What we already know...
- The audience has changed - digital natives want their media fast/interactive/portable/on all platforms and free!.
- Old media forms have had to adapt to survive. The challenge has been to make money from the internet.
- The internet has brought more competition for producers; more channels, more sources, more choice.
- Digital media products are more fluid (Clay Shirky) and transferable. Sharing is easier. Digital content is cheap or free.
- All media have been changed by social networking. Twitter and Facebook influence both news and film.
- The distribution of news is now horizontal as much as it is vertical. Stories and links trend/are passed around, through social networks.
- The internet age is the age of prosumers. The digital revolution has allowed everyone to create and share.
The Guardian
This is an example of how the internet has affected the news industry.
- Reduced advertising income and falling sales of the print edition meant that the Guardian had to change and migrate onto the web. It now has more than 100 million users a month.
- It is free online and aims to be 'woven into the fabric of the internet.'
- The Guardian hopes to make money from advertising. Other online newspapers, (the times) have introduced 'hard paywalls.' The telegraph offers metered access. Monetising news is the challenge for all news providers.
- Journalism is in crisis as citizen journalists challenge established institutions. Most news providers now co-opt these by using their contributions. Much of this comes from social media like Twitter.
- The Guardian is a Web 2.0 product. Comment is Free, guardianwitness, the Digital Archive, interactive elements.
Film
- The film industry (pre-internet) controlled distribution to cinemas and TV stations.
- Online piracy and file-sharing challenged this control.
- Illegal streaming of films is a major threat to the industry. 3D is one possible solution. 3D films are difficult to pirate.
- Illegal streaming sites such as Putlocker are a threat to film
- industry income.
- Films are now available online through providers like Netflix, Love Film and iTunes.
- Because of these sites film is now an ‘impulse’ purchase.
- Film companies use the web for marketing: every major release has its own website.
- Social networks have changed marketing: film posters now feature Twitter comments.
Here are some ideas about the audience, who used to just sit and watch
films:
- Fans create their own websites in tribute to their favourite films and film stars.
- Social networking is the new ‘word of mouth’ for the film industry.
- Films can be mashed up, re-edited and posted online by a prosumer audience.
- Crowdsourcing means that the internet can be used to finance and produce films.
The Theorists
David Gauntlett -
Writes about Web 2.0 and the rise of the prosumer.
David Gauntlett -
Writes about Web 2.0 and the rise of the prosumer.
Some film fans have become what Gauntlett calls ‘prosumers’: the
internet lets them re-edit studio content and post the results on sites like
YouTube.
Dan Gillmor -
In We the Media he looks at how audiences have been changed by the internet.
Dan Gillmor -
In We the Media he looks at how audiences have been changed by the internet.
The Guardian’s Comment is Free section is an example of what Gillmor
calls ‘news as a conversation’.
Citizen journalists are part of what Gillmor calls the ‘former audience’.
Marc Prensky -
Marc Prensky -
He defined digital natives as the
audience that have grown up with the
internet and want their media free, fast,
portable, interactive and content-rich.
The Guardian’s online output is aimed at the audience Prensky calls
‘Digital Natives’ who want their media free, portable and converged.
Henry Jenkins -
See how friendly he looks with his lovely beard. He writes in Convergence Culture about how the internet is bringing us all together.
See how friendly he looks with his lovely beard. He writes in Convergence Culture about how the internet is bringing us all together.
Social networks have meant that news has become what Jenkins calls a
‘many-to-many’ culture.
Jenkins says that the internet allows people to remix and repurpose existing media content.
Jenkins says that the internet allows people to remix and repurpose existing media content.
William Merrin -
He writes about how the internet is driving every media form and technology to change: ‘perpetual beta’.
Lives in Swansea.
He writes about how the internet is driving every media form and technology to change: ‘perpetual beta’.
Lives in Swansea.
An app like Summly is an example of what Merrin calls Me-dia where
an individual can filter online news content to match their interests.
The phasing out of print newspapers is what McLuhan would have said is ‘just the beginning’ of a new media form.
News is now global and instant. Portable media devices and the internet have created McLuhan’s ‘Global Village’.
Marshall McLuhan-
Cheer up Marshall! This is the grandaddy of Media theory. He was writing long before the internet but the examiner will be very happy if you mention him.
Cheer up Marshall! This is the grandaddy of Media theory. He was writing long before the internet but the examiner will be very happy if you mention him.
The phasing out of print newspapers is what McLuhan would have said is ‘just the beginning’ of a new media form.
News is now global and instant. Portable media devices and the internet have created McLuhan’s ‘Global Village’.
Clay Shirky-
Has said about newspapers online that ‘form follows funding’. This means that all news providers will have to adapt to survive.
Has said about newspapers online that ‘form follows funding’. This means that all news providers will have to adapt to survive.
Sample sentences
What Shirky calls the ‘fluidity’ of digital media means that audiences can find and use films in new and different ways.
Shirky writes that that when we change communication ‘we change society’.
What Shirky calls the ‘fluidity’ of digital media means that audiences can find and use films in new and different ways.
Shirky writes that that when we change communication ‘we change society’.
Michael Wesch -
He’s an anthropologist who looks at society and the internet. ‘The machine is us/ing us’ is his most famous idea.
He’s an anthropologist who looks at society and the internet. ‘The machine is us/ing us’ is his most famous idea.
Wesch would say that to study the effects of the internet is to study
ourselves: ‘the machine is us/ing us.’
Marshall McLuhan -
Hang on. It’s grumpy Marshall again. His most famous line, ‘the medium is the message’ is a tricky idea but could be a concluding thought.
Hang on. It’s grumpy Marshall again. His most famous line, ‘the medium is the message’ is a tricky idea but could be a concluding thought.
The internet as a medium has changed all media industries and has
changed society. This, as McLuhan would say, is the message.
How has the internet changed the experiences of media audiences?
- Guardian Newspaper - transformed by the internet. Sales of the paper have fallen below 200,000 as more migrate to the online version. There are apps and the Guardian site is integrated with social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
- Audience for the paper has changed - Digital natives; people who want their papers free, content-rich and interactive. It features text, video, images and even an audio version of the paper.
- Film audiences have also been affected. Cinema and ITV used to be the way an audience could watch films but they are now available through illegal streaming sites and online providers such as Putlocker and Netflix. Films can now be watched on tablets, computers, smartphones and TVs.
- Some Film fans have become 'prosumers' - the internet lets them re-edit studio content and post the results on sites such as youtube. EG- Fans uploading their own trailers and tributes to the film Catching Fire on the website capitol.tv that has been set up by Lionsgate. Fans taking part in the marketing of films. Tweets included on film posters. Social networks - the new word of mouth that can make or break a film.
- Internet allowed media audiences to personalise what they want to watch and read. The app Summly - one can filter online news content to match their interests. Web 2.0 allows audiences to collaborate and create new media forms.
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