Week 10, to KM:

I really appreciated your honesty this week, admitting when the subject matter was uncomfortable for you or when you were ignorant of such situations.

I think the most valuable stuff for our wiki were the issues you raised about jounalism.

You made a good point directing our attentions to cases where journalists may create trouble for the sake of news by hovering around an area waiting for something to happen. I agree that the "journalistic machine" often just runs on its own, without concern for the world within which it is operating. The institutions of journalsim like to imagine themselves being free, objective and unbiased, but just like sub-atomic particles, people and communities are altered when they are observed. The "Free Press" are not free from affecting those they observe and report on. In hopes of getting the "scoop" on their competitors--getting the story first--they mob together, hovering around a person, place or situation, waiting and hoping something will happen. Just look at the circus surrounding the Michael Jackson trial last year!

Those systems and practices within the journalism industry are in serious need of redemption. And not from a much of loud-mouthed "Christians" who will boycott or protest. We need good, solid , Jesus-following journalists to live out alternative values and practices... not only as reporters, but as editors and publishers who can make the calls for reporters to follow this story or that, and can help curb exaggeration and stigmatization. Those strategically placed people will be able to write and publish stories that tell the truth, and stories that expose lies.

Week 10, to Bryan:

Sorry it took me a little longer to get these comments up.

Good work this week. I'm actually glad that you and KM both did work in Weight of the World while I did the culture chapter in Global Tranformations, because that means we got more out of the research this week... hopefully.

I totally agree with what you pulled from the book about the influence of media on public perceptions of gangs and violent behaviors. The glorification in the media can only make the situation on the group for the urban poor (as you shared in your personal story about your friend) harder than it already is to avoid being sucked into the gang lifestyle.

I think that your insights along those lines, as well as what you said about journalistic standards as they apply to how stories get told (in whose words?) and which stories get told, are all good things you should include in the wiki in some way. I also hear what you are saying about how Jesus followers, particularly those who may be listening to what we are saying about media and culture, need to be concernced not only with media and media-related issues, but need to not neglect caring for the poor in real, tanglible ways. We can boycott shows or fight for better standards on TV, but if we don't do anything to help the situation on the group for the urban poor--or any other poor for that matter--it won't count for much more than a hill of beans.

Week 9, to Bryan:

Thanks for getting your thoughts down for us, Bryan... you always have such rich insights, I look forward to them every week.

I think we've all hit on something from the readings this weeka dn last week challenging our typical paternal (as you called it) protectionist stance toward indigenous cultures. Both Storey and Pieterse presented an arguement for a much more robust view of local cultures, and also made a case for the greater role of consumers in shaping their changing cultures with their consumption choices.

It is, as you pointed out, part of a much more complex whole than we often make it out to be. However, I do think this shift in understanding has some implications for our wiki. We may want to temper or remove some of our original comments that aim in the direction of protecting indigenous cultures from the evils of Western influence, and add more to our few comments that touch on advocacy and provision of media resources to cultures that have less access.

Week 9, to KM:

You really processed a lot of information from the book Inventing Popular Culture, but I'd like to respond to one idea in particular which you discussed.

You emphasized strongly the need for Christians to be active and involved in popular culture, in order to influence it with the Gospel. I'm not sure I would go as far as you did to say that we as Jesus-followers should (or even can) "invent a new, powerful, and hybridized culture" as a way of "controlling them" (meaning contemporary cultures?). That, I believe, is essentially what Constantine did, and what the Crusaders attempted to do. I don't think that the Gospel and the Christian worldview will ever again be dominant enough in global culture for Jesus-followers to be able to fully invent an entirely new culture themselves.

However, I do believe that if we are strategic about the ways the Gospel is presented (subtly and artfully more then directly and didactically) through global media, Christ-followers can have a very strong impact on the changing and developing global culture. While I don't believe we can be solely responsible or in control of the final outcome, we can hopefully influence it strongly enough that we provide space for kingdom values to be represented, embodied and respected as one of the many cultural voices that will come together in the coming hybridization.

