Cultural Industries: blog task

 Cultural Industries: blog task

1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?

The term ‘cultural industry’ refers to the creation, production, and distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature. Cultural industries include television and film production, publishing, music, as well as crafts and design.

2) What does Hesmondhalgh identify regarding the societies in which the cultural industries are highly profitable?

These are, as Hesmondhalgh considers, the industries centrally concerned with the industrial production and circulation of texts:

• Broadcasting: radio, television (cable, digital and satellite)
• Film industries: including the dissemination of film on video/television
• Music industries: recording, publishing and live performance
• Print and electronic publishing: books, online databases, information services, magazines and newspapers
• Video and computer games: or digital games as some commentators refer to them
• Advertising, marketing and public relations: greater functional element than other cultural industries; intended to sell and promote other texts
• Web design: high functionality dynamic + strong aesthetic element

3) Why do some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society?

By challenging capitalism and inequality in society they can target a larger audience. This is because the majority of the society and today's generation that uses the media the most are against the government etc. by accompanying these kinds of situations they have more users and therefore make more profit.

4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?

Problems

• Risky business
• Creativity versus commerce
• High production costs and low reproduction costs
• Semi-public goods; the need to create scarcity

5) Why are so many cultural industries a 'risky business' for the companies involved?

Companies cannot completely control the publicity a product will receive, as judgements and reactions of audiences, critics and journalists etc. cannot accurately be predicted.

Cultural industries can be highly profitable in spite of high levels of risk, but it may be difficult to achieve high levels of profit for independent or individual companies.

6) What is your opinion on the creativity v commerce debate? Should the media be all about profit or are media products a form of artistic expression that play an important role in society?

The media is a massive platform that should allow young minds to explore and showcase their artistic talent however the undeniable truth is that media is mostly about making profit even to create more media. 

7) How do cultural industry companies minimise their risks and maximise their profits? (Clue: your work on Industries - Ownership and control will help here) 

• Vertical integration: when a media company owns a range of businesses in the same chain of production and distribution
• Horizontal integration: when a media company owns a range of different media companies that are largely unrelated 
• Diversification: when a media company branches out into a different area of the industry
• Cross media regulation: when two companies wish to merge or diversity

8) Do you agree that the way the cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of wider society? Should the content creators, the creative minds behind media products, be better rewarded for their work?

YES! the people who are the main creators of the certain media should be credited the most and paid what they deserve. The profit is split between producers and directors but the main editors and artists never get paid what their work is actually worth.

9) Listen and read the transcript to the opening 9 minutes of the Freakonomics podcast - No Hollywood Ending for the Visual-Effects Industry. Why has the visual effects industry suffered despite the huge budgets for most Hollywood movies?

10) What is commodification? 

Commodification involves the transforming of objects and serves into commodities. It involves producing things not only for use but also for exchange.

11) Do you agree with the argument that while there are a huge number of media texts created, they fail to reflect the diversity of people or opinion in wider society?

The media fails to demonstrate the true British society of other cultures. the media doesn't celebrate other festivities like Diwali and Eid like how they do with Christmas. The first day of December is when most brands and media companies realise their Christmas ads even though Christianity isn't the most popular religion in this country and do not consider others.

12) How does Hesmondhalgh suggest the cultural industries have changed? Identify the three most significant developments and explain why you think they are the most important.

Hesmondhalgh considers the way the cultural industries distribute and organise symbolic creativity (i.e. texts audiences consume) reflects

extreme inequalities and injustices evident in capitalist societies. For instance, there are vast differences in terms of access to cultural industries

in society, in terms of your level of wealth, gender or ethnicity. There are also inequalities in the ways symbol creators are treated.