The
development of new digital media has made a huge impact around the world, the
development of NDM can be argued that it gives the audience more power because
they are able to do whatever they want. New digital media allows audiences to
produce and create anything appropriate. It allows you can access the web in
many new and different styles such as, Smart phones, iPods, tablets etc. The
development of NDM has allowed the audience to be able to interact with the use
of their creations meaning they are allowed to show their views and opinions
about certain topics and dilemmas, especially the news certain news topics on
websites such as the guardian.
Pluralists
believe and argue that the audience are in control of new digital media. They
believe that everyone has a freedom of speech and that we have the freedom to
as we want and they also agree in democracy. Pluralists have the ability to
manipulate the media and change the opinion of other audiences from what they
say and do as the audience have the ability to conform, accommodate or reject.
Also the use of citizen journalism creates reliable and real news blogs. It is
shown that the media seek greater audience because of the profit motive; this
point shows that the media needs the audience to benefit the media financially.
The Catells theory (1996) links to the pluralist’s point of view, theory
believes in the “technological blossoming of the culture of freedom with
individual annotation and entrepreneurialism”.
An
example for my points would the riots occurring in Egypt Lybia and Tunisia;
Riots in Lybia occurred because a mobile phone, when the police abused a
citizen because he had a political problem and he wanted to talk to the
president. Unfortunately the police retaliated violently by slapping and
spitting in the citizens face, this made him furious with the situation and
created and unthinkable protest by burning himself alive; This crazy protest
spread all across the Arab new informing everyone. Many citizens of Lybia were
shocked from seeing this from the streets and agreed with the mans point and
started a peaceful protest and ended up in disaster when the police came with
the riot team and replied violently against the citizens, many people were
injured in the process. Smartly two men were able to make a video of the
dilemma with the riot police and put it on social networking sights such as
facebook, the video went viral and spread all over the interent this caused the
Arab spring protest. On the other hand Control of the media is said to be in
the hands of an elite who allow a considerable degree of flexibility in
production choices
However
a marxist’s perspective would argue that the so called “information revelution”
has done little to benefit audiences change the power structures in society.
This is because Marxist believe a hierarchical structure that control the
media, this means that the audience have no choice or freedom when it comes to
searching the web, advertising and social norms are created by the elites and
this forms hegemony over the public, what we believe is normal is not us being
individualistic but us being ‘brainwashed’ from a young age. For example Rupert
Murdoch company new corp allows him to create hegemonic ideas across the globe
because he owns such a substantial part of the media.
To
my conclusion this essay has shown that Pluralist believe strongly that media
content is focused by the audience and not by dominant ideology. Due to the
fact that the audience are able to create news with the use of smart phones and
tablets this make it easier for the audience to leave opinions and post their
own news, the rise of the UGC has empowered the audience in terms of production
and consumption. However Marxists believe that even though Pluralists believe
that the audience have more power, they actually don’t. This is because of the
hegemony leaders from the ruling class controlling the media and our brains, this usually happens from a young age from viewing
and accessing things such as T.V programmes or old social networking sights
such as Bebo.
