Media is all around of. Media is the means of mass communication. Media has always been essential in sharing relevant news and information to the country and the world. Information can be made and distributed in several different ways. Majority of these ideas pertain to the generations they were created in. For example we will be talking about Alternative Media and Citizen Journalism, medias that really strive in the 21st century.
Alternative Media
According to J.D.H. Downing, “Alternative media are defined as small-scale politically radical media, using a wide spectrum of communication technologies and formats.” For a better understanding, alternative media is a type of media that differs from mainstream media (MSM) in terms of content and distribution. Alternative media strives to be the opposite of mainstream media. This creates media with a more specific target audience, appealing to the viewers wanting more information and a very particular topic. A major benefit of alternative media is the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a platform to transmit and display alternative media, according to Elliot King. King creates a table, shown below, that consists of files extensions being used on the WWW for common media types. Everything listed is considered a type of alternative media. Alternative media affects society by giving them the choice to which media they prefer to get information from. Creating an environment that awaits decisions helps keep us on our toes and mentally healthy.
Positives
- Specific target audience for people who are less interested in what entertains the majority
- Alt. media strives to be the opposite of MSM therefore, creating a unique media platform
Negatives
- Some people believe that alternative media contains only conspiracy theories.
- Popular growth of alt. media can turn into MSM
Citizen Journalism
According to Britannica, “citizen journalism, journalism that is conducted by people who are not professional journalists but who disseminate information using Websites, blogs, and social media.” With the growth of technology comes the growth of citizen journalism. The ability to be at an incident and record or photographic it, helps to get raw, authentic news. When journalists arrive late to the scene of an incident they missed out on information prior to their arrival that they will never be able to visually capture. Journalism having access to a wide variety of information, footage, and witnesses to an incident will help them in relaying the most truthful description of the incident to the rest of the world. Citizen journalism affects society because of the amount of society being used in way of media. Having society watch videos or see photos from a citizens perspective of being at the incident creates more emotion and change in the citizens viewing.
Positives
- Raw and authentic video footage or photographs
- Involvement of the community
- Encourages the first amendment rights
- Instant information, footage or photographs of a disaster zone
- The ability to share the information rapidly
Negatives
- Potential for bias
- Potentially untrustworthy
- Everything is being put online instead of there being discretion
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