ABSTRACT
The critique of media imperialism rested upon a structuralist approach in which domination of international media flows by western capitalist states was assumed to produce negative cultural effects. Characteristic elements would be continuity of territorial settlement entailing a deeply meaningful sense of place, a distinctive language, an identifiable pantheon of heroes, battles and traditions constructed as a 'national history' or collective memory, and specific political, economic and cultural institutions. Language as a focus of national identity is central to many nationalist projects, such as in Quebec, Catalonia and the Basque country. UNESCO's original espousal of a New World Information and Communication Order derived from underlying assumptions about the connections between economic and ideological domination of vulnerable national cultures primarily by the major western powers via the unbalanced flow of news and televised entertainment. For purposes, the simplest way of defining the mass media is institutionally.
