Audience & Institution

1) Read this extract from the Ofcom 2014 report on the consumption of news in the UK. What are the key statistics relating to the influence of new and digital media?

"Television is by far the most-used platform for news, with 75% of UK adults saying they use TV as a source of news;"

"There has been growth in the number of those who use any internet or apps for news, with over four in ten (41%)"

"This is particularly evident in the 16-34 age group, where use of internet or apps for news has increased from 44% in 2013 to 60% in 2014."

2) Come up with an example of an institution that has benefited from the changes new and digital media has brought to the news industry. Explain how new technology has helped the institution and try to find statistics or financial figures that support your point.

An institution such as the BBC have benefited from the changes in new and digital media has brought to the news industry. New and digital media has advanced significantly over the years giving the audience easier access to news e.g. phone apps. This has benefited the BBC because they are now able to publish their news across different platforms. This advancement of NDM has brought the BBC many new viewers over the years. The younger generation talking strictly about teenagers and young adults are more likely to access their news through the internet, phone apps or social media. This means that NDM has given an institution such as the BBC the chance to reach different target groups through different methods that relate to that specific group.

3) Answer the following question in a mini-essay on your blog:

Who has benefited most from the changes new and digital media have had on the news industry - audiences or institutions?

This is a very debatable topic seeing as both sides the institution and the audience have both benefited significantly from the advancement of new and digital media over the years.

The institution side has benefited in many ways because with new and digital media (NDM) an institution such as BBC is now able to promote their news and topics through all platforms making their stories and articles more viewed with a higher awareness. This means that the BBC are now able to reach different audiences such as the younger generation who aren't usually the audience for the BBC due to their lack of news watching. However, with the BBC app and BBC social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter, younger audiences are able to get in touch with watching, reading or hearing about global and local news. This is all down to the advancement of NDM because if NDM was still stuck at the period where broadcast/TV was their only platform then the younger proportion of viewers is likely to be a lot smaller than now making it accessible on all platforms. This has given Institutions a chance to gain revenue and popularity through different ways ensuring their chances of success is increasing as NDM is advancing.

The audience side of this debate has also benefited from NDM because audiences are able to access news from institutions much easier and faster due to advanced technology. Audiences are now able to view news on the go, on their way to work or school. This has benefited the audience because this has made watching the news more convenient. Also the younger generation as an audience have benefited massively from this because they are now able to access news through social media such as Twitter allowing them read about news while interacting with friends making this a natural habit. Many audiences do not realise that they are reading the news because it has become a daily process. Audiences that access Twitter on a daily could receive news from ITV,SKY or BBC from a retweeted service on their timeline and they may not even realise they are reading the news because it is a daily normal process.