Over the years there has been a major change in how media is consumed and distributed. There have been many new types of media such as social and digital media. These new types of media have changed the way in which we consume media. Some say this is the reason for media becoming more democratic. The introduction of web 2.0 has made it easier for people to consume media, people can now upload videos and see videos for free and also having the choice to comment freely.
One way in which the media can be argued to have become more democratic is through the use of social media to organise and enable political protest. A recent example of this is the “Arab Spring” unrest across the Middle East in early 2011. In Syria for example, news of an individual protest in a small town was quickly carried via Facebook across the country, resulting in lots of copy cat protests, riots and eventually leading to a downfall. In the past, any such individual protests would have been prevented from appearing on Syrian state television, and therefore prevented from spreading. However, the rise for social networking meant that democratic forces such as the access to information and freedom of speech were given a place where they could flourish.
Furthermore another reason that media can be seen as more democratic is the rise in new technology. In the past technology wasn’t very good, in order to record something was very expensive as you needed equipment which was very expensive. This could only be bought by large institutions. However nowadays we have access to mobile phones and laptop. They contain features such as cameras and are able to record. This allows people to upload videos straight from their phones in a much easier and quicker way. Internet has also allowed the uploading process to be quicker. 3G internet allowed you to upload videos in minutes, before it would take much longer.
David Gauntlett says that in the past media was not democratic as they had power over censorship which enabled them to decide and pick what media they would show to the public. Newspaper and broadcasters are now known as the media gods as they now have power of the public. However now media is becoming more democratic because of web 2.0, before web 1.0 was introduced, and this was where only certain people could create media. The finding of web 2.0 such as Youtube, Twitter, and Blogger allows uploading videos in an easier way. However only 8% uploaded videos to YouTube. Citizen journalism can now be produced by web 2.0. Information can now be seen worldwide within seconds. This was evidential in the Syrian protest. People recorded the protest on their mobile phones and then were uploaded to twitter for everyone to see. This shows that media is becoming more democratic as it is just as easy for people to share information compared to institutions.
However citizens can easily make up a story and upload to the internet, so it isn’t very reliable. Media such as YouTube has created a public sphere which allows people to comment on videos freely stating their own opinion and an also lead to debates. Clay Shirky says that social networking sites such as twitter and Facebook has created a platform to share information easily. An example of this is the Syrian protest where pictures were uploaded on twitter to show what was going on.
Evgeny Morozov says that the internet allows the government to track people on sites such as Twitter and Facebook. In the Syrian riots the government found out about what was being imploded to the internet and therefore cut the internet for a day.
Overall media is becoming more democratic as we now have greater choice. We can now upload videos and photos quickly which can be seen by most people.
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