Global Communication

The term International Communication was formerly used to refer to Global Communication.
Global Communication is about communication interactions that occured between nations at the regional and international levels.

The popular debate in Global Communication gravitates towards the issue of the imbalance in the flow of information between the developed in the West and developing nations of "the rest".
The Common assumptions:
1. That Western-dominated News agencies and networks like CNN, Reuters, BBC, VOA, and NHK controls the free flow of information around the world;
2. They construct and disseminate distorted and negative images about the Third World, for example, the persistence of corruption, volence, disaster, poverty and illiteracy;
3. The 'bias' in news and media representations of the Third World is due to 'western' reporters' lack of understanding of Third World histories and cultures;
4. The Western news reports depend on sensationalism, not social responsibility.

The Possible Solutions:
1. Alternative and independent news agencies to counterbalance the information flow between the West and the East, e.g. the OANA (Organization of Asian News Association) which comprised of 31 member countries
(The Nonaligned News Movement (NAM), a grouping of 116 countries, was formed during the Cold War with the intention of providing developing countries with an alternative to the Western and Eastern power blocs. The online service for the Nonaligned News Network (NNN), which pools the efforts of state-run media in developing countries, was launched in April 2006. The government news agencies cooperating on the project say the service will help correct the "unfair" coverage from Western media. It is currently available in English, with plans to add Arabic, French and Spanish in the future. Malaysia's national news agency, Bernama, hosts the new network and collects the contributions from the national agencies of member countries.
The national news agencies of many NAM members tend to be propaganda organs whose articles hold little interest for other countries. Independent reporting is scarce in many NAM countries, which include some of the world’s worst places for journalists, such as Burma, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Zimbabwe.)
2. An alternative concept of news values based on Asian values to countervail the dominant Western values of timeliness, proximity, personality, unusual event, human interest, and conflict. These values focus on development, social responsibility, national integration, and education.

Four theories of the Press
1. Authoritarian Theory
2. Libertarian Theory
3. Social Responsibility
4. Communist Theory

Study on press freedom in 199 countries:
- 52% of all those countries where the press have least freedom and around 12% where the press freedom is intermediate. Norway, USA, Japan, UK are the examples of the countries where the press is ‘Very Free’.
The Altschull Typology:
1. Market
2. Marxist
3. Advancing

References:
A.S. Bhalla (1998), Globalization, Growth, and Marginalization
- a discussion of seven key features of globalization: growth in trade, growth in foreign direct investment and capital flows, global production and consumption, global competition, trade and investment liberalization policies, loss of national sovereignty, and standardization of values and culture (1) .
Robert W. McChesney (1998) "The Political Economy of Global Communication" Capitalism and the Information Age: The Political Economy of the Global Communication Revolution.

Related Concepts:
Globalization may well be the dominant political, social, and economic issue of our era. Globalization generally refers to the process whereby capitalism is increasingly constituted on a transnational basis, not only in the trade of goods and services but, even more important, in the flow of capital and the trade in currencies and financial investments (2).
Other definitions of globalization can be found at these sites: African Development Forum 1999 and Globalization: Our Changing World
The backlash to globalization has made headlines in the past year as protestors have taken to the streets at both the November 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting held in Seattle, and at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meeting in Washington in April 2000. The anti-globalization movement strives to undercover the disturbing truths about the harsh economic and social realities that globalization imposes on developing countries. Globalization dramatically affects the already economically strained developing countries through foreign policies such as structural adjustment programs (SAP), where developing countries are encouraged to adjust their economic structures to better suit to the needs of the private sector. SAPs require developing countries to reduce government spending, end public subsidies, devalue their currency, adopt export-oriented trade policies, as well as remove trade and exchange controls and raise interest rates to reward foreign investors (3).
For more information about the effects of globalization on developing countries, read the following articles:Wild Weekend of Globalization Protests in U.S. Capitol Corporate Watch - Globalization and Corporate Rule (provides links to other useful sections) True Intent Behind Globalization Will Globalization Facilitate Development? A Survey of the Impacts of IMF Structural Adjustment in Africa
Some of the only many problems faced by lesser developed countries include widespread poverty, high illiteracy rates, intense foreign debt, overpopulation, and reliance on the agricultural sector. Information can play a major role in the alleviation of these problems. Information, primarily agricultural, medical, and technological, can help to create stronger social, economic, and technical infrastructures needed to support the development process (4). As UNESCO states in its Medium-term Plan (1984-1989):
The possession and use of knowledge are essential factors for progress. Information, the communicable form of knowledge,... ...has therefore come to be recognized as one of the main prerequisites for economic and social development. It is an indispensable factor in the rational use of natural resources, scientific and technological advancement, progress in agriculture, industry and services.... ...Consequently, assimilation of scientific and technological information is an essential precondition for progress in developing countries (5) (emphasis added).
The provision of information and the access to information therefore, is a key to the success of any nation. One of the most important roles that libraries and librarians play in society is providing access to information. As Sarah Ann Long, President of the American Library Association (ALA) states, "libraries build community, but today's community is a global one" (6). The vital role of providing access to information is therefore directly affected by globalization. Globalization has resulted in the rapid spread of technology and ideas at a pace the world has never experienced before. Globalization in this Information Age is seen by some as the most progressive global movement since the Industrial Revolution. The Internet has enabled this "Global Village" to be truly "connected" twenty hours a day, seven days a week.
We know that information plays a vital role in the lives of all people across the globe. Access to information therefore becomes the key. Isolation is a fundamental problem when discussing the idea of access. How do people in the developing world access the proverbial "information superhighway", when they do not even have access to adequate roads ? What happens to those countries that are lacking any form of a technological infrastructure ? What happens to those countries where there are not adequate libraries where people can access information ? What happens is that the information gap between developed countries and lesser developed countries widens daily. Some now refer to this dichotomy of the have's and have not's, not as developed and developing countries, but rather as information rich or information poor countries.
Some development agencies are attempting to help these information poor countries "catch-up" by providing access to basic necessities while at the same time trying to provide an environment for the establishment of technological growth. Libraries are also attempting to help out be assisting with various information-based development projects.
The purpose of this site is to provide a selective guide to resources that are available on the Internet and at the University of Alberta Library that discuss these issues relating to globalization, information, and developing countries. Again, I want to stress that this is not an exhaustive bibliography of information on this topic. Rather, this listing of information resources acts only as a starting point for readers that are interested in exploring this topic.