1 INTRODUCTION

What would the world be without instant communication and information? Certainly not after being used to having access to the world at a click of a button, but is every country equal in its access to communication and media? Do all countries have access to television? Media imperialism will be discussed, media imperialism is loosely defined as a theory that suggests that smaller countries are losing their identity and culture due to the dominance of media from larger nations.

Today we're not only receiving the word almost immediately, but there are also possibilities for live pictures and sound giving a feeling of presence almost virtually wherever it happens on the planet. The earlier seemingly logical relationship between space and time is moving apart, and distance is no longer an obstacle resulting in the world seeming smaller.

In this article, media imperialism will be looked at in the television industry. We look at the world’s largest media giant Time Warner that recently announced its merger with Comcast making it a force to be reckon with a value of over $45 billion dollars. Then we look nationally at our very own media giant, MultiChoice, and its CEO of the holding company Naspers, Mr Koos Bekker. This media mogul has pathed the way for media in South Africa and we look at what made him so successful and how he manages such a powerful organisation such as Naspers.

How does media imperialism effect the television industry? This question is discussed, and looked at in depth. The world is divided into first world countries, who produce media, and developing countries who pay a high price for being behind the times. A content analysis is done for this paper, and online resources were used to research each topic.

2 INTERNATIONAL FLOW OF INFORMATION IN A GLOBAL CULTURE

Globalisation in terms of innovation and technology has facilitated amongst many things, the spread of modern technology. Not only has technology that is made easily accessible, changed the standards of living, but also allows for businesses to reach more than their domestic area and people to connect across oceans. Technology and the flow of information allows people to move across the world and be accepted easier, universities allows more and more international people, which allows South Africans to study abroad as well as allows the country to host more students from overseas. Studying online is also a way globalization has emerged the world of studying. Technology has also brought people closer together; being able to speak and see a person over Skype who is thousands of miles away is made possible. This is how a global culture is emerging.

As well as technology being easily accessible and created a closer community, the flow if information internationally has created a global culture. The Internet is at the forefront of the globalisation of goods and production, ranging from intellectual property, scientific research to political discourse and cultural symbols. Yet how easily information is exchanged this brings about a need for more regulations. Understanding if when, and how, the law should include regulations for online information requires a firm grasp of how the past, present, and future patterns of the international information flow, and their political, economic, social and cultural consequences (Subramanian and Katz 2011:2).

A new potential global audience and influenced productions of things such as movies, books, music and other cultural works which, in turn, has penetrated local and national cultures. However, some cultures reject global cultures, an example of this would be when the Republic of China banned the use of Facebook in their country. This was after a minority Uighur group used the social media site to organise against the government in 2009 (Pageliery. 2013). This, however, has recently changed sparking interest and questioning how social media is a force to be reckoned with. According to (Pageliery. 2013), between 2009 and 2012, the number of those secretly using Facebook in China grew from 8 million to 63 million. Facebook is now allowed in the designated free trade zone in China.
Technology is the biggest enabler of interactions between people and cultures, which is a statement so well put by (Subramanian and Katz 2011:13). It is true, it does enable the world to interact and share, and therefore learn more about one another than ever before, and gain first hand sightings on many things across the globe. This creates a personal experience and increases not only personal, but collective capacities, which are beneficial to members of the community beyond the individual. That is why it is useful to explore and understand the relation between technology and culture.

3 .fun. INFORMATION; TECHNOLOGY AND MODERNISATION

Information is when a fact is communicated or relayed to another, and technology is the medium in which the information is communicated. Communication involves sharing of information or knowledge (Unisa 2014:35). Modernisation refers to when a society evolves in terms of social and technological advances, such as the use of machinery to replace hands on work. These are very simple explanations of the terms on their own, but how do they connect? And the relation to each other will be discussed.

Your life is, as you know it, in other words you know nothing different, how ever if you were born before the burst of mobile cellular phones and computers, you might remember a more simple yet slow life. Yes, technology has changed our lives; it has made everything we do faster. A person can communicate with someone thousands of miles in an instant, and news travels to every inch of the globe. So technology plays a role in how we receive and communicate information, which is one of the factors of a modern society, or known as an information society.

