The Process for Communication with Massive Masses - Essay Example

Public Service Broadcasting Public Service Broadcasting, the Internet and Britain. Globalization has undoubtedly affected every aspect of life whereas, in the field of technology, the advancements that have been made are remarkable. The establishment of the Internet has been very helpful for the communication and the broadcast industry, particularly. The instant communication process for the purpose of communication with massive masses and to convey information has all been possible because of the Internet. In recent years, the traditional methods and techniques of public broadcast are shifting towards the Internet i.e. towards digital broadcast. Various scholars and researchers have argued that the Internet has been found both helpful and harmful for the public service broadcast industry. The purpose of this paper is to identify the ways and techniques through which the Internet can contribute in improving the public service broadcasting in Britain. The paper will cite examples from scholarly journal articles in order to support the arguments. Internet has influenced the media of almost the entire world. The contemporary media can be termed as Digital Media due to its heavy reliance on the Internet. Like many other countries of the world, the Media Ecosystem in Britain is also under influence of the Internet as surveys reveal that more and more users are accessing the Internet in the UK these days. This has certainly brought a transformation in the traditional public service broadcast techniques by presenting new and advanced methods of productions and broadcasts (Collins, 2011). Internet can help facilitate the public service broadcasting in a variety of ways. To list, there are plenty of techniques that can be adopted and have already been utilized in the UK in order to improve the public service broadcasting sector. It has been noticed that previously there were numerous issues associated with public service broadcasting. Therefore, in order to analyze the changing situations of the broadcast media in Europe, numerous researchers conducted various studies on the subject in order to find accurate results. Harrison & Wessels (2005) stated that the transitions in the contemporary public service broadcast because of the internet is a positive indicator and has increased scrutiny. The authors have tried to explore the pattern of the new media technique with the audience in Europe. It should be noted that the Internet has actively enabled millions of users in public service broadcast as all of them share their views and interact over the medium effectively. In simple words it can be said that the Internet certainly has expanded the media environment. Public service broadcasting is now merged with telecommunications with the help of the Internet. According to Hallvard Moe, the Dominant Democratic Theories have defined two different functions for the broadcast media however they were not effectively followed without the Internet. One of the two function states that media should allow the UK citizens to communicate with each other. Previously, public service policy has been greatly criticized by many for not doing so i.e. not providing a forum for the public (Hallvard, 2008). It has also been asserted by Collins (2011), that the Internet has also transformed the media advertising markets. The author has studied the societies like UK in order to understand the impact of the Internet on the public service media and advertising. It was found by the author that the traditional media practices have noticed a decline in the advertising revenues and finances throughout the world, particularly the UK. However, prices have increased for online media and have successfully founded the public service broadcasters. Kim Jin has also highlighted the importance of the Internet by referencing the video blogging website, ‘YouTube’. According to his article, Jin has emphasized on the fact that how YouTube has transformed the user-generated content (UGC) into professionally generated content (PGC) video website. The author is of the idea that it has highly influenced the traditional media practices. This is one way through, which the Internet can help and improve, and the public service broadcasting. Undoubtedly it is imitating the traditional rules and environment of old media but at the same time it is giving an edge to the people who are using it, that also includes the ‘legal controlled distribution of broadcasted content links between contents and commercials’ (Kim, 2012). The British Broadcasting Corporation is a great example of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. All of its channels and radio shows have public service remit. However, it has been noticed that this huge organization is also focusing on its digital broadcast as well due to the high demands from the audience. For example in a case study of BBC presented by Wardle and Williams, the attitudes of the workforce towards the user-generated content (UGC) is studied. Since BBC is a huge organization and it uses UGC therefore the authors found it important to study these transitions inside BBC. It was found that these new techniques through the Internet have helped BBC to become actively involved in networked and participatory journalism (Wardle & Williams, 2010). As it has been aforementioned that public service broadcasting is broadcasting purely for public rather than for commercial purpose. The Internet in this regard can be very helpful as it can avoid various commercial ads that are used in the traditional media broadcast channels. The government of the United Kingdom has also illustrated various sets of rules and regulations regarding the Internet and its use. ‘The UK Communication Act 2003 is an example which talks about the telecommunications and broadcasting along with statutory regulation of the Internet’ (Collins, 2006). Furthermore, it has also been emphasized by many researchers that the Internet can also ensure the possibility of fresh ‘prosumer, capitalism’ in public service broadcasting (Ritzer & Jurgenson, 2010). As the world is getting technologically advanced and the Internet is taking over every aspect of life, it is important to utilize it in an effective manner. The public service broadcast industry can formulate strategies to implement the Internet as part of their plan (Caraway, 2011). With the invention of smart TV’s, smart phones, etc., the broadcasters are now more focused about designing strategies that are solely targeting the audience as there is a lot of competition in the market. This is the reason why newspapers are also available online. For example, in an article by Rebillard, Franck and Touboul, Annelise, the authors have emphasized on the implementation of journalism 2.0 and other social interacting websites for the consumers. According to the authors of this study, this will allow participation of the audience through various social media sites within news media in Europe (Rebillard & Touboul, 2010). As more and more people are using the Internet as part of daily lives, particularly the youngsters (i.e. the present generation) therefore the Internet can be of great help for the public service broadcasters in this regard reaching this target segment. The media agencies can effectively utilize YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. in order to reach audience. This has also been highlighted in a similar study by Napoli, in which he which he has emphasized that by using Web 2.0 applications the public service broadcasters can effectively reach the masses (Napoli, 2010). To conclude, it can be stated that, the world of media is transforming continuously and is in a state of disturbance. It is almost impossible to predict that to what extent these transformations will be made because of the Internet. However, the best possible situation is to effectively utilize the digital technologies and the Internet for the media and the public service broadcasting. This will certainly allow new and advanced techniques for public service broadcasting and will improve the industry in a variety of ways. List of References Caraway, B., 2011. Audience labor in the new media environment: A Marxian revisiting of the audience commodity. Media, Culture & Society, 33(5), pp.693-708. Collins, R., 2006. Networks, Markets and Hierarchies: Governance and Regulation of the UK Internet. Parliamentary Affairs, 59(2), pp.314-30. Collins, R., 2011. Content online and the end of public media? The UK, a canary in the coal mine? Media, Culture & Society., 33(8), pp.1202-19. Hallvard, M., 2008. Dissemination and dialogue in the public sphere: a case for public service media online. Media Culture & Society, 30, pp.319-36. Harrison, J. & Wessels, B., 2005. A new public service communication environment? Public service broadcasting values in the reconfiguring media. New Media & Society, 7(6), pp.834-54. Kim, J., 2012. The institutionalization of YouTube: From user-generated content to professionally generated content. Media, Culture & Society, 34(1), pp.53-67. Napoli, P.M., 2010. Revisiting mass communication and the work of the audience in the new media environment. Media, Culture & Society., 32(3), pp.505-16. Rebillard, F. & Touboul, A., 2010. Promises unfulfilled? Journalism 2.0, user participation and editorial policy on newspaper websites. Media, Culture & Society, 32(2), pp.323-34. Ritzer, G. & Jurgenson, N., 2010. Production, Consumption, Prosumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 10(1), pp.13-36. Wardle, C. & Williams, A., 2010. Beyond user-generated content: a production study examining the ways in which UGC is used at the BBC. Media, Culture & Society, 32(5), pp.781-99. Read More