The
world first heard about the death of Michael Jackson from the online gossip
website TMZ.
How has new and digital media change the ways in which information
reaches audiences and what are the implications? (48 marks)
In this essay I will be looking at how new and digital media
has changed the ways in which audiences receive their news and the effects that
the both the audiences and institutions have faced.
One problem that both the large institutions and audiences face is pay walls. Institutions such as the ‘Times’ and ‘The Sun’, are two large news institutions that have pay walls, both institutions have faced problems and have had success. As news institutions have put up pay walls, the number of customers that they had has fallen, as now audiences can access news from other sources, for example other news institutions or social media websites e.g. Twitter. Audiences are now using social media sites such as Twitter as a shorthand to accessing news, Twitter allows the audience to gain all the news they need in one place, and has also allowed large institutions such as 'The Guardian' to post stories. The fact that there are official news institutions posting stories on Twitter validates the stories.
The fact that news can be accessed through so many different platforms and how audiences can almost get news instantly, has changed how we as an audience value news, there is an immediacy for news, audiences want there news to be fast, therefore being able to get news on social media has fulfilled this need. in addition due to the development in new and digital media, audiences can gain access to news faster than they would have done, this is because they can access news on line, this can be done from anywhere as long as the audience have a internet connection. This means that audiences have more and faster access to news, whereas before they would have had to wait for news on TV or read a news paper. This also means that the news may be delayed as the news wouldn't be immediate, unless it was a breaking story, furthermore the news institutions would have focused their news on specific elements e.g. the local area. However now we can get news from all over the world in one place.
There is also a higher percentage of audience members that can provide us with news, e.g. through user generated content. Audiences now have the power to capture video footage of anything that happens and are able to upload it on to the internet, where it then goes viral and audiences get the news they want. This has caused issues for news institution, as the audiences are providing one another with news, which means that the audience receive the news before news institutions are able to show it. This can mean that news institution look for alternative views on stories so that they have something to publish.
The new and digital development has had a huge effect on a range of different aspects, for example feminist. Feminist never had a lot of power before the 21 st century, it was hard for them to open up and share their problems. However forth wave of feminist has allowed them more freedom and has allowed feminist to share problems that they have had and it has created a change. For example the 'Everyday sexism' campaign is an on line page where men and women can share any problems that they have faced due to sexism. This has allowed men and women to stand up and talk about issues that they have. However there are also other negative issues that come along with this, for example as anyone is able to post comments on the page, a lot of anti feminist share rude comments, which can cause the people with problems to become scared and not talk about their problems again. There are also a range of threats that are posted against feminist, which can cause them to become afraid.
The fact that audiences have more power has also changed the way in which they receive and interpret news. Gerbner suggested that messages don't just flow through the audience, and that there is actually another step where audiences can process news and discuss their ideas. This has been put into effect as audience now are questioning news and its values, as they now have the power to question the news and what is being shown through posting comments on line and on social media sites. For example, there is a story that has been published on The Guardian, of the interview between Russel Brand and Ed Miliband. On The Guardian website there are over 1445 comments made by the audience. This shows that audiences are in fact processing the news they gain.
The change in new and digital media has also allowed the audience to gain more power over elite groups e.g. the police. A prime example of this was with the Lee Rigby case, Lee Rigby was passing by when a police officer pushed him to the ground, which then later caused his death. The whole incident was caught on camera by a pedestrian, which was then put up on You Tube, the video later went viral. Due to the video the police officer was sacked from his job, whereas if there was no video evidence then no action would've been taken as they are part of the elite groups. However due to the development in new and digital media the audience/society have more power.
The Marxist view on this would be that the audience still rely on large institutions to get their news and validate what they see, which means that they will always be in power and that they will always be the elite. However the pluralist view would be that the audience have power through the internet as we have more freedom as we can now comment on issues or debates that we do or do not agree on and we can openly say our opinions, which we couldn't do before the developments in new and digital media. Furthermore the news institutions provide the audience with news that we want, which is why the audience stay interested in the news.
Overall I believe that has allowed audiences to get news faster and more conveniently, as they can access it through their smartphones, tablets, and other devices connected to the internet. This allowed audiences to gain more access to news and also have more freedom. Furthermore it has given audiences power to some extent as they have more access to news, and they are able to post comments on issues and debates that they may not agree with, however the internet will always be dominated by the bourgeoisie as they are the elite, and they own the large institutions that are used by the audience.
