7.1 the new media

The new media

  • the media refers to the predominant means of communication

  • The new media uses digital technology and the potential audience for new media is much larger than traditional media forms

The key features of the new media

  • convergence — one device can be used to access a variety of media

  • Interactivity — facilitate more interaction than old media, the audience is able to engage

  • Audience/ user power — able to influence media content through their interaction and even create/ share the content themselves

  • Accessibility — able to get instant and easy access

Is new media revolutionary — evaluation

  • Cornford and Robins argue that new media developments are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Suggesting that interactivity was present in older media forms (e.g letters and newspapers), so new technology just built on existing technology (however this may be outdated as the new media has developed very rapidly since this study)

  • Boyle and Haynes also suggest that new media has added to what was available from old media rather than replacing it. They also acknowledge that the main change is the speed of communication (however this may be outdated as the new media has developed very rapidly since this study)

  • The significance of the new media is overstated, this is in relation to the inequality of access. The new media is used mostly by young people and this can lead to a digital underclass because important tasks are being done online

Attitudes to the new media

Curran and Seaton

  • they identified big differences in the attitudes of individuals to the new media, categorised these into 2 groups…

Neophiliacs

  • positive about the benefits of the new media

  • Believe that the new media has led to increased choice and the revitalisation of democracy and democratic engagement

  • This is done by giving audiences more control over the media they consume (through interactivity and choice)

Cultural pessimists

  • critical about the new media

  • Believe that the new media has led to increased surveillance, such as google and Facebook using peoples data to help target advertising

  • Also concerns about media exposing people to crime (e.g identity theft)

  • Has the same disadvantages of the old media — controlled by big corporations, can have negative influences on audiences. Plus additional disadvantages — more ‘fake news’/ inaccurate information

Who controls the new media

  • Neophilliacs believe that the new media is democratic and bottom up, so it is the public who is in control

  • Those with a negative view would believe that nobody is in control, it is anarchic and full of fake news and potential dangers

  • Andrew Keen argues that the media’s democracy makes it dangerous. The ‘uncensored freedom’ can be seen as full of opportunity or full of danger

  • However some may question how ‘free’ the new media is, as it is dominated by a small number of large corporations. Even though it is impossible for them to control and censor all the content, they can still use the content to generate advertising revenue and to gather data

  • So cultural pessimists would argue that there is largely unregulated content (which is misleading/ offensive) which exists as by-products of marketing organisations