Media Governance and Public Sphere

Question: Discuss about the Media Governance and Public Sphere. Answer: Introduction: The aim of the study is to analyze a policy document of government and critically evaluate it from the media governance angle. Creative Australia national cultural policy has been selected as the case study. Creative Australia has portrait the essential role of art and culture in Australia and its relationship with the economy and social culture of the nation. Keeping this perspective into consideration, the thesis statement for the discussion can be formulated. Creative Australia reflects the diversity of modern Australia and outlines the cultural heritage and creative industry that happened to be a vital industry in the historic past of Australia and has been helping to create a bright future in the same field (Caust 2014). There is no dilemma to understand the fact that the artists of the nation are not treated the way other professionals are treated. They always remain devoid of certain opportunities in the society. However, in the recent time, it has been observed that the gover nment has been focusing on this part of the society as well and better approach has been made to create the artists and the creative people in a better way. Thus, a critical analysis of the current situation of the governmental policy towards Creative Australia shall be carried out in this study. Policy Summary: It has been evident that the Australian Government has laid foundation to launch Creative Australia as a reform program in the field of art and cultural infrastructure. In order to achieve the strategic goals of the country, the government has been found to invest in the art and cultural infrastructure. Investment has been made in the music industry as a part of the cultural perspective (Caust 2014). Considering the size and scale of Australia, the cultural heritage and identity of the nation plays a vital role in shaping the art and culture of the nation. Australia is always embraced as the home of one of the oldest living people with a unique culture. They have an enduring legacy and robust values build for over two centuries. Keeping all these perspectives into consideration, Australian government has elevated to improve the cultural perspective as a part of the political agenda. Creative Australia has recognized the centrality of creativity, art and culture across the whole nation and how effectively government can play a significant role in improving the condition of the society. Government is focusing on engaging people in the various art and cultural activities. In this respect, the impact and influence of the digital tools and media cannot be denied. The digital tools have helped in fostering and building the socio-cultural perspective of creativity. This in turn has also helped to create more job opportunities and unimaginable participation of people in the field of art and culture (Altman 2013). Keeping all these consequences into consideration, serious actions have been taken by the government of Australia and the Australia Council have been found to redesigned for the purpose of getting better outcome from the overall situation. It has been found that more people have been found that more people engaged in developing a broad peer assessment on the Au stralian artists. A more flexible structure has been designed to form the broad structure for the platform of the artistic talent. Severe discussions were made to make out things in a proper way and create collaboration with other nations or countries (Cowen 2009). This shall help Australia to achieve a strong hold of the overall approach made towards the artistic field. In order to expand the process of the creativity and traditional heritage of the nation, it has been found that there were major organizational bodies that partnered with other and mandate a support of growth in the particular field. In fact, this approach was made towards a business perspective that shall help the nation to gain profit from the overall activities. Therefore, the government at the different level was found to participate in the overall development of the culture and other creative areas. Far sighting this approach of profitability, it was seen that the government had invested more than $1.5 million in these aspects (Caust 2014). It was ensured that the creative and other artistic means such as the songs and the dance shall continue without any kind of hindrance in the process. Further, it was found that in order to make the things acceptable among the population of the country, some practices needed to be carried on that would eventually help the population of the co untry to understand the value of the artistic and creative field of the nation. Thus, investment was made to build a number of museums and other such places that shall reflect the creativity of the nation. In fact, the media also played a significant role in this by informing the population about the advent of these places. Soon these places were popularized and the nation saw a new glace of artistic talent in the era of scientific development (Gray 2004). The art museums, galleries and libraries do not only have huge collection of paintings and figurines but it also contained a huge collection of songs, films and other such divisions of art. Explanation and Evaluation: Evaluating the concept of Creative Culture undertaken by the government of Australia, it can be said that the federal government of Australia has made successful strategic planning by the partnering with the artists, philanthropists, educational institutions and with the community groups as well. This way, the government has been successful in inspiring people and pursued a leadership approach with better diligence and commitment (Mcdowall 2013). A well trained and diligent group of creative partners have been helping in advancing the stages of art and culture in the country. In fact, the Australian artists have also been found to make their domination in the international market as well. The media made them more popular among the other nations. Soon, it was found the popularity and the acceptability of these artists kept on increasing and Australia could be easily known by the name of these famous artists rather