Paper Example. Consumption of Media Content

Consumption of media content has shifted in recent times owing to the disruptive state of innovation in information and communication technologies. Traditional media that incorporated old forms of monopolised media such as television and radio are increasingly being replaced by free more distributive and widely accessible forms of new media such as social media. According to Evangelista (2018, p. 137) “… technological change and innovation for economic growth and competitiveness have been increasingly recognized both on the theoretical and empirical ground.” Consequently, a looming shift in the consumption of news from traditional news sources that include television and radio has become a topic of growing concern among experts evaluating media power influence. Australians with smart devices are increasingly turning to the internet as a source of news and information on current events begging the question of whether traditional media is gradually being replaced as a news source among Australian news consumers.

Similar sentiments by Strangelove (2015) indicated that the diversity brought about by internet content consumption has seemingly rendered traditional forms of media obsolete. Strangelove (2015, p. 208) added that “…economic limitations provide insight into the possible effects of a new type of the distribution system – the internet” while alluding to the fact that the internet will be the future dominant source of news and entertainment for consumers globally. Consequently, the implication for media power in Australia is that a foreseeable shift from conventional news sources to modern sources is in the offing. Australians are increasingly warming up to the idea of getting their entertainment from the internet rather than cable television, a factor that has significantly contributed to the decline of traditional media (Strangelove 2015). As such, it is only but a matter of time until the major shift from traditional to social media as the preferred news source among Australians is realized. The premise of this analysis is to evaluate the implication of the shift of media power from traditional to social media news sources as pertains to the consumption of news among Australia’s populace.

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Post-Traditional Media

The internet is undoubted, the most disruptive form of communication and information technology innovation of the 21st century with far-reaching implications in various industries including media (Evangelista 2018). The web has brought with its possibilities in information sharing that was a century ago thought only to be theoretical or treated as a theme of a science fiction movie. However, the reality that is at hand presents significant implications for the distribution of news and information as the internet becomes widely accessible and people embrace the freedom of choice and greater depth of engagement with online content as opposed to conventional forms of media (Reier 2000). The inevitability of the internet becoming the number one source for news and information is gradually coming to a realization, as more people around the world embrace the internet as an authoritative source of content (Evangelista 2018).

Borrowing from the capitalist theory Arenault and Castell (2008) advocated that the conventional media conglomerates are centralized sources of news and information that have in the past exercised monopoly power over the production and distribution of news content to the masses. Further, traditional media houses have particularly engaged in various social-engineering activities to shape the minds and thought of the masses through political lobbying, leveraging public opinion, the sensationalising of news items, customization of media content, and diversification of media holdings through the application of emerging technologies (Arenault and Castell 2008). However, the emergence of social media is a game-changer in the industry as social networks have posed a significant challenge on the monopoly power that the traditional media once held over the production and distribution of news to the masses (Wasko 2014).

Wasko (2014) similarly used the words ‘Marxist digital capitalism’ to describe what Renault and Castell (2009), defines ‘platform capitalism’ in the production and distribution of news content. As such, the political-economic analysis of the operations of media explores market dynamics with implications for the nature of news content consumption (Wasko 2014). What this implies, therefore, is that mainstream media such as television and radio are often driven by business-minded goals when articulating content to be administered to their audiences, including news content (Reier 2000). On the contrary, Arenault and Castell (2009) observed that social media sites are not motivated by the same goals as mainstream media as content shared is often free and user-generated. Consequently, a shift of the masses from placing trust in mainstream media for news content is gradually gaining traction as more news consumers deem social media newsworthy based on objectivity and unbiased presentation of information (Arenault and Castell 2008, Wasko 2014).

The Shifting Media Power

The advantages that accrue to news content consumers on social media platforms have made it difficult for mainstream media outlets to cope with the competition that social media platforms present in the production and distribution of news content (Reier 2000). Reier (2000) added the term ‘economic destruction’ when describing the takeover of mainstream media by social media. As such, Arenault and Castell (2009) observed that mainstream media is working hard to catch up with the fast pace through which technologies of the modern age are shifting the media power of mainstream media from conglomerates to individuals. Accordingly, social media allows individual users to be content creators by providing a platform where news and information can be shared free of charge in an unbiased and liberated environment devoid of the agenda-setting limitation of conventional mass media (Wasko 2014).

