Chris Lederer & Megan Brownlow, ‘’A World of Differences’: Special Report: Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2016-2020’. Price Waterhouse Cooper,

In this week’s reading text, “A World of Differences” by Chris Lederer and Megan Brownlow. It mentions the five dimensions of the global E&M landscape: Demography, competition, consumption, geography, and business models. Simultaneously and interrelated, they influence and play off one another in the global media landscape.

One area that caught my interest was the shift of focus onto younger consumers to propel the growth of E&M companies. While there might be the stereotyped view of younger consumers “downloading free content” and basically making it hard for the digital industry to survive, research has shown that younger consumers are more open to adopting digital behaviors — and therefore more open to digital spending. This reminds me of the discussion we had in class, whereby the younger generation are more willing to accept “new technology” or “new business models” because we have been exposed to it, unlike the older generation.

Another area that caught my interest was the example of how China would be overtaking US in terms of box office revenues in the near future. I thought it was interesting that the author mentioned that “some of the most heavily regulated markets are also those with the most growth.” For example, if we took Australia as a case study and regulated the media in this country, how much would Australia’s media industry change? Would we see the same results as with China’s media industry?

On Friday’s class, we were split into groups to discuss on the different ideas that were linked to empowerment. Our group topic was mainly about censorship and surveillance, which the readings did cover some parts on it.

I’ve read someone saying that censorship and surveillance constitute to the two biggest threats towards freedom of expression. However, with the digital and media industry thriving, the line between censorship and surveillance gets blurred. Wouldn’t the use of online media allow easier access for censorship and surveillance?

This discussion also reminds me about the lecture talk we had with Astrid Scott, whereby she mentioned that very few people actually care that their personal information and privacy is being used by commercial companies. Facebook, Instagram or even your google search bars are allowed access to your browsing history, allowing them to “curate” advertisements that are in our interest. Has it become a norm for us?

Klaus Schwab, 2016, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (World Economic Forum), pp.14-26, 47-50, 67-73, 91-104

Klaus Schwag classifies “Megatrends” into three different types. Physical, Digital and Biological. While the three are very different, they form a link to one another and are closely interconnected with each other as the world develops. The potential applications for all three is virtually endless, and one can only imagine how these megatrends will develop in this new digital age.

Leveraging the persuasive power of digitization and information technology, it empowers literally anyone who has an internet connection. Something like giving voice to people in a voiceless environment. Such new technology and trends have proved to influence in ways never expected, and I was especially intrigued by how the biggest companies in the world like Uber, AirBnb, Alibaba are making profits in ways that we never imagined possible before.

The question raised in this reading got me thinking. How do we absorb and accomodate the new modernity while still embracing traditional value systems? I have to say I don’t have a single clue at all. Such trends not only change what we do, but to a certain extent it affect who we are as a person, as a human on this earth. Identity, privacy, relationships are questioned time and time again, and I feel that more is at stake than what we can imagine.