than as a country for the best cricket players (Gray 2004). In order to introduce new acts for the purpose of creative Australia, a number of significant steps have been taken. Government has supported the steps by making better funding decisions. For instance, the government has modernized the governance structure for the Australian council that has successfully helped to adapt the changes and the emerging trends of the art and the culture (Throsby 2006). In fact, the Government has been found to invest about $75.3 million for the artists and the art organizations. This has allowed the council to carry out more development and researches in the field of art and creativity. $39 million has been observed to be transferred for the regional touring programs and another $22.8 million for the visual art and craft strategy (Gibson 2014). All these strategies have been undertaken to improve the artistic and the cultural excellence of the nation. Understanding the value of this field and the increasing demand of artists, many people were also found to try out their career in the artistic field. It was not necessarily that the artists had to perform in the live streaming only, but the artists chose any option to present their talent to the public (Rowe et al. 2016). It was found that people recorded their video and made it publicized among the people through the various channels of internet. The power of the social media sites like the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube cannot be declined. It has helped many artists to reach out that point of success that many crave for (Idriss 2016). Another important point of consideration is that the artistic talent was not limited to certain areas like songs or dance but it was found that various artists came up with various themes of serving people (Westwood 2013). For instance, it was found that many artists were focusing on the other aspects of the culture, like the visual arts, design and in f act as a part of comedy show as well. In the later stage, it was evident that Australia welcomed many other artists from around the world to participate in the talent hunt. People started liking these shows and the popularity of these shows increased from time to time. Critique: As commented by Gibson (2014), there has been a drastic change in the traditional artistic and creative means that used to carry on in the nation of Australia. The advent of media and technology has improved the situation to a large extent. With the help of the technological development, it has become easier to reach out people even in the international sphere. This way, the nation has been gaining identity in the sphere of art and creativity. The cultural policy of Australia has shaped the cultural aspect of the country and has helped to gain the things that had been long been remained concealed under the influence of other developments (Dovey et al. 2016). However, there are certain challenges that the new cultural policy of the nation has been facing in the recent time. The challenges include the decision of the government to invest in the field of art and culture instead of advancement in other fields like education and science. Much have been debated on the fact that for the dev elopment of a country, investment shall be made on better research and development and in the scientific technology and not for conserving the art and the heritage of the nation (Bennett et al. 2015). However, keeping the demand of the market into consideration, it has become evident that the demand of artistic talent has been increasing. Thus, if certain approaches are made that would improve the art and culture of the nation, it should be welcomed. If the approach of creative Australia is compared with the other nations of the world, it can be said that many other countries have also been found to invest in the creative field as well (Power 2016). Countries like India, Spain and other European countries as well have well integrated structure for the artists and the creative people. In fact, a good sum of money is kept for improving the creativity and the cultural heritage of the country. Suzor et al. (2014) have commented that for some countries the traditional approach is a part of the culture of the country and thus, the government has to spend on this. However, it might not be same for the case of Australia. Thus, the debate of whether the government should participate in the improvement of the artistic and the cultural aspect of the country still continued (Daniel 2016). There were many reforms that were conducted as a part of increasing the value of the artist and create a better stand for them. In order to change the scen ario, several policies were designed that ultimately created a storm and a change in the overall cultural policy of the country. With all these reforms, the artists also relieved their part of life and they were given the equal rights and opportunities in the society like other professional experts. Conclusion: Adetailed discussion on the governmental policy for improving the approach towards the creative Australians has been carried. It has been observed that the artists and the creative people have been given much opportunity in the recent time to show their talent in front of the nation and the world. Governmental policies have included funding and investing on the various parts that relates to the artistic talent. The government has been helpful enough to provide them the opportunity to come up with their talent and show it to the world. The media has played a significant role in reaching out the public in both domestic and the international forum. The artists who perform on various types of creative activities have been provided with major opportunities that would support their talent and helped them to prosper in life. This way it can be said that the government is supporting all the professions of the nation. References: Altman, Jon. 2013. Indigenous cultural policy: Creative Australia or creative accounting? The Conversation, April 19. Bennett, J., R. Woods, N. Bower, S. Bruce, and G. O'Connor. "Creative councils for creative communities: The Marrickville creativity project." (2015). Caust, Josephine. 2014. 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