One problem that both the large institutions and audiences face is pay walls. Institutions such as the ‘Times’ and ‘The Sun’, are two large news institutions that have pay walls, both institutions have faced problems and have had success. As news institutions have put up pay walls, the number of customers that they had has fallen, as now audiences can access news from other sources, for example other news institutions or social media websites e.g. Twitter. Audiences are now using social media sites such as Twitter as a shorthand to accessing news, Twitter allows the audience to gain all the news they need in one place, and has also allowed large institutions such as 'The Guardian' to post stories. The fact that there are official news institutions posting stories on Twitter validates the stories.
The fact that news can be accessed through so many different platforms and how audiences can almost get news instantly, has changed how we as an audience value news, there is an immediacy for news, audiences want there news to be fast, therefore being able to get news on social media has fulfilled this need. in addition due to the development in new and digital media, audiences can gain access to news faster than they would have done, this is because they can access news on line, this can be done from anywhere as long as the audience have a internet connection. This means that audiences have more and faster access to news, whereas before they would have had to wait for news on TV or read a news paper. This also means that the news may be delayed as the news wouldn't be immediate, unless it was a breaking story, furthermore the news institutions would have focused their news on specific elements e.g. the local area. However now we can get news from all over the world in one place.
There is also a higher percentage of audience members that can provide us with news, e.g. through user generated content. Audiences now have the power to capture video footage of anything that happens and are able to upload it on to the internet, where it then goes viral and audiences get the news they want. This has caused issues for news institution, as the audiences are providing one another with news, which means that the audience receive the news before news institutions are able to show it. This can mean that news institution look for alternative views on stories so that they have something to publish.
The new and digital development has had a huge effect on a range of different aspects, for example feminist. Feminist never had a lot of power before the 21 st century, it was hard for them to open up and share their problems. However forth wave of feminist has allowed them more freedom and has allowed feminist to share problems that they have had and it has created a change. For example the 'Everyday sexism' campaign is an on line page where men and women can share any problems that they have faced due to sexism. This has allowed men and women to stand up and talk about issues that they have. However there are also other negative issues that come along with this, for example as anyone is able to post comments on the page, a lot of anti feminist share rude comments, which can cause the people with problems to become scared and not talk about their problems again. There are also a range of threats that are posted against feminist, which can cause them to become afraid.
The fact that audiences have more power has also changed the way in which they receive and interpret news. Gerbner suggested that messages don't just flow through the audience, and that there is actually another step where audiences can process news and discuss their ideas. This has been put into effect as audience now are questioning news and its values, as they now have the power to question the news and what is being shown through posting comments on line and on social media sites. For example, there is a story that has been published on The Guardian, of the interview between Russel Brand and Ed Miliband. On The Guardian website there are over 1445 comments made by the audience. This shows that audiences are in fact processing the news they gain.
The change in new and digital media has also allowed the audience to gain more power over elite groups e.g. the police. A prime example of this was with the Lee Rigby case, Lee Rigby was passing by when a police officer pushed him to the ground, which then later caused his death. The whole incident was caught on camera by a pedestrian, which was then put up on You Tube, the video later went viral. Due to the video the police officer was sacked from his job, whereas if there was no video evidence then no action would've been taken as they are part of the elite groups. However due to the development in new and digital media the audience/society have more power.
The Marxist view on this would be that the audience still rely on large institutions to get their news and validate what they see, which means that they will always be in power and that they will always be the elite. However the pluralist view would be that the audience have power through the internet as we have more freedom as we can now comment on issues or debates that we do or do not agree on and we can openly say our opinions, which we couldn't do before the developments in new and digital media. Furthermore the news institutions provide the audience with news that we want, which is why the audience stay interested in the news.
Overall I believe that has allowed audiences to get news faster and more conveniently, as they can access it through their smartphones, tablets, and other devices connected to the internet. This allowed audiences to gain more access to news and also have more freedom. Furthermore it has given audiences power to some extent as they have more access to news, and they are able to post comments on issues and debates that they may not agree with, however the internet will always be dominated by the bourgeoisie as they are the elite, and they own the large institutions that are used by the audience.
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