Essay

The development of new and digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view.

Whether new and digital media has made audiences more powerful in the terms of consumption and production, is dependant on different factors and the opinions of society. I believe that it has and will be discussing as to why I believe this using relative examples.

One reason as to why I believe audiences have more power over consumption and production is because we now have Citizen Journalism, which is a very popular method of generating news in recent years and couldn't have been done in the earlier years as technology had not improved or developed. The introduction of smart phones for example with a video recording feature allows one to film things, such as fights or murders that one witnesses. An example of this is of Rodney King who managed to record four white LA police officers brutally attacking a black man that was controversial in the media as this was the first ever piece of citizen journalism. Another example is the Woolwich beheading in which a soldier was beheaded by an Islamic extremist in broad daylight, in the middle of a street. Which therefore allows one to get the whole story without institutions such as BBC recording it and putting it up having been edited & therefore creating a bias view. The use of Citizen journalism therefore means more of the truth being shown, less people believe what is on the news & one watching what has been recorded by someone as it isn't bias and shows the complete story. 

Similar to Citizen Journalism, with the use of blogs, forums and social networking sites, and other pieces of User Generated Content, the audience already begin to be more powerful as they are able to publicise anything they find out with a simple click of a button. Such as spreading the piece of news that has been found via citizen journalism.  This also gives the audience a chance to voice their opinion about certain news topics & by using different techniques such a 'retweet' spread the word. A critic which supports my argument is Rupert Murdoch as he argues that 'the Internet has given readers much more power, the world is changing and newspapers have to adapt'. This means that Internet is becoming more and more powerful, and Murdoch may be referring to social networking sites when stating that the Internet has given more power to readers as they are given more freedom in order to express themselves.

One factor however, about on-line posting is that it can be monitored and without a doubt goes through regulation. This means that it can be taken down or edited whenever. Making the audience feel as though they have power and then taking it back from them. This relates to censorship as major media conglomerates such as Google, in particular Blogger and Gmail in which Google goes through ones messages and emails in order to assimilate the information and use it to their advantage by using advertisements related to ones preferences. By doing this, they are attempting to increase their profit margin.

Another point that backs up my argument is the pluralist view that states no one is elite and the way in which audiences are able to get what they want is by the media itself constructing what they show in such a way to make sure they meet their needs as the consumer. An example of this is Citizen Khan. The BBC are aware that everyone loves a bit of comedy and it is something spoken about by the audience regardless of age or gender. This shows the way in which the BBC prioritises the audiences preferences and therefore shows the audience have more power.

Marxists have an oppositional view and believe in a capitalised dominated society involving class. They state that those with money are above all others and hold the most power over what is shown to audiences. This links to Parettos law as he says that a minority of media producers always serve a minority of consumers which shows that a minimal of amount of producers are likely to show what audiences want unless they are trusted. Which links to what has been stated, that the BBC would show the consumers what they want as they are a trusted institution. And the fact that all audiences pay for the license fee as well as the fact that the BBC is a public service broadcaster which is known to pay back the audiences with high quality content. 

Furthermore the constant decline in the newspaper industry is another reason as to why audiences are getting more power. Being able to access the news anywhere and anytime on a device shows one being able to do what they please therefore meeting the needs of the consumer. An example of this could be the use of the times online. Which results in less people reading from newspapers and more turning to their devices. Having a huge impact on the newspaper industry as one is able to access news anywere sometimes before it's even published and without having to pay for it. Giving audiences more of a choice as to which newspaper they wish to read & therefore getting more power. 

In conclusion I believe that with the developments of new and digital media the audience has managed to gain more and more and more power over the years which could eventually lead to fully citizen journalised news articles, no newspapers, more and more opinions being spread & a potential payment required for the use of online newspapers!