Media Use Diary.

Over recent decades, our increasing reliance on media, both old and new, has become more obvious in our everyday life. Over the past ten days, I have documented my personal usage of media and the amount of time spent on each particular medium, be it the internet, radio, television or newspapers. This blog entry will analysis my personal media usage with the media usage of my peers and in doing so, will give a unique insight into emphasis placed on media in day to day life and the way in which its usage can affect our perspective.

Media Use Diary – Log

Old Media as opposed to New Media

With the continual evolution of media, it is now difficult to pinpoint the exact definition of media and of how it is portrayed. Although 'Old Media' was once considered to be the predominant form of communication on a mass level, 'New Media' is changing the playing field and in doing so, is essentially challenging the rules of journalism.

Since the birth of newspapers and then the radio, the term mass media has been what has defined journalism. However, like all things, the term ‘media’ and how it is defined is ever evolving. Nowadays the technological climate and the way in which we relate to modern media is redefining journalism, and with it, the once dominant term of ‘mass media.’ New York freelance journalist, Beth Lane wrote that "By definition, mass communication is a message created by a person or a group of people sent through a transmitting device (a medium) to a large audience or market." However she then goes on to highlight how it is now impossible to clearly define mass media thanks to the modernization and evolvement of what is known as Old Media. “The continuing explosion of digital communication technology is producing more than a little confusion on the subject. Developing new technology breeds new questions. Should cell phones be included in a definition of mass media? What about video and computer games? Is “World of Warcraft” a mass medium strictly speaking?” From this it can be concluded that journalism and communication to the greater public is an ever changing medium and one that continues to distort the ideas that once defined media..

The division of media in to two categories, that is: Old Media and New Media, can further help us understand the way in which we communicate.

Old Media is essentially any form of media that was introduced before the digital revolution and includes mediums such as books, radio, print magazines, cable television, newspapers and other printing publications. Old Media is predominantly focused around the idea of mass communication and therefore is categorised as forms of ‘mass media.’

New Media, on the other hand, really began with the establishment of Web 1.0, that is, an advertising friendly ‘information web’ that is static rather than interactive. Soon after Web 1.0 was constituted, Web 2.0 or the ‘social web’ was created. The ‘social web’ included online social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogger, Skype, Flickr, YouTube and other online ‘news’ forums. Web 3.0 is yet another web-olution and is best known as the ‘semantic web’ and features include personalisation. Indeed as Conrad Wolfram as argued, rather than humans it is now "the computer (who) is generating new information."

With the continual evolution of media, it is now difficult to pinpoint the exact definition of media and of how it is portrayed. Although Old Media was once considered to be the predominant form of communication on a mass level, New Media is changing the playing field and in doing so, is essentially challenging the rules of journalism. 

My Media Usage – Old Media vs New Media

The first graph shown reflects the data collected from my Media Use Dairy and shows my personal usage of Old Media as opposed to New Media as 37% to 63%. The second image shows the results gathered from the JOUR1111 class, showing Old Media favoured at 52% as opposed to New Media at 48%. As is obvious from these results, I use Old Media considerably less than the average JOUR1111 student. Several factors possibly contribute to this variation.

Firstly as a member of Generation Y, I believe that for me and other youth of the same category, it comes naturally to read news and access information online. I was raised using the internet to access different platforms of media and so I believe that it is therefore not surprising that my usage of media leans more towards New Media. Secondly magazines and other print articles are costly. As a first year university student, still recovering from an expensive year in Europe, I realise that there is both a cheaper and easier mode to access information and that is via the internet. Furthermore, perhaps my higher percentage of access to New Media can be attributed to the numerous options available online. It is virtually impossible to buy a French newspaper or magazine from the typical Newsagency and after a year of living in France I continue to read French media both for information and news and to continue build my French language skills.  Old Media is geographically limiting. Although I regularly read newspapers when available and when possible, more specifically The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Courier Mail, there is no denying that for me, it is much easier, not to mention cheaper, to access online media as opposed print journalism.

The results of the graph ‘Old Media vs. New Media – JOUR1111’ show that although Old Media and New Media are almost on an even par, Old Media is still favoured 52% of the time. Before the digital revolution and the birth of New Media, the only source of information and communication was through mass media platforms such as newspapers and radio - Old Media. However the introduction of new and evolved modes of media now shows that New Media is quickly gaining pace.

The survey taken from the JOUR1111 class showed the following results.

As can be deduced from these two charts, before starting the course of JOUR1111, only 39% of students were familiar with Twitter and held an account and slightly less at 38% of students had a Blog. These results are in direct correlation with the results that show Old Media as the favoured mode of media for the JOUR1111 at 52%. Perhaps it shows that Old Media is favoured because of its familiarity and understandabitlity and that New Media, including social platforms such as Blog and Twitter, are still not familiar to the majority of the students.

Whatever the reason it is becoming increasingly clear, that although Old Media was once the only form of media and communication and is still the preferred medium, New Media is certainly catching up and therefore begs the question of will New Media soon be the new Old Media? Will the distinction between the two last? Or will new media simply replace its predecessor’s ability to be modified, interactive and instant?

