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The cultural context of media interpretation 323

16. The cultural context of media interpretation

Perry Hinton

1. Introduction

In this chapter I will be examining the role of culture in the interpretation of the
media. With the globalization of the media we now have a number of interesting
academic questions that arise when media communications cross cultural
boundaries. To what extent is the interpretation of these communications unique
to the home culture in which they are produced? Are there universal aspects of
media interpretation that cross cultural boundaries? How do people in one cul-
ture interpret the media output of another culture? We can explore these by
examining two areas that at first glance show a strong aspect of universality.
First, the concern over children and media portrayals of violence and secondly,
the extraordinary popularity of soap operas (particularly the South American
genre of ‘telenovelas’), which have enjoyed world-wide success. One possible
explanation for culture not being a major determinant in media interpretation is
that there is enough commonality in the audience impact across cultures so that
key aspects of the communication have similar effects regardless of the culture.
Furthermore, it has been proposed that globalization has brought about this
homogeneity. One argument is that, with the globalization of media, the domi-
nance of Western producers – particularly from the United States of America –
has resulted in a reduction of cultural difference in media interpretation (see
Tomlinson 1999, 2004, although it is not Tomlinson’s view).
In this chapter, however, I will be taking the opposing view and arguing that
an examination of the cultural context of both the academic research and the
audience reception is important to gain a full picture of what is happening in
media interpretation. Indeed, from a range of disciplines, such as anthropology
(e.g., from the ideas of Geertz 1973, 2000), social psychology (Moscovici 1981),
cultural psychology (Stigler, Shweder and Herdt 1990), and cultural studies
(e.g., Alasuutari 1999), there has been a shift towards analysing communication
in terms of a cultural analysis. The research in ‘audience reception’, for
example, examines a more complex relationship of the audience with the pro-
gramme – as an integrated element within their everyday lives – encompassing
their culture and what it means to them within the discourse of their everyday
lives (Alasuutari 1999). Globalization may not therefore result in a promul-
gation of a dominant (Western) ideology but one contested and negotiated
within the social practices of the different cultures (Tomlinson 2004).