The Cultural Industries

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive 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

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What does the term 'Cultural Industries' actually refer to?
Cultural industries refers to the creation, production, and distribution of products of a cultural or artistic nature.

3) Why do some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society?
Some media products offer ideologies that challenge capitalism or inequalities in society is because they try not to bias so they have to show two arguments.

4) Look at page 2 of the factsheet. What are the problems that Hesmondhalgh identifies with regards to the cultural industries?
That it is a risky business, high production costs and low reproduction costs.

5) Why are so many cultural industries a 'risky business' for the companies involved?
They are highly profitable and it is difficult to achieve high levels of profit.

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 can advertise which will maximise the profit and have a plan which will minimise the risk.

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?
I think that the creative minds behind media products should be better rewarded for their work as they help the business to make the profit that it does because without them there would be no profit.

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 is the action or process of treating someone as a mere commodity.

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 this statement as in this new generation there are media texts that are created they do reflect the diversity of people or opinion in wider society.

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.
One of the ways is that they are no longer seen as second to the 'real' economy. Some are actually vast global businesses.
Another way is that ownership and organisation is now much broader.
Thirdly they are a lot of powerful IT and technology companies that now work with cultural industries.