Media and Cultural Economies in East Asia

Project Coordinator: Dr Michael Keane

Studies of media and communication industry development have been concerned with (1) particular industry segments (e.g. television, Internet, advertising), (2) the global reach of powerful companies, and (3) domestic industry protection strategies. Innovation, a key factor in science, engineering, and technology (SET), is rarly considered, and not well understood in media studies. With media industries now facing unprecedented challenges--and with greater convergence of media--innovation is the criticial success factor in the next decade. Nowhere is this more evident than in East Asia.

We are interested in the following topics:

What roles do culture, politics, and open markets play in the harnessing of creative content in East Asia?
What are the factors that have allowed East Asian media and communication industries to become competitive within global and regional structures?
What common development trajectories and innovation models (e.g. incubation, R&D, media centres and clustering, shared knowledge) are occuring?
What impact will East Asian creative content have on international production (and co-production), foreign investment, and the emergence of 'regional' media centres?

Project Activities

New Economies of Culture in East Asia
QUT, 27 - 28 March 2006

Interaction with Michael Curtin
ASAA Conference, Wollongong, 26 - 29 June 2006

Seminar Presentations with Michael Curtin
University of Sydney, 29 June; QUT, 5 July