A: I dont understand why everyone is concerned with cultural homogenisation. What exactly is it?

B: well, cultural homogenisation is to receive the values and ideologies of the media, for example the monopoly run by Rupert Murdoch, he owns so much of the media, newspapers and channels, and is highly influential to the extent that when Tony Blair became PM the first person he went to see was him, just to get his support and backing due to his ability to enforce his ideas through his newspapers. With one man running so much of the media from the Sun to Sky, it leaves the audience without an alternative choice, and leads them to believe the ideologies and values he supports.

A: audiences arent passive any longer though. There are so many different sources of information, even if Murdoch owns alot. Theres the internet, BBC News, other newspapers, other news channels etc. Theres enough resources for them to make their own choice rather than believe whatever Murdoch thinks.

B: But some people rely on his newspapers and his channels. Your not going to change what you read or watch just for a unbiased version of the news are you? Many people dont have the time to look at other sources. Thats why cultural homogenisation is dangerous as the audiences accept the beliefs due to reputation these monopolies have built. The audience is slowly turning into an example of the hypodermic needle model and changes a pluralistic society.

A: ok fine hes viewpoint may be obvious but its not neccessarily a bad thing for someones ideologies to be visible if it doesnt cause any real harm, hes just helping people make up their mind.

B: its harmful as it challenges the pluralistic society, the audience is no longer given a neutral viewpoint and can be influenced by negative media such as this. Look at the cultural imperialisation of the US media, US culture is dominate and influential for us, and look as Bush's terrorism campaign, its just a form of propaganda and from this propaganda everyone across the world is in a state of worry, its a perfect example of the global village.
The likes of Murdoch may be successful in what they do but we have to keep in mind that we need a pluralistic society which gives us a range of opinions and sum sources of unbiased news so that audiences do not take on the monopoly owners ideologies and values and are left to make their own decisions.