It is this liberated sense of production and consumption of news content that makes social media user’s gatekeepers of the content that is shared; hence, the popularity of news items and relevance is contingent on how vastly such information spreads throughout the social network. Strangelove (2015) alluded to the adage that the more things change the more they stay the same when he likens the liberation of media power, from conglomerates, held monopolies to social media platforms, to the old-fashioned gossip and word-of-mouth days of old where a rumour spread widely would form the basis of news and information sharing. However, as much as times have advanced alongside technological advancements, the human urge to evaluate news information for oneself has not changed. Instead, humanity is increasingly leaning towards social media as a means to generate personal connections with one another and establish rapport through engagement in online conversations that present meaning (Reier 2000).

In other words, people in the 21st century do not want the power of the press to be concentrated among a few people who own media assets. Instead, the liberation of media power demands that such power is distributed to the people and the people are made to decide for themselves what is newsworthy or otherwise (Strangelove 2015). The post-television society, Strangelove (2015) added, is one that is in control of the content it consumes from entertainment to news content where the use of social media, for instance, can choose and pick what to regard as newsworthy from what is not. The power of media, therefore, has shifted in recent times from the corporate buildings housing mainstream media outlets to the virtual space of the online-based platforms where free movement of information has led to the empowering of social media users in news content creation and consumption (Evangelista 2018).

Authoritativeness of News Sources

According to Arenault and Castell (2008), the trustworthiness of social media versus traditional media news sources presents a dilemma and a double-edged sword that cuts across both platforms. The mainstream media proponents argue that fake news is an issue of great concern when considering the spread of news and information on social media platforms. Hence, advocating for censorship of social media content to the extent of suggesting the monopolization of social media news outlets. However, Wasko (2014) disagreed with Arenault’s and Castell’s (2008) sentiments denoting that mainstream media has throughout history acted as gatekeepers of news content; thereby, presenting biased, scripted, and outrightly agenda-oriented news items to the masses. Consequently, the liberation of news production and distribution through the use of social media has brought with it, good tidings to the masses, as people have regained control over their ability to share information that they deem worthy or true as opposed to what the mainstream media presents them (Arenault and Castell 2008: Evangelista 2018).

That notwithstanding, the double-edged sword of shifting power of the media from mainstream media to social media does present an ugly side where social media platforms have been the mainstay of fake news content distribution (Wasko 2014). Numerous instances of unverified information, rumours, and intentionally misleading information are wanton on social media platforms. Hence, exposing social media users to a tonne of information that is fake news. Without a body such as the mass media to verify and validate news items consumed by the masses, the consumers of a news item on social media are vulnerable to manipulation through the consumption of news items that are not authoritative (Arenault and Castell 2008). Ultimately, the government of Australia ought to step up to the challenge of fake news on social media as well as censorship on mainstream media as these two-double edged issues compromise the validity of news information shared with the masses of Australia. Accordingly, Wasko (2014) acknowledged that the Australia Communication Council’s inquiry into Google and Facebook, for instance, proves that traditional media houses such as NewsCorp will have to share media power with social media such as Facebook and Google to enhance the veracity of information shared with the masses concerning news items.

Social Media Replacing Traditional Media

The rate of consumption of news sources in Australia tends to shift from mainstream media to social media based on the fact that more Australians have access to the internet as compared to cable television or a radio device. According to Arenault and Castell (2008), the penetration of internet connectivity in Australia is amongst the world’s best ranking favourably among developed nations such as those in the continents of Europe and North America. As such, only 1 in 13 adults in Australia do not have a smartphone or smart device such as a tablet or computer to access the internet (Evangelista 2018, 149). A majority of those who cannot access the internet are drawn from aborigines and the impoverished rural towns in the country. Furthermore, evidence shows that millennials in Australia have widely embraced the use of smart devices and fast-tracked the application of internet-based social media platforms’ use among the youth (Reier 2000).