Modern transformations in media
Modern media in globalized era transformed into big conglomerate of previously autonomous mechanisms of producing information. As Gauntlett suggests, electronic revolution of 80s was the main impulse of fusing different types of media such as film, television, journalism and music (Gauntlett, 2005). Internet development stimulated the formation of interactive media, web journalism, internet video and music production.
The fusion is partly explained by the unification of media production that is increasingly dependent on interactive and electronic technologies. Such trend is a direct confirmation of McLuhans argument that media is mainly about technology, not content (McLuhan, 9). However, another dimension of the increasing interconnectivity is monopolization of the Mass Media business by several internationally renowned companies seeking to control different media products, spheres, its production and even consumption.
The described influence directly results into interconnection and cross-fertilization between different types of media. For instance, now each newspaper has its own web-page, where it puts articles and news stories many TV channels also have on-line broadcasting of their programs etc.
For instance, as Brian Stelter and Miguel Helft suggest in their article for New York Times, modern developments in mass media recently resulted into increasing interconnection between TV channels and film-producing companies with Internet on-line video resources, such as YouTube. As Stelter and Helft report, In another step in its transformation from an online jumble of amateur videos to a destination for mainstream TV programs and movies, HYPERLINK httptopics.nytimes.comtopnewsbusinesscompaniesyoutubeindex.htmlinlinenyt-org o More news about YouTube. YouTube said Thursday that it had signed deals with Hollywood studios to showcase thousands of TV episodes and hundreds of movies on its Web site (Stelter, B. and Helft, M., 2009).
The interconnection between film-producing companies and TV channels and YouTube should be also understood in the context of developing global media business and monopolizing public space of Internet by media monopolies.
Such trend can not be reduced to mere technological change, but should be understood as the product of globalization the development of transnational media corporations, controlling different types of media, including newspapers, TV channels, internet broadcasting, audio record companies and computer games production (McChesney, 2008). Stelter and Helft fail to interpret the transformation of YouTube from the resource of amateur video to the domain, where such giant corporations as Sony, Lions Gate, MGM market their production.
Mentioned companies became aware of the fact that such resources as YouTube are the heaven for cheap, but effective product placement, because nearly two-thirds of all video views in the United States occur on YouTube, according to the measurement firm Nielsen (Stelter and Helft, 2009).
Hence, the main explanation of traditional and new media convergence may be found in traditional medias desire to capitalize on the increased popularity of such media resources as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. It is known that YouTube was originally created by amateur internet-user, who decided to place his videos on the Web. Soon, after his registered site got popular, Internet giant Google bought it for approximately 1 billion dollars. Such situation vividly demonstrates the fact that modern media companies often use private users initiative and creativeness to promote their own commercial interests. After YouTube was bought by Google, this company initiated new proprietary services and began cooperation with traditional media companies to commercialize formerly free internet resource. Youtube had already begun such an evolution. As Stelter and Helft argue, to attract more advertising, YouTube is striving to add more professionally produced video. The pacts with media companies allow YouTube to place ads before, during and alongside the videos and split the revenue with its partners (Stelter and Helft, 2009).
Such companies as NBC Universal and News Corporation, owned by Rupert Murdoch see internet media as the new field of capital gains and marketing. For instance, media site Hulu has been recently regarded by YouTube as a great competitive threat. Hulus main competitive advantage is advertising-friendly environment, which allows attracting dozens of TV shows and programs, traditionally broadcasted on television.
To be effective, YouTube also announced a joint venture project with Universal Music Group to develop separate portal for music videos. As analysts put it, Without premium content, analysts say, YouTubes growing popularity will only mean bigger losses for Google (Stelter and Helft, 2009). Stelter and Helft, however, fail to notice evident conclusion, which results from this fact growing convergence of traditional media with internet media inevitably results in further commercialization of media content and internet specifically.
If earlier Internet was considered to be the resource of free media content, now more services and media content are commercialized by traditional media companies and new internet giants, such as Google. Hence, democratization of mass media contradicts commercial interests of media companies. The discussed article helps us better understand the nature of media interconnection and convergence by providing interesting and relevant facts. However, the authors fail to provide viable generalization and explanation, losing negative trends, peculiar to media convergence from their sight.
The second article written by Stelter shows another example of media interconnection and convergence in the global era, focusing on Xbox media. As Stelter says referring to Microsoft, They want Xbox to be seen not merely as a gaming machine for teenagers, but as a media portal for parents and grandparents, too. The company is even producing shows for users it is in the middle of the second season of 1 vs. 100, (Stelter, 2010).
Such example vividly demonstrates that Xbox in search of commercial revenue seeks to reach different categories of consumers. This results in the convergence of several types of media in one commercial product games for children and TV shows for their parents and grandparents. However, Stelter does not explicitly formulate the implications of such trend, it is evident that the convergence in this case is mainly driven by the difference in media preferences of different age groups and social statuses of consumers. If in the case of Youtube company, media convergence is mainly driven by commercial competition, in the case of Xbox it is affected by marketing purposes.
