Section B practise

Most of the traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too little and too late. Does your case study support this view? (48 marks)

Most of the traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too late due to the fast moving technological society we live in. My case study is News, along with my independent case study of political activism and The Everyday Sexism Project in particular.

During the late 1990's, the internet was first introduced. Newspaper's therefore decided to put their content online for audiences to access as it helped reach a larger audience. Although newspaper institutions were able to conveniently reach audiences as they could access the news through their computer at home, they were also able to do so for free. This therefore encouraged the decline of traditional print news as the public were more likely to access news at home as oppose to going out their way to buy a traditional print newspaper which they would usually have to pay for.

In addition, some newspaper institutions often use Paywalls as a way of making profits such as The Sun and The Times. These newspapers often charge customers a subscription fee to have access to their online news content. However, it can be argued that they are too late in this as other newspaper institutions such as the BBC offer similar news for free. Audiences therefore have an alternative of using free news sites instead of paying.

Moreover, traditional record companies have also failed to see the online potential when it comes to music opportunities. Other companies such as iTunes, Soundcloud and Spotify have used their initiative to monitize the online music market. Whilst traditional ways of listening to music e.g. CD's and radios has declined, some music sites have used their initiative in providing audiences with music they can download, upload, purchase and share etc. Downloading music is far more convenient for audiences as they are able to transfer the same piece of music to their computer, phone, tablet etc.

Furthermore, the increase in globalisation has meant that news is spreading faster and places are able to know about events in another country almost immediately. For example, the recent earthquake in Nepal had reached the UK news a few hours after it happened. This has therefore lead to the decline in local news as large news institutions are providing their local area with news along with international news.

To continue, an example of the pace being too great for traditional news to keep up with new and digital media is the recent Russell Brand interview with Ed Milliband. Whilst a video was posted up on YouTube and social sites such as Twitter of this, The Sun criticised it by having it on their front page. The front page of The Sun was then retweeted on Twitter, however gained far less retweets than Russell Brand did when he retaliated The Sun's criticism. A Marxist view would argue that The Sun did this to try to keep their power, especially with the elections coming up soon. However, a Pluralist would say that the audience on Twitter were able to challenge The Sun only due to the opportunities that arise through new and digital media.

On the other hand, a recent article called News on the Tweet explained how Twitter needs legitimate newspaper brands in order to gain trust and newspapers institutions need Twitter to gain fans and increase their audience size. This would therefore go against the belief of traditional media being too little or too late as institutions are using their initiative to incorporate new and digital media to attract a wider audience.

The Everyday Sexism Project and political activism has also used new and digital media to heighten their audience and participant size. For example, Laura Bates the creator of The Everyday Sexism Project produced a website as well as Facebook and Twitter pages. This helped create awareness for her campaign, as well as encouraging people to share their stories and experiences. Without using new and digital media, less people would be aware of sexism and the project overall and less people would be fighting for their rights and beliefs.

To conclude, most of the traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too little and too late. Institutions therefore have to ensure they are able to keep up with technology and the way society use new and digital media in order to gain recognition and retain an audience.