Global Media and Cultural Change

Abstract

The media imperialism thesis has been the prevalent theoretical framework in international communication research. As an alternative to the media imperialism perspective, the concept of ‘glocalization’ appeared on the academic horizon in the early 1990s. This paper, first describes the historical background of the media imperialism debate, and follows with a discussion of the key arguments in media imperialism research and its criticisms. It then explicates the unfolding theoretical development of the glocalization thesis, and points out that the glocalization framework seems to possess more explanatory power in shedding light on international media flow in contemporary times.