  We revisit the problem of introducing an external global field -- the mass
media -- in Axelrod's model of social dynamics, where in addition to their
nearest neighbors, the agents can interact with a virtual neighbor whose
cultural features are fixed from the outset. The finding that this apparently
homogenizing field actually increases the cultural diversity has been
considered a puzzle since the phenomenon was first reported more than a decade
ago. Here we offer a simple explanation for it, which is based on the
pedestrian observation that Axelrod's model exhibits more cultural diversity,
i.e., more distinct cultural domains, when the agents are allowed to interact
solely with the media field than when they can interact with their neighbors as
well. In this perspective, it is the local homogenizing interactions that work
towards making the absorbing configurations less fragmented as compared with
the extreme situation in which the agents interact with the media only.
