Media and Society Issues - Essay Example

? Media and Society Media and Society The media a significant asset in the modern society. Through the media, individuals are informed on what is going on. More so, it gives individuals an opportunity to express their views on matters that affect them. The media has become a powerful tool that shapes and governs our society. This is because the society depends on information from the media so that it can carry on with its usual routines. This paper will look at User Generated Content (UGC), the Do It Yourself (D.I.Y) culture, as well as the Harbermas’ theory, in relation to the media. The User Generated Content consists of a wide range of media content (Jenkins, 2008). It uses a variety of applications and insights in news, gossip and research. Likewise, social media and blogging also fall into this criterion. User Generated Content initiates a combination of free software and legal licensing to reduce barriers that hinder communication. In the United Kingdom, the leading media network (British Broadcasting Corporation - BBC) first set up it User Generated Content back in 2005. It was inactive for a few weeks since its inception, but later became alive after the London bombings and Buncefield fire, in the same year. BBC realised its significance when their viewers shared photos of the Buncefield incident. They capitalised on the User Generated Content, which created a platform for the society to integrate their views on issues and even share firsthand information on witnessed scenarios (Jenkins, 2008). This revolutionised the media industry and gave an opportunity for individuals in the society also to become journalists. Through this new advancement, their stories and experiences would be heard across the globe (Jenkins, 2008). Soon, Sky News also followed this norm. Since its inception, the media house has seen an improvement in its number of viewers worldwide (Jenkins, 2008). They implore their viewers to continue sharing their photos and videos regularly. The sharing of photographs and videos is not all that is constituted in the User Generated Content. Media houses also provide a chance to its customers to take part in conveying their messages to the world. OhmyNews.com is a South Korean online newspaper that uses its readers to write some articles in English. This is a way of reaching out to compete with other like-minded websites such as The Guardian (Williams, 2004). The User Generated Content has been faced with a few challenges. The art of User Generated Content has derailed the journalism profession, as well as what it entails (Burton, 2007). This is particularly on the value of information of some User Generated Content. More so, concerns have been raised on the standards of the contents in terms of grammar punctuation and accuracy. Another key factor of consideration is the impact that these contents have on the mainstream of the media house (Burton, 2007). This is a concern that has been debated over the years as editors in media houses like The Sun, UK, have complained of some of having a tremendous work load to edit some of the mistakes from their consumers. In this field, many individuals purchase newspapers and read their blogs because they know that the content has been written by professionals (Bale, 2006). Furthermore, there have been instances of pornographic contents from the consumers. For instance, the Los Angeles Times accidentally published pornographic content in its website after they allowed its users to publish contents in their website (Burton, 2007). Other incidents of racism have also been reported by FT.com. Another issue is the availability of blogs. The editor of Telegraph.co.uk does not think that blogs suit journalists in any professional manner. Blogs invite writers to post their stories and some of these stories are mediocre and dull. They provide a platform of having insulting comments below the original blogs. Blogs emphasise more on the personality of the writer and less on the message being conveyed (Burton, 2007). In the UK, there is still no open forum whereby the readers and can stream in their stories live online without them being verified online. This is because there is still a lack of mistrust between the readers and the media (Corrigan, 2007). Many experts have arguably raised concerns that by doing so, hate speeches and that malicious acts of speech could go viral in a few minutes. This in turn, tarnishes the name of the media houses, an act that they cannot afford (Corrigan, 2007). However, this has not stopped citizen journalism from thriving. BBC news has admitted that contributions from its consumers have provided a broad appeal on issues. This is one of their secret weapons in providing world class news to the world (Smartt, 2006). From these contributions, they are able to integrate balanced news across the globe. It is tasking to decipher all the information from consumers. Nevertheless, at the same time, it is a privilege to take part in such an activity because in the end, the content is accurate and on a notch higher than other media houses (Corrigan, 2007). The Independent online paper argues that scrapping off the user generated content programme, could destroy its platform of relating with its employees. There would be no forum for its readers to express their views. This will in turn portray negligence and might lose them a great deal of consumers. Also, media houses like The Sun, have devolved mechanisms of expressing the views and personality of their journalists in a professionally, which is not related to the way bloggers create their relationship with their readers. This mechanism creates an affiliation between the reader and the journalist as well as the media house. It is also viewed as a marketing strategy to hook their readers (Burton, 2007). User Generated Content has exposed and nurtured the journalism skills of individuals (Smarrt, 2006). These individuals are also able to get an income through their contributions. For instance, BBC has begun to expand User Generated Content. It also pays for contributions. However, many individuals are not into this activity for the money as many of them just want to tell their stories (Smarrt, 2006). In OhmyNews.com, the contributors are paid about US$ 1. Despite the low reimbursement, it is still one of South Korean’s most influential and read online papers. Media houses have also improved user generated content by coming up with effective strategies. The Daily Mail, UK, has incorporated sponsorships to train some good media personnel. More so, they have been able to capitalise on the exclusive contents from their users. They have also taken advantage of the social media in order to increase their customer relations. From the feedback they receive from their consumers, they are able to improve the way they convey their information (Jenkins, 2008). Editors from The Sun have admitted to enjoying having a direct path of communication with their readers. BBC, on the other hand, receives photographs and videos, as well as contacts, from their consumers on their stories. This is a positive look at the flipside of User Generated Content. It shows that the society is enthusiastic to rearticulate its ideas and be heard across the globe (Bale, 2006). The Do it Youself (D.I.Y) culture has also had its impact in society in relation to the media. It brings out the idea of self-confidence (Amy, 2008). The ethics behind D.I.Y is the ability of an individual to