HEMES OF MEDIA-CULTURAL THEORY

COMMODIFICATION OF CULTURE

It is assumed that mass media have converted culture into a commodity to be commercially marketed, thus eroding the cultural institutions. When culture is mass produced by taking bits and pieces of folk culture, weaving them together to create attractive mass culture content, and then distributed as a substitute for everyday forms of folk culture, with the objective of appealing to the mass audience, then it is in direct competition with the locally based cultures, which face disruption and erosion.

GLOBALIZATION OF CULTURE

It is argued that the traditional civilizations and nations are under growing pressure from various global processes which diminish the relevance of cultures. Among the forces of globalization we find economic globalization, regional integration, and the technological revolution in communications. Nonetheless, it is counterclaimed that we can expect culture to become more relevant as people seek identity in communities rather than in individualism. Scholars speak of a single global marketplace and its consequences for immigration and the elimination of borders and cultural differences.

Besides commodification of culture, mass media have also internationalized the culture. Such globalization can and will have drastic impact on the pre-existing cultural contents and forms. It may either lead to homogenization, diversification, or hybridization.

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY EFFECTS

The advancements that humans have been able to achieve in Communication Technology have gradually reduced the necessity of mediating cultural experience through personal interactions, religious ceremonies, public performances, or printed texts. Mediated cultural experience is now accessible to virtually all through mass media in a great variety of forms that can alter its meaning and salient features.

QUALITY OF CULTURE

When culture is commercialized and mass produced as a cheap commodity to appeal to the mass audience, then the quality of the culture will be definitely compromised, resulting in the deterioration of the traditional or folk cultures.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

Proper and correct communication between members of a culture is an essential component that grants cultural identity, but the variations in the languages and other means of communications used by the media industries have often resulted in the loss of cultural identity especially among the minor cultural groups. Typical and global mass culture produced and mediated by the media generates a new form of cultural identity thus disrupting the existing one.

POLICY FOR CULTURAL DIVERSITY

In order to minimize the impact of mass media on the traditional culture, more and more nations are formulating policies to secure the valued forms of cultural diversity. The media industries gradually realizing the gravity of the situation are trying to minimize the negative impact of the mass culture mediated by them.

SUBCULTURE AND GENDER

When there is the question of cultural identity, then the issues of the minorities must be taken into consideration, as they are the ones who are most venerable to the impact of mass culture produced and distributed by the media. Sub Cultures which are always regarded as minorities can be classified on the bases of location, ethnicity, religion, or gender. 

IDEOLOGY AND HEGEMONIC CULTURE

Ideology are the ideas present in a culture that mislead average people and encourage them to act against their own interests. A Hegemonic Culture is a culture imposed from above or outside that serves the interests of those in dominant social positions.

As clarified earlier, media industries create and foster forms of mass culture that structure everyday life. In some way or the other they use media to propagate a hegemonic culture and ideology as the means of maintaining their dominant position. The alternate forms of culture and innovative media uses are systematically suppressed in order to retain their economic power.