What is media imperialism? It is nothing but the promotion of specific values by the mass media that are often in line with the political interests of the ruling classes. In simple terms, media globalization is nothing but a conscious effort to control the information flow. Media globalization is a kind of cultural globalization as well, as the media too is deeply entwined with the national cultural ideas that originate from the earlier economic dealings of empire. Hence, one could say that what is media globalization is nothing but cultural chauvinism.

 

There has been a massive drive towards economic modernization in developing nations in the last three decades. However, what is also being realized is that most of the people are becoming highly contented with their lot in life and are not capable of realizing any great change. Therefore, most of them tend to embrace the present regime rather than challenging it. This is exactly what has been promoted by mass media all over the world. In fact, it has become so powerful that people in third world countries have come to rely on the mass media for all their important and mundane needs.

 

What is worse is that this propaganda about the West and what is its character to the outside world has led to a further delegitimization of the Western culture. Thus, the masses have come to feel that the West does not have a monopoly on civilization and that other cultures are trying to steal bits and pieces of the Western society. This was the basic concept under which came about the concept of cultural Imperialism – promoting a particular value system through the mass media and destroying the others that are not in line with that culture.

 

However, one cannot deny that the drive towards economic modernization is accompanied by increased levels of technological advancement. This has not gone unnoticed by those who want to exert their power over the other nations of the world. Media empires like the Internet have gained a lot of influence over the minds of individuals. Therefore, this kind of influence has allowed media companies to behave like cultural missionaries and offer information about their worldview to other nations.

 

What is worse still is that, cultural imperialism has resulted in one country oppressing another nation. For instance, during the colonial era, Britain established a policy of imposing its will over any territory it colonized. This led to conflicts between the colonizers (the British) and the former natives. The colonizers used language, legal system, culture, and other aspects of daily life to dominate the former. This form of colonizing is called media empires; and it is precisely this form of empire that contributes to what is commonly known as British Imperialism.

 

As mentioned earlier, what is media imperialism? When one country (in this case, Britain) colonizes another country through the force of the media or through the promotion of its own culture, this is what is termed cultural Imperialism. A good example of this is the way the British invade India in the 19th century because of a campaign that the British government carried out to promote its own British culture.

 

Therefore, we can come up with a best answer to the question: what is media imperialism? It is a situation when a particular group of people colonizes another group of people deliberately. This situation arises when a certain country refuses to accept the presence of another culture in its territory. When this happens, countries that are not interested in accepting the presence of another culture start fighting over the territory. This is how a war is started.

 

Now, this war would not be possible if the majority of nations did not have the power of the media companies to promote their own interests. Hence, in the end, what is media imperialism? It is nothing but the exploitation of one group of people by another group of people for the benefit of the media companies. Every nation has a right to say what it wants regarding its own nation. However, if such a thing is taking place in the twenty-first century, then it is surely unacceptable.