Are niche media good or bad for our society why - Essay Example

Reasons Why Niche Media Is Bad For the Society Reasons Why Niche Media Is Bad For the Society The modern society is appreciative of the niche media as indicated by the enhancement in the use of components such as magazines, online newsletters, online bulletins, databases and other publications such as the Financial Times and the Economist. Understanding what people are saying about various issues is pertinent in shaping the social orientation and content marketing. According to Dimmick Chen and Li (2004), although the niche media possesses numerous technological advantages, it inherits most of the benefits from mass media.

The abrupt increase in the application of niche media over mass media has culminated into social problems that were not associated with the mass media in the past. This paper discusses some pertinent social problems associated with niche media. The detrimental impacts of mass media emanate from the failure of the society to effectively and responsibly use it. Owners of most publications belong to certain professional elites, implying that the information conveyed may be manipulated for selfish reasons.

Wrongful interpretation of news has, over time, led to social unrests in extreme situations. The middle class who used to possess a wide range of market choice have been left with limited choices owing to the evolvement of niche markets. The rise in the use of internet in the last two decades culminated into more than forty channels. Most of the channels have been adversely affected by competition leading to losses and closure to some of them. The rise in niche media has led to the increase in cases related to piracy.

Piracy erodes and discourages the utilization of talent; frustrating societal progress. Entertainment industries such as the movie industry face an uphill task of competing with niche services such as Amazon Instant and Netlix. The digital video disk (DVD) market that used to be a booming business has been replaced by the new streaming services that offer a wide range of movies at a monthly fee. This tampers with the entertainment preferences and freedom of those who prefer DVDs. The music industry has been the worst affected.

Music business used to flourish well in the past because the main channels that handled music were the radio and music television (MTV). The music industry has imploded owing to the existence of numerous channels handling music. On the other hand, traditional songs no longer have a place in the current entertainment disposition. The entertainment industry did better with fewer channels because they had the capacity to focus on the customer’s needs thereby enabling each channel to have a fair share of the industry.

Decreased competition in the past castigated quality attitude towards the product among consumers; arousing their interest and curiosity. According to Viselman (2001), the niche market has left the society with fewer choices on the products they should purchase. Some are even misled into impulse buying or wrongful buying due to inaccurate advertisements. The rise in niche media has led to splitting of markets making firms lose access of how they deliver messages to their customers. The risk of unawareness increases with the increase in the number of channels in the niche media.

The increase in the number of messages relayed to the consumers makes them ignore most of the messages; even if unknowingly crucial. Niche media has led to an increase in social evils such as cyber crime and sending of spam messages that can harm technological hardware. Although most of the prices of most products and services have reduced following increased competition, the safety and quality of most products has been adversely affected (Dimmick, 2003). The society has become more objective about situations.

For instance, most of the political and social intrigues are the creation of niche media as most publish information without prior verification of the facts about the issues. Their competition for attention makes them ignore the big picture of the information being relayed. The rise in the use of niche media has led to the sidelining of some age groups. For instance, Facebook is normally associated with the youths. Niche media has been passionately received by the youths as most information focuses on certain personalities who may be having ostentatious lifestyles that when emulated inculcate wrong ideals amongst youngsters (Budarick, 2008).

Misleading messages and information emanating from niche media channels has led most young minds astray making them shrug-off societal norms and ethics. Niche media has also intruded on the privacy of most people in the society leading to publicity of family as well as government secrets. The niche media may sometimes be relevant as they lay too much attention on certain issues due to lack of better news. In conclusion, even though the niche media has improved the information dissemination and technological sharing among people, regulation is required to ensure that the technology does not cause adverse effects on the wellbeing of the society.

References Budarick, J. (2008). Framing ideology in the niche media: The Koori Mail's construction of the Redfern riots. Sage. Dimmick J, Chen Y., & Li Z. (2004). “Competition between the Internet and Traditional News Media: The Gratification-Opportunities Niche Dimension.” Journal of Media Economics, Volume 17, Issue 1, Pages 19-33 Dimmick, J. W. (2003). Media competition and coexistence: The theory of the niche. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates. Viselman, K. (2001). Eight giant steps to global domination: A personal guide to finding your niche, conquering your market, and taking your company to the top.

New York: McGraw-Hill.