THE MEDIA: What are they?

At our conference on "Globalizations," there will be a session on the media, led by William Woo. But what are the media? The term designates more than just the press, radio and television. It embraces a whole spectrum of related activities. Street demonstrations such as anti-global demonstrations are used to carry a message. So are international meetings such as the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, which Peruvian presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo used to denounce a globalization which helps only a few countries (he was mixing with the globalists but trying to keep his standing as a populist among the Peruvian masses). Satellites are essential to the media, and they are vulnerable. There is a fear that the GPS (global positioning system or satellites) could be sabotaged, creating chaos. The use of English as the global language is an important factor. Has there been an increase in the number of English-language newspapers around the world? The scope (and therefore the importance) of the media is more embracing than is commonly supposed.

Ronald Hilton - 1/29/01