International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

In the communication field, the term “cultural product” refers to media artifacts such as →  books , →  Newspapers , →  magazines , recorded music, films, →  Television programs, and related audiovisual materials. “Cultural product” succinctly conveys the juxtaposition that renders these artifacts controversial: they express cultural values of societies that produce them, yet are economic goods created, distributed, and engaged by →  audiences under market conditions (→  Culture Industries ; Music Industry ; Markets of the Media ). Because of their power to influence a society's aesthetic and ideological environments, as well as its economy, the exchange of cultural products across political, cultural, and linguistic boundaries can be quite sensitive. Efforts to promote cultural products' creation and dissemination – and also to control their importation and circulation – have been undertaken by a variety of organizations in diverse contexts ( Hesmondhalgh 2007 ). Historically this has involved less developed nations restricting importation of cultural products from more developed nations, although despite moves toward free trade, more developed nations have resisted cultural imports from their peers. Cultural products have been assumed to carry the political, economic, and social ideals of their societies of origin since the beginnings of mechanized print media (→  Printing, ... log in or subscribe to read full text