Information Society is a term for a society in which information has become the most significant economic and cultural activity. Information technology is transforming our society and the way we create, communicate and live. A person has to just pick up the newspaper on a television to encounter terms such as information society and information technology (Unisa 2014:42).

The Internet has also given us the ability to find out information at the simple click of a mouse and a few strokes of the keys. For businesses, the Internet has proven to be most successful with what they are doing. For example, the Internet encourages social networking, which has led to businesses doubling their profit due to the low cost marketing plans that the Internet has made possible. This and many other reasons is how technological changes have influenced the information society.

The importance of information in the economy is regarded as evidence of the existence of an information society. This contributes to the economy, creating an information society, which replaces an industrial society, therefore supplying many more jobs than are apparent in an industrial society. GDP (gross domestic product) is therefore improved. When societies have more educated people this contributes to the GDP. So institutions such as UNISA, allow students to gain an education using the Internet, which then in turn enables people to becoming contributing members of an information society. 4 NASPERS AND KOOS BEKKER

Forbes has identified Jacobus, (Koos) Bekker as one of the top five most powerful media moguls in Africa. The 59 year-old South African is easily Africa’s most powerful media mogul. As CEO and the largest individual shareholder of Naspers, a $12 billion (market cap) media conglomerate, Bekker controls 23 magazines (including YOU, Drum and True Love), 7 newspapers, pay-TV giant DSTV, and Brazilian publisher Abril (Forbes 2011). Clearly a big portion of South Africa’s media is controlled and owned by Naspers and run by Mr Bekker, no wonder he has been called the Rupert Murdoch of South Africa according to SA Entrepreneurs Magazine [Sa].

Naspers pulled in revenues of $4.5 billion in the year through March 2012. During his tenure, Bekker has overseen a rise in the market capitalisation of Naspers from about $600 million to $25 billion, all the while drawing no salary, bonus, or benefits. He is compensated via stock option grants that vest over time, but has exercised and sold just a small portion of his options according to SA Entrepreneurs Magazine [Sa]. This shows not only that he is confident in Naspers to rely solely on stocks to earn his living, but also shows his staff and the world how he leads the company, fearlessly, with passion and utmost belief in Nasper’s success. This management style instils belief and motivation in those who work alongside Mr Bekker, knowing that he is willing to not take a salary, but rely on the well doing of the business success. However, his stocks are worth millions and he himself is a billionaire because of Naspers, which makes his powerful, as he runs Naspers, as well as being wealthy, this to many would be a perfect example of a media mogul.

Mr. Bekker obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in law and an honours degree in languages at the University of Stellenbosch in 1974 and 1975 respectively. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from University of the Witwatersrand in 1978 and an MBA from Columbia University in 1984. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in commerce from the University of Stellenbosch according to SA Entrepreneurs Magazine [Sa]. Being highly educated and decorated in a field does help a man such as Mr Bekker on his way to becoming a billionaire. Though this is not the only factor, it does aid in becoming an expert in a field, studying, and then coming to South Africa, and seeing an opportunity and going for it. These are all qualities of a billionaire and a successful man.

I have actually had the opportunity to work for Naspers and to meet Mr Bekker on several occasions. To have that personal experience has really made me better understand what makes Mr Bekker so powerful. He commands a high level of respect but in the same space speaks with the utmost respect, he also commands attention when he speaks or enters a room, and he is a very confident man. I will say I was very nervous to be around him, he just had a way of making you feel you were in the presence of someone smart and powerful. Use of the word powerful might be excessive but it is the word I feel most describes him. It was an honour working for Mr Bekker, even though I dd not deal with him personally I felt a high respect for the company and the people who worked for him held him, and the company in high regard. He has built an empire, which all its inhabitants are patriotic to the cause that is Naspers. This is a direct reference to its leader and how he leads.