Perhaps you could offer some specific suggestions of how we might influence culture by "using global media for the Gospel," or find some examples of people who are, and add that to our wiki.

Week 8, to Bryan:

Yes, we both cued in to the Hybridization issue, Bryan... and I think we essentially agree on what that potentially means for the changing ways for Jesus-followers to think about and interact with the global cultural issues. One of the things our group has focused on in the wiki somewhat is how to use global media to combat the loss or destruction of indigenous cultures. But as the evaluations we got from our classmates showed, we had not sufficiently argued for why that was important for Christians to be involved in, nor how we would really do it. If we apply the thoughts from Pieterse this week to that issue, it seems (as I think we all have discussed in our analysis this week) that the task may be less for us to work to protect indigenous cultures, and more for us to advocate for them so that they all can have a voice and participate in the hybridization that is happening due to globalization.

You said as much in your analysis, Bryan: "Assuming we trust each culture to be able to deal with modernity and capitalism and whatever else is being peddled around the globe today without being subsumed into some hypothetical homogenous culture, then one thing we can do is simply make sure that everyone has a chance to be exposed to, evaluate, and evolve these cultural artefacts to their liking."

That is something, perhaps, for us to add to our wiki, maybe even in place of the focus on protection.

I'm not sure how we focus in on Global Media through that, however. Perhaps we could advocate for Jesus-followers to use media on the global scale to do that advocating... sort of akin to what we have already described as finding ways to represent the voices that are misrepresented or underrepresented. Both at home and abroad.

Week 8, to KM:

KM, again good insights as usual. I really appreciate having your perspective in our group because you often see things differently and than I do, or at least notice things I miss.

This week I particularly appreciated you pointing out what this chapter Global Transformations had to say about the dynamic relationships between Multinational Corporations and nation-states. You summed it up well, saying, "MNCs have dramatically influenced every national government because they have been not only creating wealth, but also redistributing it like the roles of the unfair exploitations in Imperial Era." That is another side of what I said on my blog about how the MNCs have replaced nations as the true Imperial powers in the world today. And even though international cooperation and such global efforts have all but eliminated territorial imperialism from nations, imperialism is still very much alive in today's MNCs. Now the MNCs make the uneven trade decisions and do the exploitive labor practices that the former imperial powers were notorious for.

But I also appreciate your optimism that since MNCs have to much of the power nations once had, and can influence national and global situations negatively, they also have the power to influence them for the better. Again you wrote, regarding one of the ways MNCs can make positive and negative impacts on smaller developing nations, "These outsourcings could give developing countries the chances of building their domestic industries dramatically. However, on the other hand, these subcontracts also have caused many social problems such as low income and human right violations because of these capitalistic practices." You've really hit the nail on the head with that conundrum. MNCs, like WalMart (as you also pointed out), have been responsible for many human-rights atrocities all for the sake of the bottom line. There are still evil powers at work in the practices of MNCs. And yet, they have such opportunity through outsourcing to bring life to dead economies, if they truly respect their workers and commit to the welfare of the communities they enter into.

Jesus-followers worldwide can and should influence they companies, especially the Global Media MNCs that have so much power in the US, to encourage them to do good, and "...awaken global companies from the ignorance of their social responsibilities."

Week 7, to KM:

I appreciated your insights from the book this week. Particularily, it was astute of you to bring up the thorough-going effects of global trade and finance on the prosperity of developing nations. Those who have been players in the global trade and finance game have prospered and become more powerful as nations, whereas those nations keeping themselves out of the game (like you so appropriately pointed out North Korea has done) have held back their nations from growing and prosering as well as they could have.

