Cultural Industries: blog task

 Go to our Media Factsheet archive and open Factsheet 168: David Hesmondhalgh’s ‘The Cultural Industries’. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets or you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login. 

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:  you can access it online here using your Greenford Google login. 

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

 Refers to the creation, production and distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature.

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

He says the societies tend to be those that support the conditions where large companies, and their political allies, make money.

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

  Cultural industries need to constantly compete with each other to secure audience members.

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

 • 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?

    It is a highly unpredictable industry, as hyper consumption, limited autonomy and what uncontrollable publicity a product will receive.

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?

I do believe that the media industry benefits form both commerce and creativity, there wouldn't be one without the other, I believe they work in tandem with one another. However I strongly believe that without creativity within the media industry, it would not be as successful as it is now and without it ,the media industry would crumble to a shell of it's former self. Creativity is the backbone of the media industry and without it there would not nearly be as much profit gained from it.

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

  They vertically integrate , so they own almost all things that pertain to their product; that goes for the distribution companies as well as other things.

8) Do you agree that the way the way 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?

  I fully agree with the statement that the way cultural industries operate reflects the inequalities and injustices of wider society. If we take Doctor Who, the first airing of it on BBC. It truly reflects the attitudes of society at the time. An entirely white cast, the men being the lead characters, women being secondary to them, as well as the senior representation of the older people in the show. However in contrast we can take a movie like Moonlight, which is a movie described to be a " black" movie which is not about "being black", a refreshing movie where the lead and cast just happened to all be black but that did not impact the movie. It addressed issues of closeted homosexuality as well as love, through the life of a young man.  I believe it perfectly addressed the struggles of closeted homosexuality while not focusing on the race of the lead and having it not impact the message of the movie. It shows the shift in society and our thoughts on race and homosexuality. They made clear that the race of the lead was unimportant showing a shift in society and its attitudes towards race. I wholeheartedly believe that content creators behind media should be rewarded for their work. Whatever they create makes people feel something , some feel things they've never felt before, others are faced with eye-opening realisations that alter the course of their lives and for most it just makes them feel good. It makes them belly laugh, cry real tears, tears of sadness or even joy. So of course these people should be rewarded for their efforts , they should be recognised for what they bring into others lives and for what they spark in them.   

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?

 In 2013 , the visual effects accounted for around 1/3 of the production budget on the top box offices movies. Roughly double what it had been a decade earlier, however this did not translate into more money for those in the visual effects industry. From 1994, the margins continuously got tighter, so tight that the visual effects industry in LA has completely fizzled out.  This happened because when these visual effects companies bid for these jobs to work on certain movies they are contracted and are locked onto that contract no matter what happens post production. So if a film does well the employees of these companies cannot ask for more money even if the film generates more revenue than expected. 

10) What is commodification? 

  The action or process of treating something as a mere commodity(object)

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?

  I disagree with that statement, because if we look at media texts today, I believe they one hundred percent  reflect the diversity within our society. Even though it mostly stereotypes people that make society diverse. They still give representation to many previously marginalised communities, if we take the BLM movement for example, it has made people and therefore the media more aware of how they present the black community within shows, movies and how they treat them in everyday life. It is evident that media industries have picked up on this extreme acceptance of people within the black community and this openness has trickled into everyday society. Where now even universities make it a point to hold spaces for students of colour.   

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.

The three most important developments on why the cultural industries have changed are because of Globalisation, interconnectivity and digital media/ new technologies. 

Because of globalisation, cultural products can now be shared across national boarders, this increased the adaptation, reinvention and hybridity of genres and products. Enabling cultures to reaffirm their values and reducing the cultural impact of the USA. Now cultural industries are no longer seen as "second" to the "real" economy as they are actually some of the vastest global businesses in the world, earning us millions as they contribute to the economy.  Without globalisation audiences wouldn't have been able to interact with each others cultures in the way they do now, we are able to learn so much about each other without stepping foot onto either parties land, that is one of the most significant developments of the cultural industries. Due to increased interconnectivity because of globalisation , through trade, communications and movement, cultural industries have changed drastically. 

Interconnectiveity itself has also allowed audiences to connect easily, widely and effectively with other products and or audiences. Digitalisation,the internet and mobile phones have multiplied the ways audience can gain access to cultural content. making small scale production easier for millions of people. Giving opportunity for diversity amongst producers, as well as actors so these niche products are able to reach those niche audiences.  There are now products across a wider range of genres. However now traditional public ownership and regulation has been dismantled, as it's had to keep a close and regulated eye on something that is so ever-changing.