New Media Journalism

New Media journalism is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the later part of the 20th century to describe the amalgamation of traditional media such as film, images, music, spoken and written word with the interactive power of computer and communication technology,computer-enabled consumer devices and most importantly the internet.

The new media journalism gives forward the possibility of on-demand access to content anytime, anywhere on any digital device and interactive user feedback, creative participation and the formation of community around the media content. A gift of new media journalism is the ‘democratization’ of the creation, publication, distribution and consumption of media content. New media is distinguished from traditional media by digitization of content into bits along with the dynamic aspect of content production done in real time. New Media journalism has revolutionized the nature and pace of human interaction throughout the world which is getting drenched up in the colors of a ‘Global Village’. The New Media such as the internet, computer, cell phones, social networking, skype, blogs, video conferencing are surely bringing noticeable changes in Indian society.

New media is used to describe content made available using different forms of electronic communication with the use of computer technology. The phrase new media describes content available on-demand through the internet. This content can be viewed on any device and provides way for people to interact with the content in real-time by including user comments and making it easy for people to share the content online with friends and co-workers.

The phrase new media was first used in the 1960s. New media are digital forms like chip, CD converted from analogue media. Their main characteristics are free and unlimited access to data and it’s copying without losing quality and interactivity. The means of transmission by cable, satellite and radio have increased the capacity to transmit by applying communication technology.

The internet should definitely be considered a new medium. It is associated with new media as compared to traditional media. It is used for production and broadcasting of news and also for processing, exchange and storage of information. The internet and other new media can be used for both private and public communication and their functioning need not be professional or organized as is the case with traditional mass media. The internet is the only truly free and autonomous medium that allows anyone to express objections and put forward their needs and opinions.

Examples of new media

New media includes:-

1.Websites and blogs

2.Streaming audio and video

3.Chat rooms

4.Email

5.Online communities

6.Social media and sharing platforms

7.Mobile apps

8.Web advertising

9.DVD and CD-ROM media

10.Virtual reality environments

11.Integration of digital data with the telephone such as Internet telephony

12.Digital cameras

Categories of new media

1.Interpersonal Communication Media-In this category content is private and the relationship established may be more important than information conveyed. For e.g, email, comment box.

2.Interactive Play Media-These are mainly computer based video games plus virtual reality devices.

3.Information Search Media-It is a wide category for retrieving content increasingly used nowadays. E.g, world wide web(www).

4.Collective Participatory Media-The category includes the uses of the internet for sharing and exchanging information, ideas and experiences and developing active personal relationship. For e.g, Facebook and social media websites.

Some comparisons of New Media

1.New media vs cyber culture---New media is concerned more with cultural objects and paradigms while cyber culture is the study of various social phenomena that are associated with the internet and network communications.

2.New media as computer technology used as a distribution platform---New media are cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution.E.g, Internet, websites, computer multimedia, DVDs etc.

3.New media as digital data controlled by software---The language of new media is based on the assumption that all cultural objects rely on digital representation and computer based delivery. New media is reduced to digital data that can be manipulated by software as any other data.

4.New media as the mix between existing cultural and software conventions---New media today can be understood as the mix between older cultural conventions for data representation,access and manipulation.E.g, film software is used in some areas of production while in others it is created using computer animation.

New media as faster execution of algorithms previously done manually or by other technologies---Computers are an advanced concept of previously used manual techniques like calculators. They have speeded up the execution of previously impossible representational techniques. It makes new forms of media art like interactive multimedia and computer games possible. On a level a modern digital computer is just a fast calculator and their identity should not be ignored which is that of a cybernetic control device.

New media as meta media--- Manovich declared that 1920s are more relevant to new media than any other time period. Meta media is similar to postmodernism as they both re-work old work rather than creating new work. New media is about new ways of accessing and manipulating information(e.g, hypermedia, databases, search engines etc). Meta media is an example of how quantity can change into quality as in new media technology.    

Characteristics of new media

The New Media have characteristics similar to both interpersonal and mass media communication but they are different in many other aspects. The new media are digital, manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, interactive, immediacy, hyper-textual, computerized, networked information and audio-visual connectivity.

Advantages of new media

With the assistance of new media it is easy to make contacts all over the world and it offers fast access to communication and information. It also helps to learn new things i.e, new culture and new languages, it allows any individual to become a member. It enables chatting and transmission of messages. The new media is highly economical and it also creates awareness on important factors. Finally it builds confidence and social interaction among people.

Recent trends in new media

New media technology landscape is diverse and fast changing from virtual reality to an information highway. This new media is radically changing every aspect of how we communicate and with whom? The technological change pace is accelerating as bold new technological advances are taking place everyday.

India is a developing nation making remarkable progress towards development through the Information Strategy, the process in which New Media is used as a means of furthering socio-economic development. Advances in micro computing technology will soon make it possible to pack billions of microcircuits on a single computer chip. So rather than creating supercomputers based on millions of microchips, the fastest computer will contain only a single chip with millions or billions of circuits. The greatest impact of the internet has been on business. In the new millennium a million e-businesses, billion consumers and a trillion devices will be connected to and through the internet.

Four trends are as follows:--

Development of a national or international information highway---Electronic media will provide information to help individuals function in a democratic society.

Hardware technologies probably will become smaller, more flexible and portable---The quality of cellular and wireless connectivity will increase. Software would become more integrated. New digital technologies will allow for increased storage on small discs, advancing the integration of video, audio and text online.

E-commerce will increase and may affect the way the retail stores operate.

Regulation will come up to control the information highway---Many issues of the traditional media, privacy, copyright and freedom of expression will continue to be issues for computer-based media.

Types of media

1.Print Media(Newspapers/Magazines)

2.Broadcast Media(TV, Radio)

3.Outdoor or out of home(OOH)Media

4.Internet

The main task of media planners is to select the most appropriate media channels that can communicate efficiently the advertising message to a targeted audience. It is essential for media planners to:-

1.Keep up with latest media trends

2.Keep up with new technological developments

3.Determine long and short term effects of different media

4.Analyse strengths and weaknesses of different media.

Four functions of media

The 4 functions of mass communications are:-

1.Surveillance

2.Correlation

3.Cultural Transmission

4.Entertainment