International Communication Gazette

/ This study examines the impact that critical historical events might have on a society’s acceptance of foreign culture. It focuses on whether the 9/11 attacks in 2001 have changed Americans’ reception of foreign-language films. Drawing upon the concept of cultural discount from media economics, the article first postulates that movies of low-context genres and from a less culturally distant market should perform better at the box office. It then asks if the impact of such cultural factors varied before and after 9/11. Analysis of the data of 594 foreign-language movies shown in the US between 1984 and 2006 reveals that the expectations derived from the cultural discount thesis receive empirical support only after 9/11. The findings have important implications for the cultural discount thesis and illustrate that critical events like 9/11 can bring about sudden historical shifts in a society’s cultural attitudes.

/ This study used computer-assisted textual analysis of frames as ideological cues in news coverage of the Iraqi 2005 elections by CNN.com and Aljazeera.net. CNN’s reporting revealed an ideology of a cultural conquest, framing the elections with sentimental patriotism toward western-style democracy. Al Jazeera’s texts revealed distrust and suspicion toward the US, framing the elections with skepticism, a lack of legitimacy and chaos. Despite claims of journalistic objectivity, the analysis found a divisive ideology expressed by both news organizations. The study bears out the importance of ‘global objectivity’ to provide critical, cross-cultural perspectives in an age of expanding media globalization.

/ This article examines children’s television in the context of the debate on media globalization by positioning Viacom-owned Nickelodeon, currently beamed into more than 400 million households, as a quintessential type of transnational television that is critical to understanding the contemporary landscape of media industries and cultures worldwide. The author argues that the majority of globally branded children’s television networks, in comparison to other types of transnational television often associated with multidirectional media flow, tend to be merely clones of the original US versions. However, this argument is intended to move beyond traditional references to either cultural or American imperialism. By counterposing two locales, the article uses Nickelodeon’s operations in New Zealand and Australia as a case study to critically examine the corporate practice of localization employed by a US transnational children’s multimedia brand in different media markets.