Naspers grew from an Afrikaans-language publisher into a R500 billion multinational by investing in Internet companies and fast-growing markets according to Whitfield, B. [Sa]. Whitfield, B. [Sa] describes Naspers as a “living company” that has managed to evolve with “every decade into something new, depending on what the impetus was in terms of technology and the political environment”. With Naspers’ ventures into internet, buying stakes in more than 100 businesses, including China’s Tencent Holdings and Russia’s Mail.ru, Bekker turned Naspers into an investment house that has added almost $34-billion in market value since 2003 (Mpsa 2013). Add this on top of controlling a majority of Africa’s media, Naspers and its CEO Mr Bekker can be defined has having media domination and surely the numbers, the profits and the extensive list of high grossing companies it owns and the influence it has over a nation, proves that.

5 MEDIA IMPERIALISM IN THE TV INDUSTRY

5.1 Time Warner

When you think of media imperialism or domination in the television industry, it’s hard not to think of America and its small number of powerful transnational media corporations. The global commercial system is a very recent development. According to McChesney (1997) until the 1980s, media systems were generally national in scope. While there have been imports of books, films, music and TV shows for decades, the basic broadcasting systems and newspaper industries were domestically owned and regulated. Beginning in the 1980s, pressure from the IMF, World Bank and U.S. government to deregulate and privatise media and communication systems coincided with new satellite and digital technologies, resulting in the rise of transnational media giants.

Time Warner, the largest media corporation in the world, was formed in 1989 through the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications. Time Warner has zeroed in on global television as the most lucrative area for growth. Unlike News Corporation, however, Time Warner has devoted itself to producing programming and channels rather than developing entire satellite systems. Time Warner is also one of the largest movie theater owners in the world, with approximately 1,000 screens outside of the United States and further expansion projected. With channels such as CNN, HBO, Cartoon Network, TNT, Cinemax cable and more you can tell why this corporation is a giant and a world leader in television (McChesney 1997). In most recent news, Time Warner has announced a merger with Comcast. This move will see the companies form a mega company that will dominate the industry and serve over 11 million residential customers. The merger is said to evaluate the joint companies at $45 billion dollars, this puts the company in a dominating position nationally and internationally and is a perfect example of media imperialism in today’s society.

5.2 MultiChoice Africa

Multichoice is a major satellite television service in Africa, which is owned by Naspers (Multichoice, Overview). Today, South Africa dominates the digital satellite media in Africa through Multichoice Africa. MultiChoice Africa provides premier television entertainment on its DStv bouquets to more than 1.2 million subscribers in nearly 50 countries in Africa, as well as adjacent Indian Ocean Islands. The use of digital satellite technology allowed MultiChoice Africa to reach even the most remote corners of the African continent providing up to date news, information and entertainment to its subscribers.

The success of MultiChoice Africa has affected the way people view television in other African countries. By providing international network channels such as MTV, Cartoon Network etc. MultiChoice Africa also provides some local African programs, but unfortunately these network channels do very little to incorporate any African local programs, this can have profound effect on viewers. MultiChoice provides programming that is part of a western culture and very little of its own produced programming which is a way of cultural imperialism. The argument if this is negative or not is not what is being discussed but rather that a one world culture is being adapted in many countries including Africa, because of predominantly most of the content coming from the western world such as America.

As we saw how powerful Time Warner is, and will be, with recent acquisitions, this only further empowers them to create more content that is in high demand internationally due to its excellence and popularity. The reasons for MultiChoice including mostly western content is that exact reason, its popularity and its excellent quality, makes sense to charge money for the best programming. MultiChoice does dominate the market, but is not alone, there are government owned and private owned stations but definitely MultiChoice is the most premium and highly used source of television in Africa, making it very dominant (Multichoice, Overview).

6 EFFECTS OF MEDIA IMPERIALSIM ON THE TV INDUSTRY

During the 1960s and the 1970s a few first world nations including the United States of America dominated media to their advantage. The United states challenged the way the world looked at media, and stated that there should be a free flow of news and cultural products (television, movies, music and advertisements), that entertainment was the primary function of media and that commercially developed media would benefit most developing countries (Straubhaar, 1991). This meant that the information in the media was a one-way flow, from first world nations to the rest of the world.

