flew dmrc 11 sept 15
TRANSCRIPT
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National Media Regulations in an Age of Convergent Media: Beyond Globalisation,
Neoliberalism and Internet Freedom Theories
Terry FlewDigital Media Research Centre
Seminar Series #411 September, 2015
Digital Media Research Centre
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Background• T. Flew and S. Waisbord (2015)
The Ongoing Significance of National Media Systems in the Context of Media Globalization’, Media, Culture and Society, 37(4): 620-36.
• T. Flew (2016, in press) ‘National Media Regulations in an Age of Convergent Media’, in T. Flew, P. Iosifidis and J. Steemers (eds.), Global Media and National Policies (Palgrave), pp. 75-91.
Digital Media Research Centre
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Background• ICA pre-conference London, May 2013 • Joint event of CAMRI (U. Westminster, UK) and CCI
- 36 participants from 16 countries• Questions– Does media globalisation weaken state capacities?– Is there a ‘return of the state’ in managing convergence
(e.g. copyright/IP laws)?– How is convergence reshaping PSM?– Pressures to harmonise national laws and regualtions– Are Google, Apple etc. now media companies?
Digital Media Research Centre
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Globalisation and the ‘digital turn’: weakening nation states?
• End of ‘methodological nationalism’ (Ulrich Beck)• Shift to cosmopolitan/diasporic media and identities (Hepp &
Couldry)• ‘the state becomes just a node … of a particular network’
(Manuel Castells)• State institutions as ‘shell institutions’ (Anthony Giddens)• ‘TNCs have effectively surpassed the … nation-state’ (Hardt &
Negri)• ‘The nation-state is becoming too small for the big problems
of life, and too big for the small problems of life’ (Daniel Bell, 1987)
Digital Media Research Centre
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Drivers of change1. Economic globalisation has shifted power away
from nation-states2. Political ideologies of neo-liberalism have been
used to weaken nation-states3. Globally networked internet cannot be regulated at
the national level4. Media scarcity assumptions that underpinned
regulation no longer hold5. Locus of influence has shifted to non-state actors
(corporations, NGOs, digital activists)
Digital Media Research Centre
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Challenging the ‘disappearing state’ thesis
• Fallacy of the ‘scalar shift’: local > national > global – interscalar relations
• Path-dependency of national institutions: comparative media systems
• Global corporations operate as ‘nationalised’ entities
• No trend towards a declining public sector• Diversity of capitalisms: developmental states,
state capitalism, Putinism etc.
Digital Media Research Centre
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7
Government spending in 13 OECD nations, 1980-2009
1980 1990 2000 2005 200930
35
40
45
50
55
60
Government spending in 13 OECD nations 1980-2009
AustriaBelguimBritainCanadaFranceGermanyItalyJapanNetherlandsSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited States13-nation average
Govt
. spe
ndin
g as
% o
f GDP
Source: The Economist, March 17, 2011.
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Media convergence and regulatory divergence
• China: ‘Great firewall’/ ‘walled gardens’• Brazil: Marco Civil• Selective filtering in various jurisdictions• Australia: mandatory ISP filtering failed because
of domestic politics• Lessig, Code 2.0: need to get past state
censorship/personal liberty dichotomy• Regulation occurs at levels of code, algorithm,
structuring of participation etc.
Digital Media Research Centre
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Various public enquiries into how to respond
• ‘Regulation constructed on the premise that content could (and should) be controlled by how it is delivered is losing its force, both in logic and in practice’ (ACMA, 2011)
• Australia: Convergence Review 2012• Singapore: Media Convergence Review 2012• UK: Review of Communications Act• EU: Convergence Green Paper (2013)• NZ: Content Regulation in a Converged World (2015)
Digital Media Research Centre
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Conclusions• Nation-states quite central to Internet and
digital media developments• There is not a tendency towards policy
convergence (e.g. around neo-liberalism), but considerable cross-national policy learning occurs
• Tripartite levels of policy/regulation/governance• Exploratory phase for media policy making
worldwide
Digital Media Research Centre