Saffron-robed monks and long-haired gurus have become familiar characters on the American popular culture scene. This book examines the contemporary fascination with Eastern spirituality and provides ...a cultural history of the representation of Asian religions in American mass media. Initial engagements with Asian spiritual heritages were mediated by monks, gurus, bhikkhus, sages, sifus, healers, and masters from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and religious traditions. Virtual Orientalism shows the evolution of these interactions, from direct engagements with specific individuals, to mediated relations with a conventionalized icon. Visually and psychically compelling, the Oriental Monk becomes for Americans a “figure of translation” - a convenient symbol for alternative spiritualities and modes of being. Through the figure of the solitary Monk, who generously and purposefully shares his wisdom with the West, Asian religiosity is made manageable — psychologically, socially, and politically — for popular culture consumption. On an historical level, the books argues that American mass awareness of Asian religions coincides with the advent of visually-oriented media (magazines, television, and film) and examines how technological transformations ushered in a new form of Orientalism — virtual Orientalism — prevalent since the late 1950s. Although popular engagement with Asian religions in the U.S. has increased, the fact that much of this has taken virtual form makes stereotypical constructions of “the spiritual East” obdurate and especially difficult to challenge. Representational moments in Virtual Orientalism’s development that are examined include: D.T. Suzuki and the 1950s Zen Boom; the Maharishi Mahesh and his celebrity followers in the 1960s and; Kwai Chang Caine in the popular 1970 television series, Kung Fu.
The escalating growth of new media has profoundly reshaped China's media environment, prompting traditional powerhouses such as Television Stations to adapt and innovate. As China experiences rapid ...socio-economic growth and a marked enhancement in the rise of China, its television industry faces a unique set of possibilities and hurdles. New media technologies are pivotal in augmenting productivity and redefining organizational frameworks, and the continuous evolution of media convergence significantly drives the transformation within China's TV sector. This paper scrutinizes the metamorphosis of Shanxi Radio and Television Station's television programs, examining various dimensions, including content, technology, and policy. This study proposes a blueprint for integrating effective communication strategies within China's media industry. It also provides an in-depth analysis of the strategic communication techniques employed by Shanxi Radio and Television Station to engage its audience and stakeholders.
Among shifting politics, tastes, and technology in television
history, one genre has been remarkably persistent: the cop show.
Claudia Calhoun returns to Dragnet, the pioneering police
procedural and ...an early transmedia franchise, appearing on radio in
1949, on TV and in film in the 1950s, and in later revivals. More
than a popular entertainment, Dragnet was a signifier of
America's postwar confidence in government institutions-and a
publicity vehicle for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Only the Names Have Been Changed shows how
Dragnet 's "realistic" storytelling resonated across
postwar culture. Calhoun traces Dragnet 's
"semi-documentary" predecessors, and shows how Jack Webb,
Dragnet 's creator, worked directly with the LAPD as he
produced a series that would likewise inspire public trust by
presenting day-to-day procedural justice, rather than shootouts and
wild capers. Yet this realism also set aside the seething racial
tensions of Los Angeles as it was. Dragnet emerges as a
foundational text, one that taught audiences to see police as
everyday heroes not only on TV but also in daily life, a lesson
that has come under scrutiny as Americans increasingly seek to
redefine the relationship between policing and public safety.
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