Are the media becoming more democratic?

Since the introduction of new and digital media taking a more active role in how we consume media, audiences are having more of a say in what they consume. The discovery of Web 2.0 has also enabled people to participate in creating and generating content, and allow those who are consuming it to comment on and share their opinions on the subject matter.  The use of social networking has given audiences the opportunity to communicate ideas and connect globally. This in turn challenges and creates competition with the mainstream media. With audiences being able to share their ideas and opinions and no longer being herded by mainstream media, media has become democratized. 

An aspect of media becoming more democratic is where audiences are able to create, share, consume and edit the content. This has become possible with media sharing websites and social networking sites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and Blogger. This links to David Gauntlett’s theory that in the past large expensive equipment was required to produce and distribute media, whereas now the inventions of digital technology such as laptops, mobile phones and camera’s have enabled us to do this, which are also fairly cheap. Audiences are no longer channeled being channeled by the mainstream media, and are able to decide what, when and how they want to consume media.

Another concept which has enables members of the public to take an active role in collecting information is citizen journalism.With the help of Web 2.0 and mobile technology, people are able to spread news and information globally. An example of this was during the London Riots where witnesses were filming and taking photographs of the rioters looting shops and creating destruction in the different areas. One piece of footage that caught people’s attention was of a West Indian woman from Hackney who confronted the rioters, expressing how she felt about the situation and essentially scolding the youths for their violence. The video went viral through social media on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and quickly became an internet hit after being tweeted by stars such as Piers Morgan. Once again, this supports one of David Gauntlett’s ideas that large expensive equipment is not needed to create and produce information, as people were able to record the violence simply by using their mobile phones and were able to spread the news as effectively. Citizen journalism shows the media becoming more democratic as people are recording and providing the information themselves. In some big institutions rely on these citizens footage to cover a story effectively.  

However it may be argued that the footage and information that these citizens are providing may not be as reliable and the quality may also be reduced, which is not as effective as material that mainstream media is able to produce. 

Social media has established a public sphere which enables the public to freely debate about issues and develop their own ideas. It creates opportunities for communicating with different people around the world by simply commenting on posts. This supports Clay Shirky’s idea that sites such as Facebook and YouTube have created a platform to share ideas and information easily. An example of the media strengthening the public sphere was when the Syrians were able to show the world the violent protests that were taking place, through the use of mobile technology. They were able to inform the rest of the world of the violent activities that were taking place in Syria, creating a debate online. 

However as Evgeny Morozov states, the invention of new technologies can create threats such as the government being able to monitor and censor sites on the internet such as Facebook and Twitter. In Syria the government found out about the members of the public taking videos of the protests and turned off the internet across the country for a day.