Study Questions

  • What are the five media theories that explain global media? Explain and give an example of a country that uses each.
  • Which of the five theories does the U.S. media most closely resemble? Explain.
  • What are the five dimensions Alan Ward suggests for categorizing media around the world?
  • How does the BBC’s public service model make it different from for-profit networks? How does it impact BBC programming?
  • Why is “small media” so important in the Middle East? What role did it play in the “Arab Spring” protests? Explain.
  • Why was the publishing of images of Mohammed so upsetting to the Arab world? Was the decision to publish the cartoons a matter of free speech? Explain.
  • What did Marshall McLuhan mean by his concept of a “global village?” Has media become truly global? Does media information flow in many directions, or a few? Explain.