Die hard culture

I have recently travelled to Europe and on my travels I saw a piece of convergence first hand. It is well known that Australians love their AFL, however, this game is not aired in the place that currently hold many Australian expats (London). So while I was visiting a family friend I noticed they were streaming the live game of their team, Richmond.

Globalisation has many, many pros and cons, but I do believe that within online videos the production of diasporic media is a great step forward into a multicultural societies (one that still exists among culture however).

Although this example did not involved different ethnicity, it is a completely different culture and I believe it to be just as significant as diasporic television for example, Middle Eastern television programs being shown in the USA.

That being said, “Los Angeles is perhaps the most ethnically diversified broadcast market in the world.” (Naficy, 2003, p. 54) With over 24 foreign Middle Eastern programs on one channel alone (Naficy, 2003)

I believe that you can take a person out of their culture, but you can’t take the culture out of the person, and I therefore believe that we are only seeing the beginning of convergence and diasporic media.

Reference:

Naficy, H, 2003, Narrowcasting in diaspora: Middle Eastern television in Los Angeles, in KH Karim (ed.), The media of diaspora, Routledge, London.

Blogosphere

It is often said that each social media outlet has its own semi-sphere - a place in which people have the ability to publish their opinions and rationalize with others amongst discussions within these ‘spheres’.

German philosopher, Jürgen Habermas proposed “the notion of the ‘public sphere’, where citizens are able to rationally discuss and debate in a social, mediating environment.” (Sheehan, 2009, p.36)

So what is a blogosphere? A space on the Internet that people can write opinions and thoughts? Discuss and debate rationally? From my experience it is just that. A place people come to voice opinions and hear others opinions, somewhere to mediate.

I have had the chance to voice my opinions on topics that others have extremely differing ones to myself, however everyone can be heard. It is a place in which “allows users to interact with and share, distribute, organize, and manage the content they themselves create and the content created by others.” (Barlow, 2011, p.109) 

Reference:

Barlow, A, Leston, R, 2011, Beyond the Blogosphere: Information and its children, Praeger, United States of America.

Sheehan, M, Xavier, R, 2009, Public Relations Campaigns, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. 

Australian Identity

Our identity as Australians is what we perceive to be ‘Australian’. “Australians on the whole identify themselves as sports lovers, ‘Aussie’ battlers, sense of mateship, being laid back and demanding a fair go.”  (Ahmed, 2010)

The Australian culture may be depicted around the world as the classic ‘G’day mate’ bloke who drinks beer out of a VB can and chases after crocodiles in rivers, amongst many others – mostly lies. However, there is one depiction of Australia which stems from a string of truths and true ‘Australianness’, and that is – Sport.

Whether you are a farmer who lives in a small country town, or a postman or even a CEO at a multinational company, everyone in Australia knows and mostly likes sports. It may be the typical AFL Friday night game that takes your fancy, a game of amateur indoor soccer, or the occasional social tennis played with friends. The majority of Australian’s come together for sport, it’s what makes Australia, Australia.

You could try and say that music and art and politics make our culture – but I would have to say that sport is what makes Australian culture. Sure, music, art, fashion and food all have their own place in Australian identity, but with Melbourne as the ‘Sports capital of the World’, this is what makes Australia us.

Reference:

Ahmed, A, 2010, Our national identity, DVD video, Written by Stephen Scoglio