Are the media becoming more democratic?

Over the past two decades there has been an incredible change in the technology available to the world. One of the most notable was that of Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web, which allowed for information to be shared 'online' with no restrictions or limits.

The early start of the internet was classified as web 1.0, David Gauntlett describes this stage through the analogy of each individual having their own garden, which they and only they would contribute to. This was considered a slow and undesirable start to Berners-Lee's creation as what he had envisioned fitted the description of web 2.0. A phase that Gauntlett describes as an allotment, in which several people contribute to together. This idea can be seen today through the use of social networking sites, in which the internet is a community and everyone can be seen contributing together, clearly showing that the media is becoming more democratic as there is choice. However, this idea of choice wasn't always present, traditional media; broadcasters, newspapers and reporters were the ones in power. It can be viewed upon that they had total media domination, with the only news coming from the same source over and over. They were able to do so as to create media in the past you needed, in Gauntletts words, "big stuff, big recording devices, big cameras and if you wanted to distribute it all you needed a big broadcasting company or movie studio" which the average person never would of been able to afford or store and so led to the notion of 'Media Gods sending down information to the Little People'.

Along with web 2.0 has come an uprising in citizen journalism, the view that anyone can witness, record and share what they have seen. This explosion of new media has come about due to the success of many convergent devices such as the iPhone, BlackBerry and HTC, all of which allow the user to record and upload straight to social networking sites such as Twitter. This idea of citizen journalism alone truly shows that the media has become more democratic as the 'Media Gods' aren't the only people who are reporting in today's day and age. Paul Lewis describes citizen journalism as an empowering process that allows previous passive consumers of news to become co-producers in news, showing that the media is becoming more democratic as there are options available rather then just the traditional idea of media produced-media consumed. Paul Lewis uses the example of 'Ian Tomlinson in the G20 protests': the original story that was published by the traditional media was that Ian Tomlinson died of natural causes and whilst the police forces tried to resuscitate him they were bombarded by bottles, later to become bricks in the newspapers. However, upon further investigation by Paul Lewis and through social media he started to encounter individuals with evidence contradicting that of what the traditional media had originally published. He eventually helped bring the officer to an inquest in which it was decided that Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed. I believe this shows that the media has become more democratic as without social media and citizen journalism the case of Ian Tomlinson would have never been brought to light and those responsible to justice.

Overall, I truly believe that the media has become more democratic through technological advances such as web 2.0 and social media as we the people are able to share and discuss in a common community rather than have information spoon-fed to us by the once omni-potent Media Gods.