Digital Media and the Future of Staying Informed
Using New Technology as an Alternative to Traditional Media Outlets
Oct 26, 2009
The "digital divide" is a gap between people with effective access to digital and information technology and those with limited or no access at all. It can involve imbalances in physical access or imbalances in resources and skills, and it may be classified based on age, gender, income, location, and racial or ethnic groups.
Recognizing the Digital Divide in New Media
While the "digital divide" is becoming less of a concern in terms of access, there seems to be a growing gap today between traditional media users and consumers who take advantage of new media, with a generational imbalance forming between people acquiring skills necessary to participate as digital citizens and those who rely on outdated technologies, despite available access to alternatives.
Marketers and mainstream media conglomerates are beginning to notice that younger demographic profiles are becoming increasingly reliant on the Internet and social media. As these populations move away from traditional outlets like television, marketers tend to move with them, and big declines in ratings should eventually lead to reshuffled priorities for profit-driven media organizations.
Today, news outlets are changing how they approach audiences, focusing emphasis on young people by incorporating more social media into their websites and announcing plans to institute subscriber access to digital content in the future. They also appear to be cutting costs by altering existing content and programming, placing an emphasis on cheaper-to-produce entertainment and throwing less money into hard news.
Understanding Digital Technology's Impact on Media
Within the last ten years, the film manufacturing and music distribution industries underwent massive transformations after digital technology presented viable alternatives to consumers. Today, it's the media's turn, with content producers scrambling to retain profits as new technologies surface to offer customers cheaper distribution.
Unfortunately, as traditional media outlets focus their attention on the next generation, news content tends to suffer as it moves away from investigative journalism. As a result, consumers are expressing growing concern about content being too sensationalist, partisan, biased, and often neglectful.
Fortunately, with the aid of new technology, consumers of all ages have tools to fight back against news that lacks real substance. There are steps people can take to separate themselves from much of the melodrama presented by the mainstream media, which can also send a message to content providers that news consumers are capable of taking control of the information they seek, regardless of demographics.
Steps to Getting Information On Your Own Terms
1. Try hooking your computer up to that snazzy new HDTV, ready to proactively surf the web for video and news content instead of waiting for it to come to you. Mac Mini's are great compact computers for this purpose and can connect to most new televisions via an HDMI port. With Bluetooth-enabled mouse and keyboard, it's easy to set up and use.
2. Compile “Favorites” on your television, cable, or satellite box, excluding 24-hour networks that tend to replace hard news with space-filling "fluff," opinion-driven talking heads, or sensationalist programming disguised as news. Better yet, send a message to content providers by cancelling the cable or satellite subscription and getting used to finding content on your own using the web, which consumers can now stream to their televisions (see #1). For sports fans, many networks are beginning to offer HD packages via the Internet.
3. Put that old TV antenna on the roof to good use again. With an HD-ready TV or converter box, people can use an antenna to pick up local stations via digital signal, with the most significant being community-funded news programming offered by PBS.
4. Discover NPR, that public radio station listeners often seem to pass over while channel surfing in the car. It is community-funded radio that features news content less tainted by special interests than commercial talk radio, and it can easily be streamed to your computer via the organization's website.
5. Get news on your own terms by downloading newscasts to your iPod or iPhone. Podcasts usually come commercial fee, and allow users to bypass content that 24-hour news networks often use to fill space.
6. Rediscover the joy of reading by investing in one of those cool new digital tablets being offered by companies like Amazon and, soon, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft, and Apple. Once people manage to get away from TV for a while, they might start to realize that investigative journalism really does exist in the 21st century.
7. Start commenting on those news articles that you read on the Internet. Everyone has an opinion, and the more you express it with class and intelligence, the better our society. Also, become your own "citizen" journalist by starting a blog. With blogging services out there like Wordpress or Blogger, it's fairly simple to do, and it gives people good reason to think for themselves instead of tasking a TV news personality to do it for them.
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