Media imperialism as a theoretical framework has been included under the broader umbrella of cultural imperialism. According to White (2001), cultural imperialism has been used as a framework by scholars of different academic backgrounds and persuasions to explain phenomena in the areas of international relations, anthropology, education, sciences, history, literature and sports. He therefore reconsiders the concept of cultural imperialism theory as it relates to communication discipline. These concepts have been refigured and reformulated in the light of current debates about globalisation. Media imperialism can be loosely defined as when the creation, distribution or ownership of media in any country, is subject to pressure from the media interest or any other country without exact reciprocation or influence by the country affected.

The early technological advancements of advanced countries compels other countries, in the quest of the development of their own media systems, to follow the examples set by these more technologically advanced countries. This impacts these countries quite negatively as it ensures developing countries are always the receivers and consumers of first-world countries advancements. The need for these countries to stay up-to date with the current world is essential for growing but puts them at disadvantage by not being the creators of these advancements, which means they will always be one step behind.

This applies to the television industry as it all started in America, and slowly infiltrated the world, however some countries are more ahead than others in their broadcasting, and creation of television content abilities. For example in Nigeria, television broadcasters are far behind their Western counterparts as lean finances withdraw most of them in their bid to acquire up to speed equipment and technology needed by the medium. Stations’ broadcasts do not extend beyond a few kilometres. In other words, the area of signification of a majority of the stations is far less than what is expected Omoera (2010). This lowers audience spam which directly impacts size of advertising revenue which effects the growth of their stations.

This leaves the television industry as a whole unstandardized and leaves the more advanced countries to dominate and control aspects such as, the level of standards, influences on content, creation of popular content and technology advancements among many other aspects. Yes, media can be dominated by one country or a few countries, but with the expansion of the internet, television content is no longer up to the big networks. Platforms such as YouTube allow people from all over the world, with the use of widely available cameras, film and create online channels, some becoming huge successes. One of the bigger online fitness channels I follow and watch frequently is called, Body Rock TV. In a recent interview with the creator Frederick Light he was quoted saying ‘we started with a low budget, all we needed was a camera and a trainer in order to do our first Body Rock workout’ (The Lion’s Den’s University 2012). Seeing small home based companies grow into viewership of millions, shows that television stations no longer command the domination of content. However they will always be able to create big budget shows and have numbers on their side, but there is no telling what the future will hold with so many people turning to online video channels for their source of information and entertainment.

7 THEORIES

7.1 Dependency Theory

Some countries are not as progressed as others, some are called first world and others third world, however the world systems separate countries into three areas, the core, the periphery and the semi-periphery. The dependency theory explains how some countries especially in the Periphery are lagging behind economically and thus dependant on other countries especially the core. These countries that depend on others, usually have insufficient resources, skills and technology to produce what their country needs. This then leads them to depend on other countries that control or depict the terms, this can lead to the Periphery countries loosing out in the big picture, they spend the little resources they have increasing the opportunities and profit for the Core countries.

This theory predicts that a person or a periphery nation, depends on media information to meet certain needs and achieve certain goals, like uses-and-gratifications theory. They are also dependant on the industrialised nations for capital, technology and most manufactured goods, all while exporting low-cost primary products or cheap manufacturers, which add little benefit to the local economy (Straubhaar, 1991).

When it comes to media and technology, with modern society, a country without proper technology in its communication and resource systems automatically omits the country in advancements and improvements and sets them back in terms of growth. Society depends on media information, but this does not mean the countries that are dependant on others are affected negatively in terms of its culture. However a countries media can be affected as media imperialism is when another countries media influences another country, and if they are already dependant on another country, influences are more likely to come form the core country it is depending on.

Another way to look at this theory is to look at the individual and their dependency on media. This theory states that the more dependent an individual is on the media for having his or her needs fulfilled, the more important the media will be to that person. People use the media for many reasons. Information, entertainment, and par asocial relationships are just a few of them. The dependency theory says the more a person becomes dependent on the media to fulfil these needs, the media will become more important to that individual. The media will also have much more influence and power over that individual (Blumler 1979). An example of this is seen when people use social media platforms such as Facebook to remind them of a friend’s birthday. How many friends birthdays do you know off by heart? I for one rely on Facebook for a reminder, and thus am reliant on this media for my information.

