Modernization theory

A critical political-economy for the twenty-first century
One of the significant contemporary themes in international communication research within the critical political economic tradition is the transition from America's post-war hegemony to a world communication order led by transnational businesses and supported by their respective national states increasingly linked in continental and global structures. Researchers working within this area have focused on transnational corporate and state power, with a particular stress on ownership concentration in media and communication industries world-wide - and the growing trends towards vertical integration - companies controlling production ina specific sector - and horizontal integration - across sectors within and outside media and the communication industry (Garnham, 1990; Tunstall and Palmer, 1991;
McChesney, 1999).
Other scholars have supported movements for greater international information and communication equality, with concerns about incorporating human rights into international communication debates (Hamelink, 1983). Sceptical of the dominant market-based approach, many scholars have defended the public-serviceview of state-regulated media and telecommunication organizations and advanced public interest concerns before government regulatory and policy bodies both at national (Garnham, 1990), regional (Collins, 1998) and international levels (Mattelart, 1994).
In the twenty-first century, the focus of critical scholars is likely to be the analysis of the characteristics of the transnational media and communication corporations and locating them within the changes in international organizations such as the World Trade Organization or the International Telecommunication Union, which have played a crucial role in managing the transition to a market-driven international communication environment. The role of new technologies, especially the Internet, in international communication has also informed the critical research agenda. The dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the advent of 'market socialism' in China and the rightward shift of the left in Europe and across the developing world, have posed a challenge to the political economic theoretical framework. However, a critical understanding of the political economy of international communication is essential if one wants to make sense of the expansion, acceleration and consolidation of the US-managed global electronic economy.

T he globalist thesis incorporates technological change and the rise of transnational corporations (TNCs) with internationally dispersed production and distribution facilities (see Table 4.1 for a list of media conglomerates). McChesney (1999) argued that a few TNCs have stakes in many types of media, ranging from newspapers to television and the Internet and located in different parts of the world. Sparks (2007) made reference to the growth of supranational organizations and the rise of entrepreneurs like Bill Gates (Microsoft), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation) and Steve Jobs (Apple) as distinct characteristics that underlie the most prominent theories of globalization. In his globalization theory, Sparks also mentioned the absence of controlling power, with multiple production centers and complex programme flows, regional markets, and the emergence of global ‘hybridized’ media products.

Along­­side the role of new technologies, globalization is associated with economic dependency and the diminishing role of national economies, which have been transformed to the extent that they now share their sovereignty with bodies responsible for global governance and international law.

Manning (1999: 138) summarized the different aspects of globalism as follows: while cultural globalization generally refers to the spread of Western ideas, values and cultural practices to the rest of the world, economic globalization refers to the expansion of international trade and investment and political globalization to the organization of transnational governmental and regulatory institutions and the diffusion of liberal political ideology and institutional forms.

The media have been instrumental in the creation of the new globalized environment characterized by free trade and the free flow of information, technological advancement and technologically mediated communication, and new institutional arrangements. As mentioned above, the complexity of the media networks and communications corporations involved in the global scene and the speed of their expansion on an international scale is unprecedented. This has put pressure on the current regulatory framework, which is thought to be inadequate to address issues such as the shift in state sovereignty to the international level in media regulation resulting from increased trade and new technologies, and there are increasing calls to reform it.
As Raboy (2007) put it, [T]here is a sense that we are witnessing the emergence of a global media system which appears to elude control, unlike the national media systems where the rules governing the media were clearer. Media issues are increasingly transnational, hence require international interventions and fresh regulatory mechanisms of various types to shape them and drive their development and social responsibilities.