I think that shows why it's all the more important for global opportunities economically to open to all nations, so that a few stronger nations don't just take all the power and wealth. We in the US, as the most powerful nation on the global playing field, need to be more compassionate and helpful to the poorer developing nations, so they can grow and prosper. The strongest nations have a responsibility to help level the playing field more for those less-powerful nations, because otherwise they instead force them all out by interacting ecnomically only with themselves.

I was also intrigued by your assertion that our group needs to be "considering expected economical powers because without the exact analysis of the social infrastructures of these powers, it could be impossible for us to accomplish our team purpose." I'm not sure I understood what you meant by that. Could you explain further, and suggest some examples of how we might go about such "exact analysis" for our project?

Week 6 - To KM

Good, thorough work, KM.

Distilling all that you hit upon, I'd like to add (or perhaps merely re-articulate) one insight that your comments lead us toward.

You said "...rapidly increasing globalization and the development of global media have resulted in many cultural, political, and military clashes among nations and cultures because of many discrepancies based on every group’s interest."

I think that really shows us the powerful voice the Church can have speaking into this system as a outside force (if such removal from national interest can happen among us). Because so many of the clashes have been over national interests that have refused to compromise, the Church of Jesus-followers, with our allegeance to Him alone, should at least theoretically be poised to use global media, NOT for the same national interests, but in truly counter-cultural and potentially transformational ways. As a Body on the "outside" of national interest we can speak into those systems and structures and point out the injustices and advocate for the oppressed. We can embody the Gospel in speech and deed, working wiht the Spirit to bring the Kingdom near to the "least of these."

You hinted at this when you said, "...these difficulties, rather, request that our Christians should be change-agents on the inequality and irrationality to redistribute such powers through global media." I just wanted to draw that out a little more.

Week 6 - To Bryan

Great input. I think your insight is right on track to look at the patterns of historically imperialistic nations and compare that to the patterns and practices of large multi-national corporations today. Particularly poignant was your suggestion that the powers and principalities urging on such corporations may be the "same" as those moving within the practices of imperialistic nations.

We may even want to expand our exploration further to check out how the practices of the global corporations are representing the imperialistic desires and influences of their counrties of origin... doing the dirty work for them... replacing the expansion that used to take place militarily or politically.

I also apprecite your thoughts on use of global media by Jesus-followers. I agree, simple message delivery of the "verbal" gospel seems to have been the ocus historically and recently. However, if what we are about it the power of the Gospel to not just repsresent propositional truths, but to transform lives and communities with the power of reconciliation, then YES, we should definitely be advocating global media's potential to be used to urge just such systemic cultural change.

Week 5, to KM,

Well, I think that once again you have given us two very valuable lists/guidelines. I'm impressed.
Concise, easy to understand lists of characteristics or guidelines for the kinds of work and engagement we are trying to encourage are ultimately very helpful as resources on our wiki.

The list from Lusanne is a good broad sweep of the different roles Christian Media can pla, but I do feel like it could be fleshed out better. If we used it we would want to make it clear what all those vague statements like Christian Media being "prophetic" or "kingly" actually mean in plain language.

I like your idea of applying the other list of paradigm shifts to our specific area of Global Media. IT works! But the shifts could also work well for any group in the whole class, and I wonder if any of them have found it yet. Or if Bolger might speak on them later? Either way, they are also going to come in handy if we want to help put flesh on this whole culture-transformation thing for the Christ-followers we are aiming to help.

Week 5, to Bryan,

I appreciate your characterization of the two narratives at work here. That is a great way to boil down the "story" of Global Media in such a way as to make it helpful to the Christ-followers we are hoping to resource.

On the one hand, they need to be made aware of the destructive force that globalization and Media can be, especially before they go trying to use it to communicate to or transform any other cultures worldwide.

But on the other hand, as a class hoping to offer resources for actual practical application and not just theoretical dreaming, we need to tell the story of how cultures can survive or even combat the negative effects of globalized Media in order to give Christ-followers the confidence to move ahead without fear.

Can we find some way to tell that story in our wiki?