Introduction
Media globalization refers to the dissemination and popularization of various information that the news conveys and transmits to people worldwide. It involves overcoming geographical boundaries for disseminating text, audio, and video information through three technological innovations: satellite communications, computer networks, and digital coding of text, sound, and images. Given the current rate of growth in media globalization and the influence of some cultures on others, it is essential to determine how much this contributes to the emergence of homogenization.
News reaches people at a significant speed due to specialized agencies that monitor the continuous flow of information. Before globalization, it was difficult to imagine that news, for example, about an explosion or a fire that had happened, would reach people so quickly. Technology is continually developing, and data transfer is accelerating.
In addition, regarding the globalization of the media, it is worth noting that numerous channels and methods of news dissemination exist, and several opportunities for obtaining information are emerging (Nyiam, 2020). There is the possibility of traditional media, such as newspapers, radio, and television, and non-traditional media, including the Internet and data banks. Modern technology enables the public to receive personalized information tailored to their individual preferences.
Cultural Homogenization Through the Globalized Media
Cultural homogenization is the process by which the dominant culture invades or takes over the local culture, returning to a homogeneous society. Their customs, ideas, or values are transformed, which may result in them losing their identity as they accept or assimilate a more global culture. Homogenization is also understood as a process involving the exchange of elements and the mixing of different cultures to blend into one (Pettis, 2022). The term is comparable to cultural globalization, which refers to the changes a society undergoes to accommodate new customs, traditions, economic patterns, and even religious and artistic expressions. This phenomenon of globalization has caused discomfort in some cultures that have suffered from losing their identity, given that solid cultures can impose their model or way of life on them in front of society.
Today, citizens continually seek opportunities to enhance their living conditions and live in a democracy that protects their civil, political, and cultural rights, while also eliminating discrimination. Thus, cultural homogenization assumes a more social and human significance. It aims to bridge cultural differences between people from diverse parts of the world, promoting equality in all areas.
The aim is to reduce cultural diversity, which could serve to break down barriers or end differences in the world. Cultural homogenization encompasses lifestyle, clothing, food, entertainment, and music, as well as the changes that various expressions of culture have undergone, such as their traditions, dances, crafts, and other aspects. Cultural homogenization, which directly affects the economic aspects of nations, is also known as capitalist culture or “Coca-Cola colonization” (Thomas, 2019). The latter refers to the global influence of the Coca-Cola brand.
A notable example of cultural homogenization and globalization is McDonald’s. A popular fast food chain that managed to reach the most unusual places in the world, the hamburger was the same on every continent. However, the brand has not only gained a foothold in the local markets of many countries, but it can also change the representative dish of the ethnic group, hamburgers with potatoes. Despite the strong appeal McDonald’s presents to adults and children, there are countries where this establishment has had to incorporate traditional dishes and desserts from the area into its menu.
When entering a new market and country, the company’s advertising campaigns have always been large-scale and prominent. They were featured in the local media, and people discussed them. Thus, the media played a pivotal role in the opening of new restaurants around the world, presenting them as something important (Crisanti, 2021). It was with their help that the culture of the American fast food establishment spread and conquered the tastes of new countries.
The presence of McDonald’s today may indicate that the country is a full member of one universal global cultural network that the restaurant has created. Nevertheless, despite its cult status, McDonald’s carries the cultural patterns of the country from which it comes. American culture is so prevalent in the world because many original products and services began to spread actively through the media.
Another example is the film industry, one of the most famous and top-grossing in the United States. It spreads well worldwide, thanks to films, TV shows, and the news that regularly covers events in this area. Modern streaming services, such as Netflix, spend substantial budgets distributing their products (Burroughs, 2019).
Thus, the more extensive the advertising campaign in the media, the better and more profitable the product becomes. Globalization and homogenization are linked in the sense that the spread of media directly influences the impact of cultures on one another. Not in all cases is the culture as important as the media promoting it.
Linking Media Globalization to Cultural Homogenization
The media and technology play a significant role in this process. The connection that can be achieved today allows different societies to interact, creating bonds or unity between them (Dagnino, 2019). The modern development of technological communication channels can connect people across continents, potentially facilitating the exchange of ideas, trends, news, and more. The business world is actively utilizing this element to enhance its public relations and make advertising as effective as possible, reaching all parts of the world.
Globalization is becoming one of the most critical problems of our time, reflecting the primary direction of the world community’s development and the central contradiction of the 21st century. In the last century, the central world problem was the comparison of the two world systems (Ramazanov et al., 2021). It has grown into a rivalry of cultures against the backdrop of accelerating globalization processes. They significantly impact the lives of every person, every region, and the world as a whole, as they have both positive and negative consequences.
Companies focused on communication, information, and technology are no longer nationally designed, but rather include a transnational approach that crosses borders, explores different cultures, and operates through a multimedia system, allowing them to address the problems of monopolies with strong global influence. New technologies provide significant support to the media, leading them to create and disseminate a planetary culture of the masses consolidated in advanced societies (Boyd-Barrett, 2019). Some indigenous cultures have attempted to resist this process, but experts note that cultural homogenization is not a one-way phenomenon. On the contrary, it tries to combine elements or mix cultures so that homogenization no longer refers to the spread of a unitary culture.
