Assignment1

The Arab media has undergone an enormous change in the last decade. Ayish started his theoretical chapter by dividing the analytical approaches to media into three paradigms:

· The modernization paradigm

· The dependency paradigm


· The globalization paradigm.
The main thesis of the book is that television development in the Arab world in the 1990s was a function of the interchange between local and global forces in political, cultural, economic, and technological sectors.
Ayish formulates a "media interplay model" that hypothesizes that the local variables will depend upon the global variables.
He divides the development of Arab television into three main periods:

· The first period is the formative phase (1954-1975).
· The second phase is that of national expansion (1976-1990).
· The third phase is the regional and global expansion (since 1990).
He comes up with two possible progressions for the Arab world television:
· The convergence process that manifested itself in the establishment of web casting services for multiple broadcasters
· The mergers (Arab regimes will have to adjust to deal with these developments by, for instance, merging "multiple satellite television services into single super channels" to rationalize resources and be competitive)
The book gives us many typologies:
· One based on patterns of political communication with 3 types: traditional government-controlled television, reformist government-controlled television, and liberal commercial television.
· A second typology based on the globalist pattern, the localist pattern, and the glocalist pattern.
· A third typology based on technological policy patterns: the pragmatist policy pattern and the formalist one.

Assignement III

Drawing a bead on global
Communication theories

1- Comparing and contrasting media:
· political power
· economic crisis
· dramatic social transitions
2- Globalisation and media.
3- Small-Scale alternative media.

Assignement II (Detailed outline)

Following the historical paths
Of Global Communication

1- Geographical space: there are barriers that limit the communication.

· Geographical space: as an example we are in Ifrane that is situated in Morocco, which is in Africa that is a part of the world.
· Geography of experience: our history is limited by space.
· Space of flows: thanks to internet that is the network of networks, we do not have limits any more.
2- Geography and the mythical world:
· According to a senior editor for the Economist who makes her case by arguing that the speed of communication is creating a world where the mils have little to do with our ability to work or interact together.
· The work done in the computer can be done from any where.
· Thanks to internet, some people do not need to emigrate any more.
3- Ancient encounters of societies and cultures:
· In the past we could not say international communication, because there was no nation but now we can.
· In the past information and ideas were communicated in the past across continents (Islam)
· Global communication existed in the past but the mean of communication changed now ( in the past they used it in trade and cultural exchange)
4- Global explorers:
· Migrants
· Holy peoples
· Merchants
5- Mapmakers in the medieval world:
· They used those maps for two reasons, trips and military purposes.
· Mapmaking was and integral part of communicating history.
· The maps were the keys to knowing unknown worlds.
6- The printing press, the knowledge explosion:
· Moslems developed paper technology and brought it to Europe.
· Printing press = International communication.
· Thanks to the printing press there were expansions of countries.
7- The growth of the telegraph:
· The telegraph, made the transmission of information rapid and it also ensured secrecy and protections of codes.
· The speed and the reliability of the telegraphy were very important.
8- The era of news agencies (Reuters):
· British control of cable line made London itself an unrivalled centre for world news
· The rise of Reuters: communication was critical.
· If you have a lot of information, you can make a lot of money.
9- Radio and international communication:
· The radio was very cheap and every one could have it.

Assignement I (Chapter I Outline)

Following the Historical Path of
Global Communication

1- Geographical Space: A Barier to Communication
2- Geography and the Mithical World
3- Antient encounters of societies and cultures
4- Global Eplorers: Migrants, Holy people, Merchants
5- Mapmakeres in the Medieval World
6- Inventors: Signals and Semaphores
7- The Printing Press, Literacy, and the knowledge Explosion
8- Scientists and the Internationl Networks
9- The international Electric Revolution
10- Summary: Global Immediacy and Transparency