A B S T R A C T qThis article provides a programmatic framework for the investigation of travel journalism. We argue that travel journalism is an important site for studying the ideological dimensions of tourism, transcultural encounters and the ongoing dynamics of media globalization. Based on the literature on tourism in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, we identify three distinct but interrelated theoretical perspectives for the analysis of travel journalism structured by issues of periodization, power and phenomenology. q K E Y W O R D S q cultural imperialism q cultural studies q globalization q mass media q modernity q nationalism q postmodernity q tourism q travel journalism

The media imperialism thesis has long argued that the expansion of Western media production into developing countries has resulted in the domination of their national media environments and the consequent destruction of their indigenous media production. This article examines the empirical tenability of this claim with regard to Asia. Delineating the region's media developments, it identifies forces such as national gate-keeping policies, the dynamics of audience preference and local competition, all of which inhibit and restrict the proliferation of Western cultural production. On the basis of this empirical evidence, the article argues that the claims made by proponents of the media imperialism thesis seem overstated in the Asian context. In conclusion, the article suggests that although media imperialism is perceived as a very real danger by governments, there are in fact several other problematic trends such as the rampant growth of commercialization and the decline of public broadcasting, the dominance of entertainment programming and a lack of genuine diversity in program genres and formats that collectively represent a more significant threat to media systems in Asia.

This article offers the concept of 'Bollyculture' as a paradigmatic frame for understanding the media/dance cultures and life-space of young South-Asian Americans. Drawing on an extended ethnographic study of India Nite 1 (a performance of Bollywood inspired dances), the essay argues that concepts like Bollyculture capture the hybrid and contested nature of diasporic subcultures, while offering concrete ways of observing the longitudinal and discursive impact of Bollywood on issues of identity, gender and culture.

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