Cultural Imperialism and Localization
Modern cultural imperialism develops within a world system within which a single market operates, and the conditions and nature of production are determined by the nature of this market and extend beyond it. State structures exist as part of the world system. Usually, the actions of states serve or seek to serve the interests of the ruling classes within national boundaries. To preserve the system, both on an international scale and within each state, an intermediate lining, or a third-party intervention, is needed. The middle classes and information pluralism are essential components of the imperialist system’s existence.
The reaction to the expansion of a country’s influence in the cultural field will prompt others to strive for preservation and development of their cultural identity, historical heritage, independence, and self-reliance. The development of a country’s culture leads to it expanding beyond its territorial boundaries and spreading to other countries (Boyd-Barrett, 2019). Social processes are closely interrelated, and development from one channel can switch to another. Moreover, the modern world system is ruthless in its needs. From the moment a particular region or nation is fully included in the system of cultural imperialism, it is forced, taking into account the level of development, to adapt its production, employment of labor resources, the nature of specialization, and the distribution of capital investments to the needs of its citizens, which have changed significantly.
Cultural localization is the process of increasing humankind’s cultural diversity and reducing the entropy of human existence, as opposed to the process of globalization. Against the background of the growing influence of global culture, interest in local features is growing, and many synthetic cultural forms and patterns are emerging that combine the global and the local (the so-called hybridization). This synthesis manifests at all levels, from personal life to public culture, including professional and corporate affairs (Iwabuchi, 2019). Thus, the global mass culture seeps imperceptibly into all sectors of human life.
However, it cannot be precisely stated that localization is a process that can oppose globalization. It refers to mediation proposals that enable all cultures to function normally in a globalized media environment (Zhang & Su, 2021). That is why localization makes some things of another culture more similar to the one it invades. A notable example of this is dubbing films and series, or translating books. Since language is an integral part of culture, it carries a specific meaning, and when a product is translated, a compromise is made, as mentioned above. Most countries and cultures use different languages, so if a product wants to homogenize another culture, it must be adapted to as many countries as possible.
Degree of Influence of Media Globalization
Cultural imperialism is related to the concept of cultural homogenization because both involve the invasion and dominance of a foreign culture in another country. However, there are essential differences between these two concepts. It is worth considering all these concepts in a broader context to understand the extent to which the media has contributed to homogenization. Homogenization means almost all other cultures disappear or lose their influence in a country where a foreign culture dominates (Al-Mahfedi, 2020). Thus, media resources in such a country are not as diverse as they could be in a multicultural country.
The growing cultural exchange and expansion of communication ties would be good if it were an equal dialogue. However, it is now possible to observe how the processes of displacement by some cultures of others are becoming increasingly common (Nyiam, 2020). Mass culture is dominant, which means impoverishing the universal cultural palette. The transmission of culture can resist diversity by coexisting with other cultures in the same society unless the other culture is strong enough to replace it entirely.
Globalization encompasses everything from global financial markets to the Internet, yet it provides little insight into the essential understanding of the human condition. Globalization reflects the widely held belief that the world is being rapidly shaped in everyday social spaces by economic and technological forces, and that events in one region can have severe consequences for the lives of individuals or communities in another country.
Mass media create and reproduce ideas that subsequently settle in the cultural paradigm. However, many researchers (Davies & Hobbs, 2020) argue that such ideas predate the means of communication. This is undoubtedly true if such ideas, such as culture, are considered in social life. In this case, culture influences media in the same way it influences culture and its dissemination.
Through the tools of mass culture, countries seek to transform the values of their own cultures into attractive and easily digestible images and models, thereby breaking the spiritual codes of other local civilizations. Globalist trends in the development of human civilization in the 21st century have excluded and continue to exclude hundreds of millions of people from their own ethnocultural environment. As residents of urbanized megacities, they are forced to become passive consumers of mass culture.
Globalization has led to a reassessment of local cultural characteristics as they absorb some aspects of external cultures. The dominance of one culture over the rest is developing due to the globalization of the media, which actively distributes intellectual products (Zhang & Su, 2021). In such a paradigm, an open confrontation between different media evolves into a struggle for cultural dominance. As mentioned above, the media are a means of disseminating the culture of a particular civilization. Accordingly, globalization has helped them to express themselves more clearly and actively.
To date, the uniformization of culture on a global scale is proceeding relatively calmly. Cultural patterns are passed from one country to another and adopted, often through the media, as well as mass personal contacts, which are promoted by the popularity of tourism and accessible transportation. The mass acquisition of technical and consumer goods has a significant cultural impact.
The media serves as a transmission tool that does not determine the content of the cultural samples it transmits (Iwabuchi, 2019). Theoretically, the media could also serve local, traditional cultures by developing and strengthening their identity and autonomy. In today’s world, where global civilization has become a challenge to national identity, microcultures will only survive when cultural pluralism is maintained.
Conclusion
The globalization of the media is a primary factor contributing to cultural homogenization. This is clearly seen in the examples from modern culture above. Penetrating a wide information field, different cultures begin to compete with each other, and eventually, the stronger of them becomes dominant. Thus, as a repeater of culture, the media is the main factor in replacing one culture with another. As mentioned above, with the examples of corporations such as McDonald’s and Netflix, media coverage enables people to significantly promote the product and its cultural characteristics in a particular country.
At the same time, it should be presented in a way that resonates competently with the local culture. Globalization has played a crucial role in these processes, as it has disseminated the media of different countries worldwide. This has prompted cultures to compete with one another. In addition, cultures began to combine some of the individual elements of each other. This may mean that mutual homogenization begins with cultural imperialism and adjusts countries to its needs.
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