Are the media becoming more democratic?

Many new types of media have been launched such as new media which includes social and digital media, these types of media have altered the way we consume, produce and distribute media nowadays. Some would argue that these types of media is what has made media more democratic now, whereas mainstream media, as we can clearly see, is not democratic.

Social media are sites such as Facebook and Twitter, these social media sites allow many people to upload their content for other users to see and comment on. This shows the media in a democratic way as the 'audience' as we would see them traditionally, are able to upload their own information, along with uploading others are able to comment, like or dislike and share that information. The introduction of these site have allowed many people to have their say and contribute to various discussions in an online forum. 

However before new media, it was limited on how and what you could contribute to topical debates, in the past people would usually call in to radio chat shows and email them to get their view across. Even so not everyone would be able to do this or even be heard, now we can see new media allows anyone on the internet to continuously contribute to debates. 

David Gauntlett believes that media is becoming more democratic due to the expansion into web 2.0. He explains that web 2.0 which is sites such as YouTube and Blogger, create easier access for the 'audience' and also that we are now becoming a more active audience as we ourselves can produce and distribute media to these sites. Web 2.0 has an analogy of a garden to which many people contribute to, and this allows it to grow and be used as a tool to be heard. David Gauntlett supports the theory that media is becoming more democratic.

For example many newspapers have now launched themselves online and have encouraged readers to comment on stories. The daily mail has now become the biggest online newspaper, they're website allows readers to comment and discuss stories with others and people who work in the paper also. They also have a variety of blogs which readers can follow and read whenever they want. This promotes democracy within media as the audience are now active in the news and their views can be heard. 

These points discussed show that media is becoming more democratic and it also shows how much choice we have when we want to contribute to online debates. Almost anything can be discussed online and in web forums, I feel that media today is becoming more democratic.