Who speaks for Asia: Media and information control in the global economy

East and southeast Asia has become a regional production platform for the manufacture of Western media and information commodities, primarily driven by transnational institutions but also with the participation of domestic and regional conglomerates. Still bearing the heavy imprint of the colonial era, most of the region's communications systems continue to function as spokes within an international wheel of production and labor and, in fact, at a now-increased level of industrial and financial integration. Despite some impressive economic statistics and relative social improvement, the world communications economy has left little space for the region's urban and rural working people.