perform a task without depending on a specialist who has been paid. It is aimed at empowering individual skill and knowledge in the area of work of the paid professional (Amy, 2008). The User Generated Content has enabled many individuals in the spirit of citizen journalism challenge professional journalists in their respective fields. This is known as healthy competition (Burton, 2007). BBC uses this strategy to keep their journalists in check. It is a way of also enabling the journalists to match their level of skill with individuals in the society. The D.I.Y culture has been witnessed and well elaborated in blogs. Blogs are the platform for individuals in the society to be heard and seen (Grossberg, 2009). Through blogs, individuals who have a passion in journalism can express their views on various issues, in hand, that affect the society (Smarrt, 2006). These individuals express their views on a personal level (Corrigan, 2007). By using the blogs and social media, they are able to convey their message to their readers and even the world in the way they themselves see fit. Some of these blogs turn out to be more informative than some of the stories in the media houses (Grossberg, 2009). The stories presented in these platforms have a personal touch (Bale, 2006). They are not focused on selling and making profits like in the market. This personal touch is what draws individuals into blogging from the individuals taking up the "Do It Yourself" initiative (Burton, 2007). More so, a majority of the followers of this D.I.Y culture are the youth. The youths have decided to stand up hands and tell their stories in their own ways without having to worry about their intellectual manner of writing being criticised (Bale, 2006). The youth have their own way of expressing themselves in their own lingual ways. They also know how to imply relevant examples in their lives plus how they affect each other (Bale, 2006). This is their own way of doing things. In the United Kingdom, most of the readers are adults of the ages of 25 and above. This is because, at this age, most individuals are more concerned on the economy and other issues that affect them in any given way. The youth, on the other hand, are not that interested in such matters and are going through a rebellion period. This is because most of these individuals are always interested in the issues that affect them socially not matters of national security (Bale, 2006). The use of social media and blogs is a manner for the youth to air their views. By doing so, they are rebelling against the norm of the society, which arguably follows the information from the media houses. BBC has admitted to using some of the insights from the blogs of the youth to write stories similar to those in blogs (Simmons, 2012). Other media houses like The Sun have also made initiatives of inviting the youth to write some of their articles for them in their own lingual ways. These are attempts of making the media houses become more modern. The reason why the media houses are not that much appreciated by the youth is because of their difference in cultures. In the modern world, the youth go online for information. The traditional routine of purchasing newspapers to acquire knowledge and play crosswords has passed (Bale, 2006). Owing to this, the youth have resulted in the D.I.Y culture to put their issues across to the world (Bale, 2006). The D.I.Y culture has been greatly supported by the Harbenas theory. The German came up with a theory of communicative action. He used social science to find a link with languages and the societies’ need for integrated information (McCarthy, 2000). In his theory, he explains that the society is made up of mainly the youth, as well as elderly individuals. Across the globe, these two classes rarely see eye to eye (McCarthy, 2000). This is because the two have a different view concerning life, as well as what affects them. In the same way, the two classes can relate to each other easily worldwide because it does not matter whether the native land of the individual, the language spoken or the culture. This is as long as the two parties involved have a thing in common then they can easily relate (McCarthy, 2000). A 50 year old man in Britain can easily relate with a 50 year old man in Africa and Asia. Similarly, a 19 year old boy or girl in Britain can easily relate with another 19 year old lad in Asia (McCarthy, 2000.) This is why in most blogs and social media you will find that no matter where the writer is stationed, the writer has followers across the globe who can relate to the stories told. Media houses like the BBC have a target audience when they write their articles. They mainly target the elderly who can relate to problems and issues that are common across the world. This, in turn, promotes the D.I.Y culture. According to Habermas theory, the disunity of the two classes constitutes to a danger in modernity. This is because there is rationalisation. There is a creation of different entity that focus on the passing on of knowledge and information to the society (McCarthy, 2000). This is evident through the User Generated Content era where we have blogs from the youth and media houses like The Sun. Both have the task of passing on information to its audience, but, at the same time, create antagonism between the two (Corrigan, 2007). Still, in relation to the theory, there is a sense of antagonism between oral literature and the media. Oral literature and the media are principles of social relations. Language is understood through oral literature collectively as an entity of well being. The media is seen as a system of success that orients action (Harbenas 1986). This shows that the media and the D.I.Y culture are on parallel paths, but they are driven by the same motive (McCarthy 2000). Through the analysis of the theory, it is evident that the concept behind the theory is that through communicative action, people in the society are able to form their own individual groups and associate themselves with like-minded individuals (Simmons, 2012). This further shows that the youth prefer blogs because the blogs relate to the issues they face. On the other hand, those individuals in the society that do not take part in blogging activities find themselves drawn towards the media houses for information that they can relate themselves to (Bale 2006). The two social media classes created have their own ways of looking at things (Burton, 2007). For the two ever to relate, there has to be an intervention. According to Habernas, there are four instances that need to occur in order for there to be an understanding or union between the two classes. These include: differentiated social roles, traditionally dismantled forms of life, adequate compensation of leisure and money for labour that is not in-house and hopes and dreams need to be individualised by the state welfare and culture (Habernas, 1986). Once there is integrated understanding on these issues, the media and society will walk on the same road to convey information. This is a means of achieving peace in the two worlds (McCarthy, 2000). In the end, the D.I.Y culture, in relation to the media, is a good thing that has strived to build up some good journalists and media personalities (Corrigan, 2007). Through the User Generated Content initiatives available, every individual is able to convey a message to the outside world effectively (Smarrt, 2006). 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