Good practices in audiovisual diversity. Hype or hope?

Abstract

Research conducted on the audiovisual industry within the context of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (UNESCO, 2005) lends weight to the idea that exclusively applying market logic to the field of culture poses a threat to its diversity. It is therefore necessary to identify and foster practices to implement from the public sphere. The question, then, is how to define such practices. The Convention uses the term ‘best practice’ within a scenario in which this concept, like ‘good practice’, has been extensively but only vaguely defined. Taking this as a starting point, the aim of this article is to offer a report based on a critical, bibliographical and archival review of how these notions have evolved. To this end, we re-examine their origin and evolution, contrasting them with other related terms such as ‘contextual practice’ or ‘meaningful experience’. We then analyse how the notions of good/best practice are used in the UNESCO Convention and in a series of studies focusing on communication and culture. In short, these terms are deconstructed to suggest a new critical definition that encompasses the characteristics of what might constitute a good practice in the promotion and/or protection of audiovisual diversity.