Audio-Visual Industries and Diversity: Economics and Policies in the Digital Era(Routledge Studies in Media and Cultural Industries)

This book reflects critically on issues of diversity, access, and the expansion of digital technologies in audio-visual industries, particularly in terms of economics and policies. It brings together specialists in cultural diversity and media industries, presenting an international and interdisciplinary collection of essays that draw from different fields of studies – notably Communication, Economics, Political Science and Law. Among the topics discussed are: the principle of diversity as a goal of cultural and communication policies, the assessment of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity, free trade agreements and the conception of cultural goods and services they advance, the challenges faced by the production, circulation and consumption of cultural content through the Internet, the role algorithms play in the organization and functioning of online platforms, Netflix and the hegemony of global media. The approach is a critical understanding of audio-visual diversity, that aims to transcend specific issues like media ownership, ideas portrayed or modes of consumption as such, to focus on a more balanced distribution of communicative power. This volume is an essential read for scholars and researchers in Communication Studies, Economy of Culture, International Relations and International Law, as well as policy makers, journalists specialized in media and culture, and managers of public and private institutions involved in the development of cultural and communication policies. Postgraduate students will find it a key reference point.

Table of Contents:
Table of contents Foreword, Toby Miller Editors’ Introduction Chapter 1. Audio-visual industries and diversity in the digital age: overview of an on-going debate, Mª Trinidad García Leiva and Luis A. Albornoz Chapter 2. Protecting and promoting audio-visual diversity: the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity and the challenges of the digital environment, Luis A. Albornoz Chapter 3. Cultural Diversity in the Country of Cultural Exception, Philippe Bouquillion Chapter 4. From Global Media Giants to Global Internet Giants: Reflections on Media Diversity, Janet Wasko Chapter 5. Reevaluating the Long Tail: Implications for Audio-visual Diversity on the Internet, Philip M. Napoli Chapter 6. Online platforms and cultural diversity in the audiovisual sectors: a combined look at concentration and algorithms, Heritiana Ranaivoson Chapter 7. Digital Trade and Cultural Policy Nexus: A Challenge for the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Creative Economy, Michèle Rioux and Felipe Verdugo Chapter 8. European Union Trade Agreements and Cultural Exception in the Digital Age, Lilian Richieri Hanania Chapter 9. Cultural Policy in the time of Digital Disruption: the case of Creative Canada, Charles H. Davis and Emilia Zboralska Chapter 10. Cultural Diversity and Regulation in Brazil: the Debate about the On-Demand Audio-visual Market, Leonardo De Marchi and João Martins Ladeira Chapter 11. Audio-visual Diversity in the Digital Era: Trends and Prospects, Luis A. Albornoz and Mª Trinidad García Leiva

About the Author :
Luis A. Albornoz is Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Audio-visual Communication, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain. Researcher at the Argentinian Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). Founding partner and former president (2007-2013) of the international scientific association Latin Union of Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture (ULEPICC). Mª Trinidad García Leiva is Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication, Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain. She has been a visiting researcher at the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow (2009) and the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford (2005). Co-Director, with Professor Albornoz, of the research group on Audiovisual Diversity.