A Keynote Speech
Presented at the Launching Ceremony of the Chinese edition of
Global Media Journal
May 17, 2005
Tsinghua Universtiy,  Beijing

By

Yahya R. Kamalipour, PhD
Professor and Head
Department of Communication
Purdue University Calumet
Hammond, Indiana 46321, USA
kamaliyr@calumet.purdue.edu

INTRODUCTION

• Greetings!  Allow me to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation and thanks to Professor Xiguang Li, editor of the Chinese edition of Global Media Journal, and his persistence in making this timely and truly global publication a possibility—he should be applauded for spearheading this timely project.
• My thanks to the administrators at Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Fudan University Press, and the Sun Media Corporation for their collective support and genuine interest in making the print edition of GMJ a reality.
• I would also like to thank our today’s distinguished guests that represent the academia, politics, business, and media sectors.  Thanks to the graduate students who have enthusiastically contributed to this inaugural ceremony.
• As the Managing Editor of all editions of the Global Media Journal, I am pleased to inform you that the Journal has the following editions:
o Global Media Journal, English Edition (www.globalmediajournal.com), launched in fall 2002, is based at Purdue University Calumet, Indiana, USA,
o Global Media Journal, Spanish Edition (http://gmje.mty.itesm.mx/index.html), launched in fall 2004, is based at the Monterrey Technological University in Mexico.
o Global Media Journal, Arabic Edition (http://www.aucegypt.edu/academic/gmj/), launched in Spring 2005, is based at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and
o Global Media Journal, Chinese Edition, launched today (May 17, 2005), is a joint project by Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and the Sun Media Group.
o Soon an Indian Edition, based at the Manipal Institute of
Communication, Karnataka, India, will become available.
• My hope is that in addition to the print edition, we will soon inaugurate an online edition of GMJ in Chinese.  In time, this journal will prove to be a significant milestone in the history and development of international and mass communication fields in China—a rapidly advancing nation which is poised to become a future global leader.
• As you may know, all of the various GMJ editions are interlinked and one can easily move from one edition to another.  My hope is that in the future we would be able to add a reliable international language translation software to all editions of GMJ.
• You might be also interested to know that GMJ is the official publication of the Global Fusion Consortium which has been organized by Ohio University, Purdue University Calumet, Southern Illinois University, and University of Texas at Austin.  The Consortium organizes an annual conference and a selected number of papers presented appear in the Spring issues of GMJ (English Edition).
• Our goal is to expand the Global Fusion Consortium and invite other major universities—such as Tsinghua University and Fudan University—to join our efforts.
• This is my third trip to Beijing.  My last trip was for the inauguration of the Chinese edition of my Global Communication textbook which was, again, made possible through the kind efforts of Professor Xiguang Li.  The book has been translated by Mr. Yin Hongyi of Xinhua News Agency and published by the Tsinghua University Press.
• A new and completely updated edition of the book will be published by Thompson Learning/Wadsworth (a major international publisher) in spring 2006.
• I am truly impressed with your kind reception and warm hospitality and am honored to be associated with you and your highly regarded universities and organizations.  In Beijing, I almost feel at home and look forward to visit this great city and university, again, and hope to continue to work with you on other significant projects in the future.
OTHER ONLINE PROJECTS
While I have your kind attention, allow me to briefly introduce my other initiatives which include: 
• Global Media Monitor (www.globalmediamonitor) is an online resource center for a variety of information on global media, organizations, NGOs, legal matter, advertising, news agencies, corporations, and so on.
• My Global Village (www.myglobalvillage.com), is a web site devoted to a wide range of global issues, including war, peace, poverty, environmental problems, human rights, freedom of expression, conflict resolution, politics, and commerce.
With that rather lengthy introduction and hopefully useful information, allow me to briefly talk about globalization—the focus of my presentation today.
GLOBALIZATION
• Globalization is a vast and multifaceted process that cannot be easily defined.  In fact there are as many definitions as there are disciplines.  Nonetheless, the following explanation seems to capture the essence of this evolutionary process:
o Globalization has resulted in the integration of economics through increased interdependence among nations, decreased trade barriers, and the generation of open markets.
• Globalization is a process which is technologically driven and as this process continues to unfold, it leaves behind it some “winners” but many “losers.”
• In fact, the information and economic gap or the digital divide between the “haves” and “have nots” has increased dramatically. 
• For instance, according to the World Bank, since 1997, the percentage of population living on less than One-Dollar-a-day has more than doubled.
• This is in view of the fact that the dominant global corporations, with governmental support, continue to increase their size (through mergers), global reach, and income!
• For example, consider the growth of a once relatively small corporation, Times Inc.  In recent years, Times has acquired Warner Brothers, Turner Broadcasting, and America Online—through mergers—to become one of the largest media conglomerates in the world.
• Other major global media players include Walt Disney, News Corp., Sony, Vivendi Universal, Viacom, and Berletsmann.  These corporations have their hands into practically every mode communication that you can imagine—movies, books, radio, television, magazines, newspapers, consumer products, and more!
• The reality is that today a handful of media conglomerates produce and distribute most of what we see, read, and hear—through the global media—around the world.
• Globalization seems to benefit the advanced countries while damaging the economies of developing countries.  According to the Information Society Index (ISI), “in digital terms, the rich countries are getting richer while the poor are too, but that digital divide between groups and societies will eventually grow larger and larger.” 
• Based on the same ISI report, nations maybe divided into FIVE groups.  The variables that they used to categorize the nations were: (1) Computer infrastructure, (2) Internet Infrastructure, (3) Information Infrastructure, and (4) Social infrastructure.  The categories are:
o SKATERS:  Advance countries that are in a strong position (technologically, economically, socially, and politically) to benefit from the Information Revolution.
 Examples would be Sweden, United States, Finland, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, and so on.
o STRIDERS:  Have the necessary infrastructure in place and are moving forward.  Examples would be Belgium, Austria, France, Korea, and so on. 
o SPRINTERS:  Nations that are shifting their priorities and at times seem to move forward by making the necessary adjustments.  Example would be Poland, Chile, Argentina, Malaysia, Russia, Brazil, and so on.
o STROLLERS:  Moving ahead but in an inconsistent and limited manner.  Examples world be Egypt, China, Indonesia, India, and so on.
o STARTERS: Nations at the beginning of the road to information revolution which together constitute about 40% of world’s population.
• Some of the obstacles among the Sprinters and Strollers include:  Over population, lack of infrastructure, lack of resources, lack of planning and management.

GLOBALIZATION AND PARTICIPATION
• Obviously, globalization is not yet global at all.  In fact, most countries in the world have not experienced the benefits of the “Information Age.”
• Another way of looking at globalization, in terms of participation, is to divide nations/organizations into FOUR categories:  Active participants, Passive participants, Proactive participants, and Reactive participants.
o ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS:  Advanced nations that are actively engaged in the globalization process and are the main producers and distributors of consume goods and are therefore economically benefiting from the Information Age.  Approximately 55 countries fall into this category.  These nations, collectively, account for 97% of global GNP and 99% of global IT expenditures.
o PASSIVE PARTI