In a world where nearly 8 billion peoples’ lives are unfolding all at once, it’s no wonder nearly 81% of Australians consume the news daily. This number is frightening too, once you consider only a small handful of individuals own nearly the entire traditional news market here in Australia.
It’s alarming, the near-monopolistic grasp a select few individuals have upon what’s being shown to nearly the entire population (be it through print, or broadcast media.) In fact, a key figure in the scene, Rupert Murdoch, is estimated to own nearly 58% of metropolitan newspapers in 2021 – and he’s not showing any signs of stopping.
Thankfully, however, as we begin to shift into a new era of information technology, there have been a number of developments within the realm of independent, user-created news content – most notably within the online news sphere. The consistent growth of the online news industry is more apparent than ever – with Google racking in nearly $4.7 billion in 2018 from advertising in the space.
This online news sphere can reference a number of emerging technologies – however, it primarily consists of social media and web blogs. According to the Australian Government’s Media Content Consumption Survey, nearly 41% of Australians engage with news via social media, and nearly 29% engaging via other websites or blogs. Both these numbers have increased by nearly 10% since 2018.
It can be argued that the freedom of the internet is a breath of fresh air within the media space. Though major media companies do have a presence online – it’s not the only presence. Unlike traditional media forms, the online space is significantly easier (and cheaper) to compete in as an independent business or individual.
No longer does one need to pay thousands of dollars for a primetime TV spot. Thanks to the prod-user, algorithmic nature of social media – your own content can be featured alongside television giants.
The TikTok to the right entertains this idea. Embarrassingly enough, the @bikini.bottom.news TikTok account was how I first learnt of the Ukrainian invasion. This account (to the distaste of some) dubs over a fish seen in several Spongebob episodes with current, real-world events. Obviously, this video takes a more-joking context however, the fact that I saw this before any large-scale news corporation is a testament to the accessibility social media has provided for user-generated news content.
Having said all this, there are still an inherent number of issues within the online news sphere. Not only is user-created content ‘owned’ by the platform itself, but the uncomplicated nature of content creation can result in a number of problems – including fake news and illegitimate reporting. Unfortunately, the prevalence of these problems has created a large distrust towards the legitimacy of social media news within its communities – with various social media platforms developing ‘fact-checker’ systems to verify user created content.
Regardless of these inherent issues – in a world where the mainstream media is owned by a number of key individuals, it’s extremely refreshing to see independently created content flourish on the internet and social media platforms. Even though it may have some problems, who’s to suggest this is any worse than the problems rooted within current-day news monopolies?
