PARIS, 16 December (UNESCO): The rise of Internet giants, the explosion of social networks, the digital revolution – all are profoundly changing the methods of production and dissemination of cultural goods such as music, film and books.
Since the adoption of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the world’s cultural landscape has changed considerably.
The Report “ReShaping Cultural Policies” explores these changes and the policy impact of the Convention.
Adopted by UNESCO in 2005, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions came into force in 2007. It now has 141 signatory States and the European Union.
Industrialized nations hold the biggest stake in exports
Encouraging an equal flow of cultural goods and services from the developing world is a key guiding principle of the Convention.
However, ten years after the adoption of the Convention, the sector remains largely dominated by industrialized countries.
Out of the 212.8 billion USdollar in global exports of cultural goods, 46.7 per cent is from developing nations, this compared to 25.6 per cent in 2004.
However, this overall picture is distorted by cultural exports mainly from China and India, as these two countries are increasingly competing with developed nations.
Without them, the market share of the developing countries for world exports of cultural goods increased by merely five per cent between 2004 and 2013.
Developed countries are increasingly importing music and audio-visual goods from developing countries.
The share of these imported goods in developed countries represented 39.6 per cent in 2013. Books and publishing form the second largest group, with 32.3 per cent of the share of imports from developing countries.
Digital revolution
The expansion of social networks and user-produced content, the growing use of connected multimedia devices, and the explosion in the quantity of data available have led to the emergence of new actors and new rationales.
This revolution is by no means confined to industrialized countries, many regions in the global south have made considerable progress, particularly in the field of connectivity.
In Africa, the penetration rate for mobile telephony increased threefold between 2007 and 2012.
Technology also provides an opportunity for new voices to make themselves heard in public service media.
We are seeing an emergence of new actors, including citizen journalists and amateur film producers, who are redefining the boundaries of journalism.
Likewise, the enthusiasm of young people for film creation has been greater.
The production of fiction film in developing countries rose significantly between 2005 and 2010, up from three per cent in 2005 to 24 per cent in 2013, while the production of documentaries rose from one per cenr to 25 per cent over the same period.
A few languages dominate the internet
But these changes are occurring in part to the detriment of (skade for) linguistic diversity.
Indeed, 80 per cent of linguistic content available on the internet is in English, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Arabic, French, Russian, and Korean.
Another challenge identified by the Report: the rise of Internet giants may undermine access to a diversity of cultural choices, particularly in language choice.
“Although the platforms provide a wide range of cultural offerings, the fact that they control not only sales but also the communication and algorithms of recommendations raises the problem of discoverability,” the Report emphasizes.
Reinforced policies
Læs videre- og meget mere – på
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/first_global_report_evaluating_the_impact_of_the_convention_on_the_protection_and_promotion_of_the_diversity_of_cultural_expressions/#.VnfDDhxUOKI
