All About Web - Please Read!

http://www.theory.org.uk/mediastudies2.htm

A really useful part of the theory site.

A Great Website for Theory (even useful for Section 1A)

http://www.theory.org.uk/index.htm

Enjoy!

The impact of internet on newspapers

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The impact of internet on newspapers

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Discuss the extent to which the distribution and consumption of media have been transformed by the internet

You need to debate the extent to which distribution and consumption have changed. Links on the right. David Campbell's blogs on the impact of Internet on Journalism and Newspapers are paricularly worth a read. I have provided a link to the first of the series.

What has been the impact of the internet on media production?

There are a number of links relating to this question.

In your research you should cover the following:

• Actual newspaper examples including statistics relating to the decline in sales of off-line news


• How mainstream newspapers have reacted to broadband and whether this has been positive or negative


• Citizen Journalism: you can bring in ideas about the control of the mass media (Marx, Chomsky, Gramsci) and explore how citizens are becoming media producers, thus potentially democratising the media - don't go on about this though as it is not really the main focus of the question.


• How far you can apply Chris Andersons' The Long Tail theory to online newspapers or even online journlism in it's broadest sense (Twitter, blogging, etc)

So far we have explored more philosophical aspects of online news focusing on Marxist ideology and 'citizen journalism' leading to a more democratic media. Now we need to focus in more on the actual impact of online on newspaper companies. This particular question only asks you about production so make sure that this is your focus. Have newspapers shut down because of a downturn in sales? How have circulation figures changed? Are these due to broadband? What do the experts say? How have newspaper companies faced this challenge? What has been the impact on advertising? What happened to free online content? Does the audience still rely on these mass media companies for their news or do they go elsewhere? Where is your evidence for this?

Case Studies

Learning the theories is of course vitally important to your success in the exam. However, if you haven't got any case studies to explore in relation to these theories you will not achieve a good grade! A key area for debate is whether online has revolutionised the media and the way audiences consumer media. You should have at least two case studies that you can refer to. There are plenty of YouTube video links here to media practitioners such as David Gauntlett so use these as a starting point. Some examples of case studies could be:

• YouTube


• Wikileaks


• Twitter


• China


• Libya


• Haiti


• Iran's Twitter Revolution

Remember, your focus should be on the way news media has changed due to Web 2.0 as well as ways that it hasn't changed! 'Digital Utopians' would argue that web 2.0 has allowed citizens freedoms never experienced before. You should explore this claim but also explore counter arguments.

You may also be asked about the way the internet has impacted traditional media production and distribution so make sure that you know how this has been changing in the last 5 years particularly.

Reading List

I have added a Reading List to the bar on the right. The department has one copy of each book and I have only included books that I have read and recommend. Of course not every single page is going to be relevant but it will help you to develop a wider understanding of the topic and bring some new ideas to the table.

If you click in the link it will take you to the relevant Amazon page. Don't forget to check ebay as well for older books as students often want to sell them on.