Mapping global media flow and contra-flow written by Daya Kishan Thussu is an article under discussion. The main idea of this article is to dwell upon global media flows and contra-flows, their impact on global population, and the place of American media flows in the whole world. The main problem considered in the article is the emergence of the alternative flows of information, different from American ones, and their local expansion.
The main arguments the author states in the article are as follows. Thussu is sure that even though the impact of the Internet has exponentially grown, television and films remain the main visual media flows of information. One more argument discussed in the article is that being a dominant media flow, American television and films are substituted by alternative transnational and geo-cultural flows (contra-flows or subaltern-flows).
The author of the article considers America a dominant player on the market of films (e.g. Hollywood). Trying to remain at the first place, local facilities are used for distributing information (e.g Bollywood). At the same time, the author points on influential contra-flows of information which come from the East. Such huge countries as China, India, South Korea and others have become important players on the arena of media flows.
The greatest examples provided by the author are Latin America soap operas which are transmitted in many countries of the world and managed to gain popularity. Thus, the author states that the extension of the Internet means nothing as films and television in general remain the main media flows. Relatively, American media flow domination does not mean its total expansion.
Dwelling upon the strengths of the article, it should be mentioned that the author has managed to present detailed statistics. Each argument she states, each idea she tries to deliver to the audience is supported with detailed statistic data. The article includes seven tables and one figure which visually illustrate the main points of the discussion.
Moreover, the author relies on the information written in other reputable sources. Each section of the article is divided by a subheading. The information flows logically and smoothly, it is easy to follow author’s ideas. Another strong feature of the article is a preface which explains the main purpose of the discussion.
The author reacts to the magisterial work by Manuel Castells. Daya Thussu makes stress on visual media flows and their distribution in the whole world, continuing Castells’ discussion and making it detailed. Daya Thussu does not digress on other problems, she remains in the frames of the highlighted issues.
Even though the article has many strengths which make it interesting to read and important for consideration with cognitive purposes, it has a number of disadvantages. One of the main weaknesses of the article is the absence of a concise conclusion.
The article has a sort of ending, however, it does not stress the achieved goals of the discussion and does not summarize the considered information. Moreover, the article is a simple enumeration of the facts and a summery of the statistics. No original research is conducted. The author of the article just uses personal observations, statistics and outside sources for delivering the main ides she states.
The article would be more valuable if original research was conducted with testing some specific ideas discussed by the author. Moreover, even though the article contains subheadings, they are not enough. The information considered under each subheading is too varied and it would be better for consideration if each subheading was divided by smaller titles.
One more weakness of the article is the absence of concluding thoughts at the end of each section and the absence of the personal opinion at the end. The author states her goals and stresses on the article personalization at the beginning of the paper, however, there is no specific personal evaluation of the discussed issues which could be interesting for the readers.