Page 167 - Communication Cultural and Media Studies The Key Concepts

MULTIMEDIA

established public broadcasters (in Australia, the ABC), is a wonder of
world television.
Early works on multiculturalism advocated ‘toleration’ as a means
of living peacefully in a society made up of disparate groups (Walzer,
1997). These have been replaced by demands for public affirmation
and respect for difference, as toleration can have the negative
implication of ‘conceding the validity of society’s disapproval and
relying on its self-restraint’ (Parekh, 2000: 1).
Some people of colour have rejected multiculturalism as cosmetic
and even part of entertainment culture, arguing that it has not had
sufficient effect on the living conditions of people in non-white
neighbourhoods. As Joan Morgan put it in the American context,
multiculturalism can come over as another ‘brand’ of white
consumerism:

What white American racism offers to people of color, under
the guise of multiculturalism, is an invitation to a dinner
where we are expected to lay out a cultural smorgasbord while
white America shows up with a very big fork.

(Morgan, 1994: 34)

See also: Diaspora, Ethnic/ethnicity, Nation

Further reading: Castels et al. (1988); Rajchman (1995)

MULTIMEDIA

The term multimedia was used originally to describe audio-visual
presentations that consisted of slide presentations synchronised with
sound (Wise, 2000) – in other words, the very same mode of
exhibition as the magic lantern shows of the nineteenth century. The
literal definition of the term as the processing and presentation of
communication by more than one medium (audio and visual) still
holds true but has been extended and complicated in contemporary
use.
It is nowmost widely used to refer to communication that is
mediated by computer technologies and that utilises a repertoire of
graphics, text, sound, animation or video. This includes web sites,
video games, digital television, electronic books and CD ROMs. The
boundaries of multimedia’s definition are far-reaching and unspecified

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