When the gigs are gone: Valuing arts, culture and media in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated health care systems and economies around the world, but at the same time it has focused attention as never before on the cultural sector and on the role of digital technologies in disseminating content to locked-down, stressed-out and bored populations. This article proposes a four-part conceptual framework that uses economic, social, creative, and sustainability lenses to examine the immediate impact of the pandemic on creators, curators and the media. After reviewing a sample of policy and creative responses to these challenges, it discusses the possible implications for how governments and citizens value the creative sector.