4. Global Media: Structure and Process (Globalization and the Media: The Debate Continues‪)‬

The media, as we have proposed, appear as important and sometimes central forces in both the economic and socio-cultural theories of globalization. As we have noted, Friedman, Bhagwati, Robertson, Giddens, Appadurai, and Tomlinson all attribute great importance to the media, but most of these authors have not specialized in the communication field and sometimes manifest a naive view of media and their influence. When we come to the work that treats the media and globalization directly, we find a large number of publications over the years since Biernatzki's review in 1997. These will be divided into several categories: those that emphasize structure, and those that emphasize process, and all that follows reception of the messages and stories from the media. Although this is not a perfect set of categories, it will allow readers and this reviewer to make some sense of a good deal of material. A. Structure and Ownership of Media