Reorienting Global Communication: Indian and Chinese Media Beyond Borders. Michael Curtin and Hemant Shah, eds. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, 2010. 328 pp.

The world is watching India and China, with their liberalized market economies, more than one billion people each, their ancient history with past glories and cultural riches; together, they are seen as formidable competition to the developed world. Yet books focusing on the mass media of these two Asian superpowers are scarce. One is Marcus Franda’s China and India Online: The Politics of Information Technology in the World’s Largest Nations (2002). There are books on media and information and communication technology in the Asian region generally, but most of these are already dated. After more than two decades of liberalization and market growth, the importance of measuring the media’s social and cultural impact in this important region cannot be overemphasized.  [Read more...]