目次
Foreword
Editor and Contributors
Introduction
The Parallel Transition between Nation-states and the Media(Kenji Suzuki)
Part One Borderless Media and Nation-States
Chapter One
Challenges from Cross-border Media and New Media(Somkiat Tangkitvanich)
Chapter Two
Expanding the Sense of Belonging between the Media and their Audience(Akira Hashimoto)
Chapter Three
Policies for National Culture in Australia(Yoriko Kawakami)
Part Two Media Concentration and Nation-States
Chapter Four
Rupert Murdoch’s Global Ambition(Rodney Tiffen)
Chapter Five
Media Ownership Regulation in U.S.(Iwao Kidokoro)
Chapter Six
Media Reorganization in South Korea(Lee Yeon)
Part Three Media Counterparts and Nation-States
Chapter Seven
The Internet and Political Expression in China(Fan Shiming)
Chapter Eight
The Potential of Online Journalism as a Force for Social Change(Hiroshi Nagai)
Chapter Nine
Media and Marginalized Ethnic Minorities(Masao Ayabe)
前書きなど
Foreword(Kenji Suzuki)
Nation-states are in an unsettled condition. As a result of economic globalization, money, goods and services cross borders so easily that the territorial sovereignty of Nation-states is weakening. With the constant migration of human beings, including immigrants, refugees and foreign workers, citizenship is in need of redefinition. In addition to international agencies and international systems, ultra-united nations like the European Union (EU) and international Non-Government Organizations (NGO), are constantly being formed. Moreover, universal standards for validating human rights and environmental protectionism are being pursued, a factor that also places restrictions on the absolute sovereignty of Nation-states.
The question remains, is it Nation-states that are“swaying”or is it state systems? As much as ever, capitalism, as the global economic system, appears to need state systems as coordinators. With the re-nationalization of states on the rise, states are trying to control the movement of people and maintain a position of watchfulness. On the other hand, the centralization of power, which binds nations, territories and sovereignties together, is losing control and states’attractiveness for nations is fading. As evidence, people are rejecting the right to vote, are trying to get out of paying taxes and have lost trust in the power of the police. More than two hundred years have passed since the birth of Nation-states in the West. Recently, nations and states that constitute Nation-states are growing into separate entities and citizens of sovereign nations are becoming rootless individuals. As nations become separate from state systems, they are losing their identity and banal nationalism or petit nationalism is welling out.
Nation-states themselves have changed considerably in the past two hundred years. Parallel with this change in Nation-states, the media has also changed drastically. It is said that the media functions as an ideological apparatus for Nation-states, much like that of education. The media played an important role during the formative period of Nation-states. The new media that developed at that time lent a considerable degree of support during the prosperous period. If that is so, then today’s highly-sophisticated media is not functioning as an ideological apparatus. It is possible to say that the framework of Nation-states is weakening. Inversely, digital media, virtually and literally, may take power away from Nation-states.
This volume addresses the mutual relationship between changes taking place in Nation-states and the media, especially the role of the new media in influencing Nation-states. In addition to the introductory chapter, the book is composed of three sections.
In the introduction, Professor Kenji Suzuki deals with the questions of how Nation-states are swaying in terms of absolute sovereignty, their territories surrounded by borders, and the rights of citizenship, all of which represent the three fundamental components of Nation-states. It is easy to conclude that Nation-states, rather than states, are in jeopardy. His concern, however, is how the media has reinforced Nation-states over the past two hundred years, particularly since the advent of the new digital media divides nations and the states of Nation-states. Because nations remain separate from state systems, they are losing their sense of identity.
All three sections use the key words “border-crossings,”“concentration,”and“confrontation”to explore how the new media influences Nation-states. Section One focuses on the keyword,“border-crossings.”In Chapter One entitled“Challenges from Cross-border Media and New Media,”Dr. Somkiat Tangkitvanich, chief researcher for the Thailand Development Research Institute Foundation, shows how digital media can invade Nation-states in spite of national borders by encroaching on Nation-states“horizontally.”According to Tangkitvanich, among Southeast Asian countries, Thailand has shown particular enthusiasm for developing an information technology (IT) industry. Ex-Prime Minister Thaksin’s government endeavored to make Thailand a media hub and the center for dispatching information in Asia through IT. This policy has been consistent with the Thaksin family’s lucrative business interests. Still it may be said that the new media, in the form of mobile telephones and personal computers, has worked to erode Thaksin’s political power base. Tangkitvanich’s contribution lays out the intricacies in the new media movement.
