Turkey, the Middle East & the Media| TransNational Media Flows: Some Key Questions and Debates

Abstract

Globalization and media flows have been scrutinized extensively in media and communication studies. Compared to the totalizing discourse of globalization, the scope of transnationalism offers a more tangible entry point for studying both the cohesive elements brought about by virtual and material flows and the social and cultural tension fields that arise between the varied scales of the national and the transnational. Departing from the theme of this special issue, and based upon both geopolitical and cultural considerations concerning mediation, this article aims to survey some of the material and symbolic implications of contemporary media flows. Theoretically, it draws upon two tropes, geopolitics and cosmopolitanism, which provide paradigmatic tools to reflect upon technological, spatial, and cultural dimensions of flows.