by things that disgust and horrify us?.” Sutherland refers to Kristeva’s understanding that reveals:  "There looms, within abjection, one of those violent, dark revolts of being, directed against a threat that seems to emanate from an exorbitant outside or inside, ejected beyond the scope of the possible, the tolerable, the thinkable. It lies there, quite close, but it cannot be assimilated. It beseeches, worries, and fascinates desire, which, nevertheless, does not let itself be seduced."

For the entire write up follow the link :  http://www.thescape.in/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1906