Electronic Colonialism and things...

I actually found reading this part of the book to be fairly easy and understandable. (Which is rare for a textbook!) I liked how McPhail compared Electronic colonialism to the other forms of colonialism in the past and also how he compared media to "wearing a mask."All this about the Electronic Colonialism Theory and World Systems Theory was hard for me to read though. Hard because I was almost ashamed to be American. Don't get me wrong, I do plenty of my share of enjoying American media and think we produce some very fine quality things, it's just that I feel like when we bombard other countries with it so much, it's like we're discounting their culture. I know we talked about how a lot of countries don't have the option to create a lot of their own media but who's to say that broadcast media is the best thing for the people anyway. If American media can co-exist with existing cultures....power to it. I would hate for the world and all the peripheral and semi-peripheral nations to homogonize because of our influence. What a boring world! I love other cultures. Speaking french and spanish, I've wanted to travel the world and indulge in all that other countries have to offer...it's not about the media for me in that aspect. I was also really unnerved by the passage where McPhail talks about the World Systems Theory where business leaders of core multinational media firms seek to convert and capture the attitudes, minds, and purchasing behavior of others. We're victims of it as we speak. The clothes we wear, food we eat, any materials we buy and how we think about others is shaped my media. Are we simply purchasing puppets? It's scary to think about. Media is part of culture...i don't think it should manipulate it and warp it for us and others in the global community.