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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 392 091 CS 509 185 TITLE Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (78th, Washington, DC, August 9-12, 1995). International Communications Division. INSTITUTION Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. PUB DATE Aug 95 NOTE 274p.; For other sections of these proceedings, see CS 509 173-187 and CS 509 196. PUB TYPE Collected Works Conference Proceedings (021) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Foreign Countries; *Freedom of Information; *Imperialism; Internet; Mass Media Role; Media Research; *News Media; Politics; Social Status; *Telecommunications; *Television Viewing IDENTIFIERS Africa; Asia; Great Britain; India; International News; Japan; Korea; Television News ABSTRACT The International Communication section of the proceeding& contains the following nine papers: "Mobile Satellite Communications--From Obscurity to Overkill" (Patricia T. Whalen); "Does Television Cultivate the Image of America in Japan?" (Shinichi Saito); "Linking International News to U.S. Interests: A Content Analysis" (Daniel Riffe); "Colonial Interventions and the Postcolonial Situation in India: The English Language, Mass Meuia, and the Articulation of Class" (Radhika E. Parameswaran); "Recent Developments in Freedom uf Information in Great Britain: A Preliminary Appraisal of the Government's 'Code of Practice'" (Wallace B. Eberhard); "Insurgent Technology: The Political Ramifications of the Internet in Africa" (David N. Dixon); "Japan's Clouded Window: News on NHK and TBS Television, 1993" (Anne Cooper-Chen) ;"Media Imperialism Revisited: The Countercase of Asia" (Kalyani Chadha); and "Media and the Politics of Citizens' Press Movemeni- in Korea, 1985-1993" (Yung-Ho Im). (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. *********************************************************************** V PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR EDUCATION IN JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION (78th, Washington, DC, August 9-12, 1995). International Communications Division. U.S. DEPANTMENT Of EDUCATION Ofhce o Educahonai Research ano snwovemen PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION BY CENTER IERIC) MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED Th.s document hos been reproduced as recmyed from the person of organization originating it J 0 Minor changes have been made to ono/one fflpfoquCtiOn quality Pants of v.,* p. opfniOns staled .n tom docu went do nOt neceuanry represent officio! OE RI posotan or poscs 10 THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 2. BEST COPY AVAILABLE MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS -- From Obscurity to Overkill By: Patricia T. Whalen Michigan State University Mass Media Ph.D.Program Mailing Address: 1747 Maple Ridge, #13 Haslett, MI 48840 517/347-0327 E-Mail: [email protected] Presented to the International Communications 1.\i-iision of The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Co-sponsor: Communication Technology and Policy Division August 9, 1995 Revised 4..ext pwp1210t 3EST COPYAVAILABLI 3 MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS -- From Obscurity to Overkill By: Patricia T. Whalen Michigan State University, Mass Media Ph.D.Program Presented to the AWMC International Communications Division Co-sponsor: Communication Technology and Policy Division August 9, 1995 AB S TRAC T This paper traces the origins of international mobile satellite communications, identifies those mobile satellite services available today and compares the various proposed global PersonalCommunications Networks (PCNs), including "INMARSAT-P" and the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems known as Motorola's "Iridium" andLoral/Qualcamm's "Globalstar" systems. The paper also reviews the current regulatory environment for these services, especially in the United States where market access is critical for success. The paper is intended to establish a foundation for future resetxch, and suggests a nuMberof potential research opportunities in the areas of diffusion of technology, mass media usage, and marketing. It recommends an economic evaluation of the industry, suggesting that if all of the organizations that say they will be providing mobile satellite services in the future actually become operational, profit margins may shrink to a point that the services will ultimately become commodity- like, driving some would-be providers out of the industry. 4 MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS -- From Obscurity to Overkill INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW A number of changes in international satellite communications have occurred over the past five years that will have far-reaching affects on the way people communicate in the future. These changes include a shift from the 1980's model of relatively sv.able, but high, prices; few competitors; and limited technology options, to a new era of price competition, rapid growth in the nuMber of international service providers, and the Implementation of digital mobile satellite technologies that have already dramatically reduced the size and cost of satellite equipment and created significant improvements in system capacity. These changes will also allow for the introduction of a satellite-based global personal communications service before the end of this decade and, potentially, several competing communications systems in operation by early in the next decade. v- The interest in this technology has sky-rocketed within the last few years, with nearly=4Very major telecommunications organization in the world announcing intentions to adopt some form of mobilesatellite communication within the decade (Cochetti, 1994). This paper explores the origins of mobile satellite communications and highlights a number of questions and potential stumbling blocks to the implementation of this technology. It is primarily concerned with legal and regulatory hurdles within the MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS --2 From Obscurity to Overkill United States, addressing two primary questions: "Can Inmarsat services legally be used inthe United States today, given that the FCC considers it an'international' service?" and "Can COMSAT participate in future Inmarsatpersonal communications services, since they go beyond the maritimemarket for which COMSAT was initially authorized?" The paper also addresses some marketing andeconomic issues that may threaten the success ofthis highly touted technology. Primarily, the paper reflects a legal research methodology,and, therefore, it is descriptive and non-theoretical.Since there is little existing published literature on this newtechnology, the source documents for most of the material wereFederal Communications Commission (FCC) rulings, government documents and corporatelegal filings, transcripts of Congressional testimony, the text of corporate speeches and press releases, articles from the news media,and marketing and financial materials published by the various organizations being researched. In some cases, actual interviews were conducted with executives from the organizations being researched. The paper is intended to be a foundation for future researchinto this subject, suggesting some areas of potential theoreticalstudy that should be explored in the near future as privatecorporations and government entities continue to significant resources inthis technology. MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS --3 From Obscurity to Overkill GROWTH OF MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS The world's largest and most powerfulsatellite organization, the 124-member, WXshington, D.C.-based InternationalTelecommunications Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), began thedecade of the 1980's with a virtual worldwide monopoly oninternational video and telephony satellite transmissions. But it ended the decade facing an uncertain future, due, in large part, to a regulatoryand competitive onslaught of newly authorized, privately-owned competitors,such as PANAMSAT and Orion. The organization, its signatories, andgovernment participants focused most of their attention on this issue aswell as new threats created by AT&T's 1989 completion of TAT-8,the first of maay planned transoceanic fiber optic cables, and a significantcapacity shortage that was caused by the slow-down in launchesfollowing the 1986 shuttle disaster. Interestingly, one of the most significant changes in the satellite industry in the 1980s went relatively unnoticedby the large fixed satellite system operators and end-users. That was the birth and gradual development of an internationalmobile satellite network headquartered in London and known as Inmarsat. That organization, originally called, theInternational Maritime Satellite Organization, but now referred to only byits acronym, Inmarsat, had as its original mission to improvesafety of life at sea on large ocean-going vessels. There was little fanfare in the business world for the birth of this technologybecause its market was limited to international maritime fleets. In fact, from 1979 to 1989, 7 MOBILE SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS --4 From Obscurity to Overkill in the first ten years of Inmarsat'sexistence, fewer than 10,000 users purchased equipmentcapable of operating within the Inmarsat systeml. But in the subsequent five years, the numberof Inmarsat users jumped to more than 50,000, and the organizationis predicting usage in the hundreds of thousands by the end ofthis decade'. The reason for this growth is the Implementation of newdigital technologies and the