New Media

How do we define new media?

According to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/new%20media , new media is any interactive media, esp. electronic mass media combined with computers; also, this combination as a profession.

I feel that the article- the Internet:our last hope for a free press, agrees that new media is a way for people to know information that has not been 'edited'. These new medias include blogs and online communities. Bloggers, though not trained in professional reporting skills, often will present a more candid report. This is because they are not pressurise by their bosses to make sure newspapers sell well. Also, most newspapers publishers are big companies that cannot afford to go against government's policies, thus, they will make sure their content are twisted in a way to favour government's policies. Take for example, the straits times very often features articles that are more towards the government, but the new paper will have a more rounded content. Bloggers sit behind a computer screen to voice out their thoughts. It has been proven that people tend to say their inner-most feelings only under anonymity. Also, new media can release articles much faster than traditional media. A blogger simply has to click on 'publish post' to let his thoughts be accessible worldwide. Newspapers on the other hand need to be printed and distributed. Hence new media is more efficient. New media also features more hard proof that gives readers more space to think for themselves. Eg. videos can be featured on new media but pictures on newspapers could sometimes be misleading. Therefore, readers' interpretations of a situation could be manipulated.

However, in the article- countering the threat of self-radicalisation, i feel that the author has very even-out thought about new media. Indeed, new media has its own pros and cons. New media could be a platform for extremists to recruit their followers. Because the Internet is so readily available, it makes it even easy for anyone to 'just happen to browse through a website' and be influenced by it. Also, new media promotes anonymity, thus making it more difficult for the law to catch up with people with undesirable intention. New media is popular among the young but youths are known to be easily influenced and immature. Extremists will make use of this to win them over. But, i also agree with the writer that new media could also be used as a tool to overcome these problems. A youth could also 'accidentally browse a positive website' and acquire the proper knowledge of how to judge things.

In conclusion, new media has its own pros and cons and the problems generated do not lie on it. Instead, it is the people who uses new media who determine whether new media is a good or bad things. It's all humans who are making the difference.