INTRODUCTION

As we approach the last few topics of this A level course and before we look specifically at the 4 New Media CSP’s:

1. The Voice,
2. The Sims Freeplay,
3. Horizon Forbidden West and
4. Zendaya

we should briefly consider what we can understand about New Media in relation to Old (legacy) Media that we looked at in the previous half terms (ie TV, PSB, BBC, radio, Newspapers etc)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A.I.)

So let’s start by listening to a conversation between a human and a robot.

To start off with I would like to prioritise the notion of CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION as a way of thinking about NEW MEDIA which can be linked to the key ideas of a media syllabus. For example,

1. the transformation of social interaction (audiences);
2. the transformation of individual identity (audiences and representation);
3. the transformation of institutional structures (industry);
4. the changes in textual content and structure (language).
5. The transformation of audience consumption

In summary, this could be described as the changing nature of symbolic interaction and a lot of the work on this blog is essentially discussing this concept.

Dan Gillmor is a useful theorist to look at, you can read his book We Media by clicking on this link – provides an overview of how new media technologies have had an impact on relationship between citizens and government / institutional power.

For another example, look at the research paper by ResPublica: ‘Technopoly‘, which looks at the relationship between corporations, governments, individuals and BIG DATA. As the debate continues more information, debate and discussion will start to appear as we all become much more aware of what NEW MEDIA involves.

As such, looking at New Media allows for a re-thinking of the relationship between the private and the public (or as Habermas would put it ‘The Transformation of the Public Sphere‘ – as new technology is allowing the public world of organisations, commerce, government and business to infiltrate the private worlds of personal ideas, friendship and informal exchange, read this article from Open Mind: The New Media’s role in Politics.

Similarly, disclosure and analysis around Cambridge Analytica, the Trump election and the Brexit Campaign have brought these debates sharply into focus and any of these areas could be used as useful case studies to explore the impact of New Media on society and the individual.