Media Magazine 39: Web 2.0 - Participation or hegemony?
1) Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London on his way home from work after being unlawfully struck by a police officer, Simon Harwood, during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. The traditional hegemonic view of the police in this case would be that Tomlinson done something wrong or aggravated the police, giving them a reason to push him to the ground and eventually kill him. Simon Harwood (the police offer responsible for Tomlinson's death) has been charged with the crime, however has stated he is not guilty on several occasions. This suggests that the power of new and digital media is great to a certain extent as the video of the Ian Tomlinson death was recorded by a member of the public and therefore citizen journalism. However, the police officer has 'gotten away' with this case and a few others in the past very lightly.
2) The author believes that we, the audience no longer have to rely on traditional media such as radios and newspapers and we can easily produce texts ourselves. Moreover, the author stated that 'injustices can be challenged more easily; but the problem of political, and legal, controls will be harder to surmount.'
3) In my opinion, I believe that new and digital media reinforces dominant hegemonic views to some extent. Although powerful institutions still have the power to publish whatever content they like, these are now more often challenged by audiences. For example, if the Guardian online post a controversial/bias viewpoint of a story, then audiences can comment, share their opinions and even criticise the newspaper or story.
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