A new global communication order for a multipolar world

ABSTRACT

In an increasingly digitised and globalised 24/7 multi-media age, the one-way vertical flow of media and communication – from the West to the Rest – has given way to multiple and horizontal flows, in which Asian countries play an increasingly significant role. While the US domination of the global media – both in entertainment and information – still remains a reality, new actors, harnessing the potential of digital globalisation, have emerged in the past decade to challenge Western or, more accurately, American hegemony in this arena. This warrants a re-evaluation of how we define the global in terms of media and communication. Focusing on the growing global influence and digital presence of China and India – the world’s two most populous nations with fastest growing economies – this essay suggests that the ascent of Asia could contribute to further internationalising of media and its study.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• India
• Chindia
• digital globalisation
• global communication order
• internationalising media studies

Acknowledgement

This essay is based on the author’s keynote address at the annual conference of Australia and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), University of Sydney, on 7 July 2017.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daya Thussu

Daya Thussu is a professor of International Communication and co-director of India Media Centre at the University of Westminster in London. Author or editor of 17 books, among his key publications, are as follows: Mapping BRICS Media (co-edited with Kaarle Nordenstreng, Routledge, 2015); Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood (Palgrave, 2013); Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (co-edited with Des Freedman, Sage, 2012); Internationalizing Media Studies (Routledge, 2009); News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment (Sage, 2007); Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-Flow (Routledge, 2007); International Communication - Continuity and Change, third edition (Bloomsbury, forthcoming); and Electronic Empires - Global Media and Local Resistance (Arnold, 1998). He is the founder and managing editor of the Sage journal Global Media and Communication.