Sources of News

Each individual’s proffered source of news may vary however one thing that does not vary is that all individuals gather their news and information from various sources. People chose different sources of news for different reasons, whether it be convenience, credibility, cost, authenticity, speed, choice, opinions and analysis. All of these factors influence the way in which people choose their news sources and therefore the way in which journalism is shaped.

Social Media is changing the way we communicate and the way in which we receive information. Had this survey been taken ten years ago I can guarantee that the results would have been very different. The micro-communication platforms created by social media outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook and Blog attract its viewer by both its accessibility, speed and facility. As the graph titled ‘Where do you get you news? JOUR1111’ shows, social media can be held accountable for 25% of the JOUR1111 class’ source of news. For me, I did not include Facebook as a news outlet as I believe that information gained should hold an element of analysis and opinion and therefore I  look to more substantial sources of news such as newspapers, both online and hardcopies, and the television.

The advance in technology can also impact the way in which we receive our news. People are now able to access any social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook anywhere at anytime. Smartphones offer a platform to interact with the media and with the news in a rapid way and offer instant availability. The survey shows that out of the 163 students who answered the survey, 128 have an internet-enable smartphone. This 79% of students who have smartphones can easily access any form of media and news on an online platform at any time. The corresponds  with the results that show that over 50% of news is accessed online. Similarly for me, I often use my smartphone to read news on the go and access social media sites such as Twitter. 43% of my news sources are accessed online and if I included Facebook as a source of news, this percentage would no doubt be substantially higher.

For me, I prefer Newspaper, print or online, and the television as they are more credible, contain more analysis and have more perspective. Social media provides an outlet for micro-communication and immediate availability yet I do not consider this real journalism or news. However these results clearly conclude that information and news will never be taken from just one source and  a variety of sources can ensure a variety of perspectives and  therefore a variety of opinions. This is what makes journalism and therefore what makes the news.

The World Wide Web – Internet Usage.

Since the development of the World Wide Web, media has never been the same. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not complaining. The internet simplifies things, it make almost anything available at the click of a mouse. It opens avenues for communication, diversity, entertainment and expression. However although the internet allows us easy access to information and communication it can also act as a distraction from real life.

The survey showed that the majority of students spend between 3 and 4 hours on the internet a day, but this leads us to the inevitable question of what do we actually do with our time on the internet? Here are the results. 

For the JOUR1111 class, the  results showed that the predominant usage of the internet was for Facebook, followed by YouTube, then banking and emailing, followed by general surfing and browsing and research and study. These results show that while the internet can be a means of information and news, it is predominantly used for the social networking platforms and entertainment rather than for gaining information and knowledge.

Academic study claims the highest percentage of my internet use followed by Facebook, Blogging and Email. Twitter holds my lowest percentage however this could be a result of my unfamiliarity with Twitter, having only recently created it for JOUR1111. I use the internet for a lot of research and especially as a journalism student, it is necessary to keep communicating through varies outlets including Twitter and Blog.

The two graphs showing the internet usage highlight the way in which we interact with ‘new’ technology. To think that the internet was once a foreign concept and the only form of media was considered to be mass media, it shows how far we really have come in technology and our modern-day reliance on the internet for social outlets and communication.

 

The Death of Print Newspapers?

This graph shows the eventual decrease in Old Media including TV, Radio and Newspaper and the increase in New Media, that is online information. 

This graph, in keeping with results shown earlier, shows that whist Old Media is still popular it is in decline and new media mediums such as the internet are on the rise. However what does this mean for journalism? Will the internet become so dominant that print media will someday cease to exist? I guess that is a question that only time will be able to answer.

Conclusion

The findings of this report surprised me somewhat - the amount of time I personally spend on the internet, be it on Facebook or simply accessing the news or other information, is considerably higher than I expected. I've always said how much I prefer print copies and hardback books, however these results have shown that I am yet another product of my generation. In general, the amount of time spent using Old Media in relation to New Media speaks for itself and suggests that the evolution of technology may also mean the gradual obsoleteness of Old and Mass Media.

The most amount of time spent on media usage for me was the internet and within that, the use of the internet for academic research and social networking was predominant. My internet usage was followed by the use of media for entertainment, specifically the television and then media to cover current affair and news platforms. The least amount of time was spent was on my phone for calling and texting. However as my phone is internet-enabled, this does not mean that I am not constantly on it, it simple means that I spend more time communicating through Facebook than I do texting or calling friends and family.

The results for the cohort of JOUR1111 were also similar in that they were predominantly founded in the usage of the internet for social networking, YouTube and banking. However their usage of Old Media vs New Media was considerably higher that my personal use and could possibly be attributed to their sources of news and levels of familiarity or lack thereof with new platforms of New Media.

Whatever the reason for the different uses of media, it has become clear that since the birth of Newspapers, the term ‘media’ has been rapidly evolving and changing the way we communicate and indeed, the way we perceive the world. Media now provides the ability to connect the people of the world in a way that we have never seen before. It allows us to share our opinions and affects the information we receive from different perspectives. Our lives literally revolve around the use of media, as has been adequately demonstrated in this Blog entry. Media is literally one of the primary factors that moulds the modern world.