Change in the media: good or bad?

The nature of media is changing; primarily due to the internet becoming ever more popular as a platform for information. But does this also mean that the way the news is being reported is changing? Do the media do the job that the public expect of them? I put these questions to members of the audience at the 6 Billion Ways event for political activists at the Rich Mix Cultural Foundation in Bethnal Green, East London.

Some believe that this change really has affected the way the media operates. A 16 year old working for the ethical business Pants to Poverty said the media “focus on things that will sell, things focusing on celebrities and such.” The others I asked gave similar replies; it seems obvious that in their views the media don’t really give enough attention to “important” events in the news. However, while a few of them did feel that maybe this was a result of conventional media outlets, especially Newspapers, having to compete with the internet in order to keep up sales, others felt that the media has always acted in this way.

Ian who came to participate in the event said: “anything that drags on for any period of time probably more than two or three days on the whole is no longer deemed newsworthy.” Coco, 18, who was also working on the Pants to Poverty stand, felt that there were numerous problems associated with the media. Her main bone of contention was the belief that the media “usually takes sides” and this contradicts with what she believes should be their main aim to “find the truth and bring it to us.”

Sitting at another stall at the event, selling bottles of olive oil to raise funds for Palestine, was Andreas whose opinion was far stronger than anyone else I met at the event. On one hand, he agreed with the others that it certainly is the job of the media to provide the public with information, however he also felt that every individual is personally responsible for the news they consume. In his opinion the media “don’t necessarily have the interest to inform as much they have the interest to stay afloat” and so individuals who are living in a world community should take it into their own hands to find information.

While the mainstream media is being forced into a compromising position where sometimes they have to choose between providing valuable information and selling their newspapers, the reality is that the change in the nature of the media is also a good thing. Andreas’ argument of needing to take responsibility for the news we consume is not so far fetched in an age where the news is so easily available on the internet. Individual news sources may not be as impartial as they claim and it seems are certainly being forced to adapt to the consumers will but the choice of source for news is now so wide, that it really isn’t that hard to find reliable information anymore.