Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.1
Satellite footprints generate instantaneous time-space compression.
(predominantly Western ones) and devalorizing others. Appadurai (1996)
views such phenomena as part of a global “mediascape” that interacts with
other “scapes” to rede
fi
ne the cultural geographies of global postmodernism.
c across national borders wreaks
havoc with traditional notions of national sovereignty, an inevitable con
The unhampered
fl
flow of satellite tra
ict
that arises when signal footprints exceed the borders of a target country.
As Achilleas (2002:37) notes, “Television by satellite involves high political
and legal stakes because of two underlying principles long considered to
be antinomic: freedom of information and sovereignty.” Similarly, Morley
and Robins (1995:43) argue “satellite broadcasting threatens to undermine
the very basis of present policies for the policing of national space.” States
that seek to restrict imports of foreign media have typically found it impos-
sible to assert national controls over global
fl
flows of information beamed
from above. Such “externalities” point to the bleeding of the distinctions
between foreign and domestic policy that communications technology has
accelerated in a period of rapid globalization, and illustrate Agnew and
Corbridge's (1995) observation that the “power container” of the nation-state
exhibits mounting “leakages” to and from the world-system.
During the late twentieth century, the satellite industry underwent enor-
mous changes, including: worldwide deregulation; mounting competition
within the industry as well as with other information providers using di
fl
erent
technologies; and rising numbers of corporate providers and applications as
ff
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