This year's volume of Northern Lights originates from the research program Global Media Cultures. It is concerned with the ways in which media take part in processes of globalization, including how they challenge existing cultures and create new and alternative symbolic and cultural environments. The volume addresses these questions through theoretical discussions and re-examination of existing international research and through a series of individual empirical studies covering global media phenomena like the Olympics, the talk show, international beauty contests, satellite television, and media discourses on national culture.