The convergence of video and game industry is so immense that Xbox provides additional video and interactive content, which results in that video game consoles are putting a new emphasis on the video, rather than the game (Stelter, 2010).
Again, as in the case of video internet content, such media interconnection in video game consoles is explained by the immense size and market cover of this business. Several companies in this sector have a monopoly position, including Microsofts Xbox, Sony Playstation and Nintendo.
As Stelter argues, Microsoft sold about 39 million Xbox 360 during January 2010. Such immense sells mean that Microsoft has a real possibility of creating a living room video console network, putting new content, such as digital TV and internet resources in this platform.
What Stelter fails to see, is that such objective developments are sin qua non of contemporary media convergence.
As McChesney rightly put it, media interconnection and interplay would be impossible without the emergence of transnational companies, possessing different types of media, including newspapers, TV channels, internet sites, music records and film-producing companies. Monopolization of different types of media makes it possible to capitalize on them both separately and synthetically (McChesney, 51).
Media convergence and interconnection does not imply that traditional media, such as newspaper will not longer exist. In contrast, it means that they now can exist in different media sets, including other types of media, creating a network. Unfortunately, Stelter fails to generalize information and facts he provides to receive a complex picture of recent developments in media sector.
The interconnection of media in video game console is a recent development, but its scale has been already immense. Internet access through Netflix was added to Xbox in 2008, Sony Playstation users gained opportunity to watch BBC news programs, new deals with Hollywood producers are brokered to gain access to their video content.
The main goal of such development, as Microsoft officials says, it to get as much content there as possible (Stelter, 2010). In fact, such developments result in watering the gap between different media and transformation of media consumption in potpourri of different media content games, news, TV shows, music. This situation also contributes to the degradation of culture of media consumption, because each consumer now meets the mixture of different products, from which it is difficult to choose. Such trend is vividly shown on the example of transformation of traditional book media through merging it with modern electronic media.
Hence, as in the case of other examples of media interconnection, in the case of books it also pursues marketing and commercial agenda.
For instance, Simon and Schuster to raise their profits decided to release so called vooks, a product, where video and electronic text are interconnected. The project is realized on the iPhone and iPod platform. Rich gives a balanced but critical interpretation of such multimedia development, referring to the view of experts, claiming that fiddling with the parameters of books ultimately degrades the act of reading. Richs article is the most critical among already discussed, because it provides deep understanding of potential threats of such multimedia intrusion to the entire culture of reading.
In our view, transforming reading into mere entertainment can not be afforded in the era of deteriorating education and knowledge. Of course, reading for children should be supported by pictures, but their use should be motivated by text meaning, rather than entertainment.
According to Rich, electronic books still correspond to the traditional reading pattern in contrast to vooks, which make reading just another type of entertainment.
The issue of vooks instead of books is not merely the debate between traditional and new media, but a contradiction between media cultural and educational function and entertainment. There is no denying the importance of the fact, that multimedia companies make all possible to present vooks as something normal and effective. The rationale behind such argument is entirely commercial.
For instance, Bradley J. Inman, the chief executive of Vook said, readers who viewed prototypes of The 90-Second Fitness Solution by Pete Cerqua or Return to Beauty by Narine Nikogosian intuitively saw the benefits of augmenting how-to books with video segments. Mr. Inman said readers then warmed to the fictional editions (Rich, 2009).
The development of vooks production may further progress to the inclusion of music and perfumes into electronic books, which would result in total commercialization not only of books industry, but reading process itself.
Conclusion
The discussed articles shed the light on a wide spectrum of problems, tied with the interconnection and convergence of modern traditional and electronic media. Present research paper located both negative and positive features in this convergence. Positive feature may be formulated as intensification of peoples access to different types of media, depending on their interests and preferences.
Negative trends are far more challenging and wide-ranging. As the facts, found in the discussed articles showed, the media convergence is the result of monopolization of media production by large transnational companies, controlling newspapers, TV broadcasting, Internet and movie-making industry. Such monopolization in part being a result of media interconnection results in undemocratic trends in information consumption.
Commercialization of formerly free internet sources may be explained, as the sign of such trend. Moreover, as the discussed articles suggest, new trends of media interconnection, such as vooks, focusing predominantly on entertainment, negatively affect education and culture in general. Media interconnection often takes a form of potpourri from different types of media, as in the case with Microsoft Xbox, which simultaneously offers games, TV broadcasting and Internet. Such interconnection negatively affects content, increasingly becoming fluid and lacking quality.
This is particularly true of media, which requires certain level of intellectual work and attention, like reading. The authors of the articles discussed are not always aware of the mentioned negative trends. Stelter predominantly focuses on providing empirical facts and information, but his rare generalizations certify to the fact that he considers commercialization of media and its degradation as a natural process. In contrast, Richs article, being the most analytical among three, gives insightful generalizations and critical outlook of media convergence.
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