Week 1 'we media’ and democracy

‘We Media’ &

Democracy

Democracy

In what ways is British society democratic? (3 min.)

Democracy

In what ways is British society democratic? (3 min.)

In what ways is British society not democratic? (3 min.)

Democracy

In what ways is British society democratic? (3 min.)

In what ways is British society not democratic? (3 min.)

What is Democracy? (3 min.)

Democracy

The issue with Democracy is that it is very debatable in terms of what it exactly means and what it should entitle us as citizens too.

Democracy

The issue with Democracy is that it is very debatable in terms of what it exactly means and what it should entitle us as citizens too.

For the purpose of this unit, it is best to adopt a somewhat critical perspective towards democracy- to understand that as citizens we have very little real input into what the government does.

Noam Chomsky

Argues that the public havevery little access to whatshould be public information-essentially, that we have a‘Spectator’ Democracy.

Further argues that thereis an elitist media system that helps for thissystem to prevail- often throughpropaganda

Endorsement of Chomsky?

How does this relate to Media?

‘It’s all about power, of course. In the end’- Roger Silverstone

Traditional Producer-Audience Relationship

New Producer-Audience Relationship?

??????

Power Shift?

Think of at least 2 examples of why audiences have become more powerful and/or producers have become less powerful?

WEB 2.0

David Gauntlett summarised the idea of WEB 2.0

In a nutshell, Gauntlett says that we now have an ability to be more creative and with more freedom (linking to greater happiness).

WEB 2.0 allows for faster, more collaborative creativity, and feeds a desire to be connected.

Watch this video to help us understand…

Dan Gilmoor

The book is about how the proliferation of grassroots internet journalists (bloggers) has changed the way news is handled.

One of the book's main points is that a few big media corporations cannot control the news we get any longer, now that news is being published in real-time, available to everybody, via the Internet. The book received widespread praise from the demographic it covered, and mixed reviews elsewhere.

A Quick Recap

Chomsky:- we live in a spectatorship democracy- the media ensures that this system remains in place

Media Power:- traditionally media has been about producers telling/having power over audiences. This has changed somewhat

‘We Media’

As the name implies this refers to media that we (‘normal’ citizens) are able to make.

The debate is whether these are able to lead to a more democratic system of media and what implications this has for wider society

ObjectiveDevelop an understanding and appreciation for the (relatively recent) changes in the media.