7.2 Structural theory of Imperialism

This theory states that there are two obvious facts about this world, firstly there is a tremendous inequality within, and between nations, and secondly, in the resistance of this inequality to change according to Gultang (Sa). Just as cyber-technology has the power to change the way society interacts, it also has the capacity to marginalise and isolate communities with limited access to such resources. According to an article Voices of the Voiceless (2012), 12% of the world has basic access to the internet and only 1 in 16 people have access to a telephone. The western world seduces the world into believing itys modern technology is revolutionising but overlooks the unequal distribution of wealth that continues to forge first world and third world power relationships. This creates a digital divide that continues to separate and marginalise communities who have limited access to technological resources.

This is not limited to developing countries only, even in the western world there is a divide as not everyone has equal access to the same degree of technology and mobile devices. It would all depend on a person’s income if they were to afford the luxury of most mobile devices such as laptops, tablets and new cellular phones. Even in the western world, there is a division. When looking at the percentage of people who earn enough money to support a family with proper medical, education, transportation, housing and food, then you will see a very small percentage of people who have disposable income to spend on technology. Technology is not a need for survival, so as the divide grows greater, so does the gap of information and advancements. This really only effects those with little or no access to any form of technology.

Upon further research, an article on the impact of the global digital divide was found that was written in 2003. During that time, 7% of the world had access to the internet (Divided by technology 2007). Compare that to the 12% recorded in 2012 (Voices of the Voiceless 2012), one can see this amount has increased substantially in almost a decade. The divide is therefore growing steadily as the core countries continue to develop. In essence the rich are getting richer with the advantage of access to the internet information and reaping the rewards of e-commerce and e-business, while the poorer members of society aren’t able to keep up.

7.3 World systems theory

The World-system, which refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labour, which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery and the periphery countries.

Core countries focus on skilled work, capital-intensive production. Where as the rest of the world focuses on lower skilled work, labour-intensive production and extraction of raw materials. This constantly reinforces the dominance of the core countries. A world-system is a social system, one that has boundaries, structures, member groups, and rules of legitimating. It is held up by the conflicts that hold it together by rebuilding to its advantage. It is defined as wear or strong depending on the internal workings of its functionality. The difference between dependency theory and the world system theory is that dependency focuses on their analysis on nation-states and world systems theory focus’ on the total social system (Chirot and Hall 1982:3). These countries are the ones who have the most cultural and media imperialism, as they are usually the ground breakers of new technology, and also because of their resources are able to keep generating new media. This puts them at the forefront of the other two world systems.

Periphery and semi-periphery depend on core countries and they benefit from the global market. Core countries are also able to produce products of greater quality at a cheaper price compared to other countries and dominate the trade industry. This means their media and communication are more effective cheaper and more accessible than the periphery countries.

Periphery countries are the least diverse economically. They have a large number of lower class citizens who are generally un-educated. Core countries influence them and core countries determine trade. The core countries gain a lot from un-equal trade from periphery countries. They use the country for cheap labour and then export goods to core countries. The gap between upper class and lower class is huge and usually a small number of upper class exists and they usually own most of the land and profits go to multinational companies. Many times they are forced to follow economic policies that favour core nations and harm the long-term economic prospects of periphery nations (Chirot and Hall 1982:17).

Semi-periphery nations are those that are midway between the core and periphery, they are headed towards industrialisation and a more diverse economy but are dominant in global trade. These countries either represent countries that have declined or periphery countries on the incline.

8 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, media has speeded up the connection between cultures and thereby started to erase the boundaries of space, and even more profound boundaries of nations and government ensuring free flow of information and influence. The fact that America arguably is in the centre of this development rises concerns about which influences and the voice of whom we are hearing. The effect of the television industry is that we all are now watching the same game shows, reality shows, comedy shows and so on, and creating a global culture. There are media giants who have the say in what is advertised, shown and created, how this will impact the world, well, we can only see what has been effected so far. However, the gap between core countries and the periphery ones, is showing to increase with time and the negative effects of this is big. One can only hope the future holds for us a global culture as well as a global standard of technology.