In Chapter Two entitled“Expanding the Sense of Belonging between the Media and their Audience,”Professor Akira Hashimoto discusses the rapid expansion of the European Union (EU) and how it creates conflicts with nationalism. Although this is sometimes exaggerated by the mass media, the media has exposed the situation. This reflects a test of EU journalism, which serves to construct the EU’s identity among EU countries. The movement is progressing at a slow pace, but it does encourage transnational journalism.
The author of Chapter Three entitled“Policies for National Culture in Australia,”Yoriko Kawakami, assistant research fellow at the Center of Asian Pacific Studies at Seikei University, focuses on Australia, a multi-national country that has adopted multiculturalism. Because the national language in Australia is English, the country is easily swayed by global market economics. Indeed, the United States’ influence on media culture cannot be under-emphasized. Australia formulates its policies pertaining to national culture in keeping with multiculturalism. Kawakami’s argument reflects a mutual attack against globalism and multi-national industries.
Section Two focuses on the keyword,“concentration.”The media industry has seen a spate of mergers because digital technology enables the unification of various forms of media. Even before the onset of digitalization, the media industry may be described as a politically oligopolistic market. However, digitalization has furthered the spread of media oligopoly on a global scale.“Concentration”by digital media results in attacks on Nation-states“from above”and guides global trends.
In Chapter Four entitled“Rupert Murdoch’s Global Ambition,”Professor Rodney Tiffen discusses so-called Australian“media king”Rupert Murdoch’s methods for exercising control over 150 newspapers across the world and his information network, which reportedly reaches 70% of the world’s population. Tiffen analyzes Murdoch’s ultimate goals and his M&A (merger and acquisition) strategies.
In Chapter Five, entitled“Media Ownership Regulation in the United States”Professor Iwao Kidokoro concentrates on M&A policies within the U. S. media industry. Kidokoro points out that a small number of businessmen control the industry. Fundamental revisions to the telecommunications law in 1996 worked to speed up this trend. At the same time, an opposition movement against M&A mergers has taken root in the U. S. based on the belief that M&A mergers may infringe on freedom of the press. Kidokoro, an American-trained attorney and expert in the field of telecommunications, apprises us of the present situation surrounding the American media world.
Professor Lee Yeon, author of Chapter Six,“Media Reorganization in South Korea”explores the rapid rate of change in the mass media environment in South Korea. The development of IT technology has played a key role in this dramatic change. Chapter Eight complements Lee’s study because of a survey on the deregulation policy under President Rho Moo-hyun and the future of newspapers and broadcasting.
Section Three focuses on“confrontation”from the vantage point of ethnicity, citizens and resistance movements.“Confrontation”by the digital media is not only threatening to dethrone the mass media from its position as king of the media, but it also is beginning to drastically change the configuration of Nation-states. In Chapter Seven, Professor Fan Shiming’s contribution,“The Internet and Political Expression in China”explores the Internet wave that has spread to China where the number of Internet users reputedly has surpassed 100 million. The Internet serves as a forum for discussion where citizens express various opinions and engage in candid debate. The Chinese government, in conjunction with the Chinese Communist Party, is enforcing tough control measures not only on the mass media, but also on Internet activities. Nevertheless, Fan predicts that the Internet will affect the Chinese government’s control over the press.
Chapter Eight entitled“The Potential of Online Journalism as a Force for Social Change”written by Professor Hiroshi Nagai focuses on the Internet community that swept Roh Moo-hyun to power in the 2002 presidential election and forced many anti-Roh incumbent legislators out of office in the 2004 general election. Nagai explains how online journalism has made rapid strides by closely cooperating with the Roh administration and is firmly recognized by citizens. Nagai, who also acts as the representative for a Japanese online company, addresses the question of why online journalism has grown in South Korea and is concerned with whether or not other countries will succeed in a similar fashion.
In Chapter Nine entitled,“Media and Marginalized Ethnic Minorities,”Professor Masao Ayabe takes up the problem of minorities living in mountainous areas along Thailand’s borders and their conflicts with neighboring countries. Because the Thai government does not recognize these ethnic minorities, they are considered a nuisance and treated as criminals. Leaders representing some of the ethnic minorities recently contacted several NGOs in an attempt to bargain with the government. Ayabe’s findings represent new information based on surveys and his extensive fieldwork.
This book is the product of a joint research project carried out at the Center of Asian Pacific Studies (CAPS) at Seikei University in Tokyo, Japan. The project, conducted over a three year period from April 2004 to March 2007, was subsidized by a grant from CAPS. Our group held over ten study meetings where members expressed their findings. The relationship between Nation-states and the media is a much disputed topic and opinions abound. Our aim is to raise questions, which will add a new dimension to the topic of the media’s influence on Nation-states.