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Global Media Policy and Cultural Pluralism
Introduction
Despite the widespread articulation of the values of a common humanity, discrimination and conflict stemming from ethnic and racial prejudice are present around the world. Media and communication policies have sought to address such prejudice by seeking to ensure society-wide participation in public spheres using a variety of approaches, promoted by international, national, media, and professional institutions. These approaches are characterized mainly by the recognition of human diversity and the development of strategies that ensure the broadest possible distribution of communication resources in society. Such initiatives benefit from the parallel discussions on ensuring the participation of women in the media. They also draw from the discourses on human rights and the elimination of all forms of discrimination. The tendency is to move from the recognition of cultural diversity through multiculturalism policies, which may actually isolate minorities, to developing initiatives that promote interaction between peoples through cultural pluralism.
Policy-making on communication and cultural pluralism occurs largely at the national level. Many governments have responded to the needs of diverse populations for access to media production and other communication resources. This issue has also received attention from international organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ...
