Effects of New Media on Political Reporting
In what ways has the ‘new media’ and the changing technology of political reporting affected its quality and availability?
Over the last decade there has been a significant change in the way in which the media industry reports political news to their audience. With newspaper popularity decreasing, the computer and television industry are gaining larger audiences at a fast rate. Therefore, this rise of new media has made news reporting quicker and more accessible to readers through the use of technology such as; the internet, twenty four hour news channels, blogs and satellite television. However, there is room for debate when discussing the speed and availability of new media, which may question how reliable and accurate these news reports actually are. With an ever-growing amount of news resources available online, the development of the internet over the years has shown an increase in the significance of politics, gaining a larger interest from a wider and more diverse audience. However, when looking at political reporting online, it is important to always consider ‘the interactive nature of the internet; the complexity of its content in volume and variety as well as its accessibility.’ (Fenton, 2010, p.6)
In 1997 the BBC launched their first twenty four hour news television network in the UK, allowing for frequent updates to be delivered to the public at a quick speed. This twenty four hour news channel was the first competitor to Sky News, which was founded in 1989. By introducing twenty four hour news channels, the availability of political reporting increased dramatically, but this also meant that constant reports needed to be discovered by the media to ensure all news hours were filled. Therefore, an argument arises when looking at the quality of twenty four hour news cycles as Axford and Huggins suggest that this form of new media ‘is seen as the unconscionable dumbing down of complex issues.’ (Axford and Huggins, 2001, p.14) Whereby, the media is so
Over the last decade there has been a significant change in the way in which the media industry reports political news to their audience. With newspaper popularity decreasing, the computer and television industry are gaining larger audiences at a fast rate. Therefore, this rise of new media has made news reporting quicker and more accessible to readers through the use of technology such as; the internet, twenty four hour news channels, blogs and satellite television. However, there is room for debate when discussing the speed and availability of new media, which may question how reliable and accurate these news reports actually are. With an ever-growing amount of news resources available online, the development of the internet over the years has shown an increase in the significance of politics, gaining a larger interest from a wider and more diverse audience. However, when looking at political reporting online, it is important to always consider ‘the interactive nature of the internet; the complexity of its content in volume and variety as well as its accessibility.’ (Fenton, 2010, p.6)
In 1997 the BBC launched their first twenty four hour news television network in the UK, allowing for frequent updates to be delivered to the public at a quick speed. This twenty four hour news channel was the first competitor to Sky News, which was founded in 1989. By introducing twenty four hour news channels, the availability of political reporting increased dramatically, but this also meant that constant reports needed to be discovered by the media to ensure all news hours were filled. Therefore, an argument arises when looking at the quality of twenty four hour news cycles as Axford and Huggins suggest that this form of new media ‘is seen as the unconscionable dumbing down of complex issues.’ (Axford and Huggins, 2001, p.14) Whereby, the media is so
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