This study interrogates whether popular journalism – in this case music journalism – can contribute to a productive discourse on issues of public concern. We conducted a textual analysis of the discourse on cultural globalization in the coverage on world music in the US popular press over the last 30 years. We found that music journalists developed a new cultural sensibility in several distinctive phases. The first phase was marked by a firm West/non-West dichotomy and ‘othering.’ A brief second phase denoted the confusion of prior assumptions. The third phase indicated the dissolution of traditional dichotomies and the integration of dynamic and hybrid ideas of global cultural exchange. Along with significant modifications in journalistic style and a different representation of global others, the position of music reviewers as popular journalists eventually helped their acceptance of global cultural transformations. At their best, the reviews created relevant and productive texts on the cultural dimensions of globalization.
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