G325 June 2011 We Media Questions
(12) Explain how some features of contemporary media are more democratic than others.
The introduction of contemporary media such as web 2.0 and social networking has caused today’s media to become more democratic. The new media has joined the old media platforms like newspapers, television and radio giving citizens greater opportunity to share the opinions and express their thoughts.
The medium through which they can most easily do this is documentary, citizen journalism and even fandom. Whilst other mediums like Reality TV allow some levels of audience participation, however it is limited, meaning the medium is not as democratic. Whilst overall the digital divide does threaten the democracy of the earlier mentioned mediums.
With the development and evolution of technology, documentary has become a more accessible medium for regular citizen to communicate their opinions. The compacting of technology like digital cameras and their affordability has enabled citizens to own them as opposed to that technology always being in the hands of big budgeted producers.
In addition to the accessibility of recording software, the wealth of editing programmes available such as ‘iMovie’, ‘Windows Movie Maker’ or more extensive programmes like ‘Sony Vegas’ empower and encourage citizens to film and edit their own footage, which is essentially creating documentary. Sites born from web 2.0 like YouTube allow citizens to distribute their creations to huge audiences for free, providing them with a platform they never would have been able to acquire before the introduction of contemporary media.
An example of an individual who did this is Jonathan Caouette. He created his own documentary entitled ‘Tarnation’ depicting the story of his life and how it was impacted by his mother Renee and her illness. He comprised the film completely of his own accord using his own family photographs, recorded footage, and compiled it all together in ‘iMOvie’.
The film was shown in 22 theatres and grossed approximately $600,000 which is amazing considering its meagre £200 (approximate) budget. The documentary opened a lot of doors for Caouette in terms of his career as he then went on to direct ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties,’ another documentary consisting of footage captured by the music festival audience.
‘Loose Change’ is another documentary that was able to be made by cause of the medium democracy. The film portrayed a very controversial opinion of the 9/11 terrorist attackers being a conspiracy. A media text with such a controversial message would never receive the funds to be put into production, and no cinema would ever screen it. Thus, if documentary wasn’t such a democratic, accessible medium a documentary like this could’ve never been made.
Citizen Journalism is an extremely democratic aspect of contemporary media as it empowers citizens to have a voice. As stated in the indymedia mission statement (a site where citizens can post articles for free) ‘Indymedia erodes the dividing line between the reporters and reported,’ suggesting it aims to challenge Gramsci’s theory of Hegemony by allowing and enabling citizens to share their opinions in the way that journalists do.
This medium has been severely bettered by the introduction of web 2.0
as (similarly to YouTube for video texts) it gives citizens readers, literally, from all over the world. Web optimist Dan Gillmore thinks citizen journalism is a great thing as it empowers citizens.
He acknowledges ‘there is this cliche that journalists write the first draft of history; now I think these people are writing it in some ways and thats an important shift.’ His quote refers to the development of new media like camera phones and handheld camcorders that give citizens the means to capture life as it occurs. For example, most of the footage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were caught by tourists on camera, before big news stations. Documentaries like ‘Hurricane Katrina: Caught on Camera’ are testament to the power of citizens now by cause of contemporary media. Jeff Jarvis also notes, ‘We live in the era of news served raw – life is on the record.’
The democratisation of Citizen Journalism can also be interpreted from individuals who have used the medium for their benefit and become an almost ‘second-tier’ to the news as Alex Bruns suggested citizen journalists should be. For instance online activists like YouTubers Phillip de Franco and Michael Buckley have their own online news shows (‘The Phillip de Franco Show’ and ‘What the Buck’ respectively) which draw in millions of viewers daily. ‘The Phillip de Franco Show’ concentrates on world wide news and American Politcs as it develops, whilst ‘What the Buck’ focuses on celebrity news. More formal online news shows can be found in ‘Democracy Now’ which also has a big following.
Andrew Keen believes that Citizen Journalism isn’t democratic as it only offers opinions rather than facts. He argues the audience’s role is to engage with news provided for them by professionals. However, I think the prior examples show just how versatile and democratic the medium of Citizen Journalism is due to contemporary media like web 2.0 and the advancements in digital technology.
Fandon is democratic in similar ways to Citizen Journalism. Web 2.0 has empowered citizens to become participants as opposed to just spectators. Media theorist Henry Jenkins acknowledges fans as being ‘the most active segment of the media; the one that refuses to just accept what they’re given; rather insisting to become full participants.’
The web including social networking sites like ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ allow them to connect with other individuals with similar likes. The same software that enables individuals to make documentaries allows fans to make fan videos which they can share with huge audiences on YouTube. Whereas prior to contemporary media fans wouldn’t have been able to do any of this or at least not with such ease. With just the aid of old media if a fan had written a story they could only email it, or send to people they knew. Whereas web 2.0 allows them to share textual creations with millions of sites like fanfiction.net and livejournal.com.
An example of fans who have benefited from the democratisation of fandom brought on by contemporary media is the theatre company ‘Starkid’ based in Chicago. A play they wrote and performed ‘A Very Potter Musical’ based on the ‘Harry Potter’ series went viral.
Through the help of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter it acquired mass recognition, accumulating over 60 million views altogether. As such the introduction of contemporary media has really democratised fandom as a medium and brought even more truth to Henry Jenkins belief that:
‘fans are consumers who are also producers, readers who also write, spectators who also participate.’
Although still democratic, the medium of reality TV is no way near as democratic as documentary journalism and fandom. It is partially democratic in the way that it encourages audience participation; allowing consumers to vote for real citizens on television on shows like Big Brother, ‘X Factor’ and ‘Afghan Star’.
However, as theorist Sue Holmes acknowledges the levels of audience participation are limited as, in the case of ‘Big Brother’ you can only vote for the people who are up for eviction. Whilst in the case of ‘The X Factor’ and ‘American Idol’ the celebrity judges make the final call on who goes and who stays.
In conclusion, contemporary media is extremely democratic. Web 2.0 and the introduction of social networking sites have enabled citizens to create change through mediums of documentary, citizen journalism, fandom and social networking. Through viral advertising on Facebook, virtually unknown band ‘Rgae Against The Machine’ were able to beat Joe McElderry and the ‘X Factor’ backed by huge network ITV to the coveted Christmas Number One.
The success of the ‘Rage Against The Machine’ campaign derived from the fact that it raised awareness of citizens wanting change, not necessarily that the ‘Rage Against The Machine’ song was better. Similarly, the recent uproar in Egypt was partially begun by Wael Ghonin, a google executive via twitter. He encouraged protests via the site, and he raised huge awareness instantly which led to the necessary changes being made. As such these occurrences highlights that social networking doesn’t just create ‘weak ties’ as Malcolm Gladwell thought, but rather provides evidence for Clay Shirky’s theory:
‘A revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new tools; it happens when it adopts new behaviours.’
Finally, the democratic values of all of these mediums pale in comparison to the small democratic opportunity posed by reality TV.
This is a level 4 response.
It consistently deals with the complex issue of the relationship between media and democracy and manages to offer contemporary examples throughout.
The examples are discussed in the context of appropriate and well-handled theories which are not only understood but also the subject of some critique.
Most importantly, the candidate consistently evaluates this critical perspective, rather than offering a one-sided account of how democratic media is. The complex nature of the debate is described articulately.
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