Topic 2 - Debate about the new media

Curran and Seaton (2003) - two perspectives dominate the debate about the new media in th UK:

1. Neophilliacs = commentators who are optimistic about the spread and influenece of new media technologies.

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  • Which they see as offering consumers more choice and opportunity to participate more interactively and effectively in the democratic proccess.

2. Cultural pessimists = commentators who are pessimistic about the spread and influence of new media technologies.

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  • The new media is not that new, that interactivity is an illusion because ownership of the media is concentrated in the hands of powerful corporations, and that new media content has generally led to the decline in the quality of popular culture.

The neophilliac perspective

Increased consumer choice

Convergence, compression and interactivity that characterize media tachnolgy and delivery today have led to increased consumer choice.

There are hundreds of channels for people to choose from so therefore people are able to see the same events but at different angles.

Competition between media instutions will lead to more quality media output.

Moreover, people can choose from a number of different media delivery systems e.g. music.

An e-commerce revelution

E-tailers such as Amazon have been great economic successes and have undermined high street retailiers.

This e-commerce trend has resulted in morer choice to consumers because it increases competition, leads to lower prices and puts consumers in control as they can compare prices from a huge range of products and…