New Media vs Old Media

This is a Guest Post from Stephen Dunn, an IT Network Manager*. I first came across a version of the article on a football fanzine site and contacted Stephen to ask if he could broaden it out for a Guest Post here. I am delighted to have the revised article published on the Energise 2.0 blog as it raises very important implications for all of us. It is one of the most thought provoking articles i have read in a long time. As always, comments and feedback are very welcome. Jim H
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Given the recent 70th birthday of one of boxing, and sports, greatest characters it seems apt that I am discussing the great heavyweight bout of our time.

In the Blue Corner – Old Media

In 1988, Manufacturing Consent by Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky was published. For those unaware of the theories presented in this work, the authors suggest that the mass media is a solely profit driven entity. The facts and the truth of “news” are secondary to profit. Therefore the spin placed on news is for the benefit of revenue. It follows then that news outlets that are successful at spinning facts to suit their target market will be successful, as opposed to the outlets which report stories “as is”, who will be left on the fringes or even die altogether. The profit is gained from advertising revenue. Media outlets cultivate their consumers as it is this audience they sell to advertisers. This is the primary factor in news reporting.

This spin is made worse, and proliferates more readily, due to the smaller media outlets being beholden to the larger ones for their news. Which of course are the larger outlets own personal version of the news. This gives rise to the situation where there a few powerful corporations at the very top setting the tone and agenda for the news globally. International news filters from BBC, FOX, Sky, CBS, ABC, down to national bulletins, which then filters down to local papers looking to fill columns using the feeds from Associated Press.

The spin situation is made worse by the large news corporation’s dependence on Governmental and private sources for their content. If one of these media outlets steps out of line, access to the information will be cut off. This causes readers / viewers to fall and subsequently advertising revenue to fall. News is spun to minimise financial danger to the corporation and prevent the information tap being switched off.

Based on the above, Old Media in my view, has become a major means of population control. We are fed a diet of sensationalised sex scandals, over hyped sporting contests and reality shows to make sure our attention is focused elsewhere leaving the faceless men at the top freedom to do what they like without being questioned.

Herman & Chomsky’s propaganda model described in Manufacturing Consent details 5 filters that are applied to news reporting to achieve the goals described above (I have taken the following description from Wikipedia):

1. Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation: The dominant mass-media outlets are large firms which are run for profit. Therefore they must cater to the financial interest of their owners – often corporations or particular controlling investors. The size of the firms is a necessary consequence of the capital requirements for the technology to reach a mass audience

5. Anti-Communism: This was included as a filter in the original 1988 edition of the book, but Chomsky argues that since the end of the Cold War (1945–91), anticommunism was replaced by the “War on Terror”, as the major social control mechanism

In the Red Corner – New Media

These theories were first presented in 1988. Since then a revolution has taken place. The Information Revolution. Human beings in the western world have almost unfettered access to a mind boggling amount of information. Now they also have access to this information anywhere and everywhere with the proliferation of smart mobile devices. This has dramatically, and permanently, changed the landscape for the old media.

Old media is no longer the de facto voice on what is happening. We now all have a voice. In 1988, and still to this day, the major news corporations set the tone and content of the news. People had no choice but to take what they are being told as fact as any dissenting voices were cast to the peripheries and easily discredited. New Media has empowered us all, allowing us to choose what we want to believe.

We are returning to an age where we as humans questioned everything we are told. A time when we did not follow blindly like sheep. A time when we exercised our own intellect and came to our own conclusions. These freedoms drive innovation. We are now able to do this as the information revolution has given us access to something we haven’t had for a very long time.

The Truth.

Stories are now going global based on bloggers, tweets and Facebook posts. These stories are going global because it is the truth at the core of them and we as human beings have a healthy thirst for that.

The Information Revolution and New Media are once again freeing us. We are free to express ourselves. Previously one lone voice who knew the truth would be drowned out by the behemoth of the Old Media. New Media can effectively silence the cacophony that is the world long enough for that single voice in 7 billion to be heard. The very possibility of that being the case is what is alluring to all humans. For now we all have a voice and any voice has the chance to make a real difference to us all.

In the 24 years since Manufacturing Consent was published it is hard not to attach quod erat demonstrandum to the theories contained within. Whilst Old Media is on the ropes, I fully expect a grizzled old professional like that to land a couple more punches before the youngster gets a knockout blow. The Old Media will try to adapt. Something that has been at the top for so long doesn’t relinquish its title so readily. We will see them try and adopt the principles that are so beguiling about New Media. However, in this writer’s opinion the mistrust towards Old Media due to the abuse of their power, and lust for money, will merely prolong their inevitable descent into irrelevance.

One thing is always true in history, once people have a taste of a free world, one where they are at liberty to use facts to make their own minds up, they will not return to being spoon fed by faceless entities. Even if the knockout blow doesn’t come soon for the Old Media, New Media is now so far ahead on points the result is not in doubt.

I will finish up with a quote from the great man himself:

‘A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he’ll never crow. I have seen the light and I’m crowing.’

Welcome to the chicken coop my friends, dawn has broke.

Feedback and comment very weclome.

Stephen

* Stephen Dunn is an IT Network Manager for a UK based company. His background as a web developer has given him a keen interest in the media, with a heavy focus on New Media and how it is changing how we all live our lives. However you are more likely to see him blogging and writing about his main love, football, and how the media interacts within that environment. If you wish to contact Stephen let us know and we will put you in touch.