MEDIA SUMMARY

- Blurring of lines between new and old media

- New media adopting role beyond entertainment
*Impact of social media (user-generated, content driven) vs new media (top down, authoritarian)

A. SOCIAL IMPACTS

New media as a 1. For minorities/oppressed to be heard

form of - Inherent aspects of new media in allowing for wider audience outreach, being more
empowerment dynamic as a platform > inherent injustices can now be outed

- Combatting injustice: E.g. Racial discrimination

- E.g. Black Lives Matter (black oppression being far more apparent these days,
though it has always existed)

- Malala Yousofzai, Arab Spring Movement (against state control + authoritarian

regime – citizens turning to new media to show extent of oppression by leader)

2. For youth
- A platform for activism for causes/social campaigns, offering opinions
- Plurality of voices: C.f. in the past where children could not be heard:

- Fewer platforms were available

- Platforms cost money; did not make sense for children, whi were not significant
people in authority

> Youth instigating bigger changes, doing more good in society

3. For fringe groups (e.g. NGOs)

- These groups tapping on internet to further broadcast message

Negative
- Religious fundamentalist mvts (e.g. ISIS) picking up pace due to internet

Positive
- Has become more fashionable to be green, increased effectiveness of green
lobby groups

> Social media as a huge influencer of trends + groupthink

New media - Lowering barriers to access

leading to
democratization - Need for more critical thinking; sieving out useful information
of voices - Leading to a focus on the trivial (though not new, heightened):

- Rise of tabloids, half-truths

- Creates obsession with the exceptional: Where the mundane is not appreciated
– only the most extreme and incredulous stories get told
- Unhealthy obsession with celebrities e.g. Kardashians

- Rise of mob justice and mentality

- Anton Casey, Australian man repatriated due to insults to SG govt
- Ensuring that due justice is delivered/a liability to the majority

New media 1. Influencing values (wrt censorship + freedom of speech)

influencing - Spread of more ‘liberal values’, ‘westernization’ in conservative societies
culture - Through various forms of media: Advertising, films, music (c.f. globalization + impact on
the economy)

- Difficulty in censoring media

- E.g. in SG and ME countries: Youths being corrupted by Western shows/exposed
to liberal values – desensitization to sex/violence
- Proliferation of materialist, consumerist ideals
 2. Leads to promulgation of undesirable habits
- Exposure to questionable beliefs – e.g. self-radicalisation (Dhaka bombings)

3. Influences individuals’ perceptions

- Both breaks and reinforces stereotypes
- Affects how individuals view gender/racial stereotypes

- E.g. Jackie Chan: Projecting Asian stereotypes that Westerners adore

- Is manifest in: Language and fashion

- Popularisation of English + its dominance in films/TV shows: Arguably, how we talk
influencing how we see the world (e.g. Sapir-Whorf hypothesis)

New media 1. Relationships with selves: Feeds narcissism, self-indulgence and attention
influencing - Through presence of echo chambers, leading individuals to become insular
relationships - Through provision of a wider community to interact with others, blurring of boundaries
between private and public (particularly for minors)

- Rise of keyboard warrior: Entitlement of views and shielded by veil of anonymity

- Leads to nonchalance towards matters of privacy *See: Privacy

2. Shallow r/s with others

- Lack of face-to-face interaction: Replacement by online interaction (quantified by
number of likes, etc.) which blur lines between quality vs quantity of r/s

B. MEDIA AND POLITICS

Media’s impacts - Allowing more opinions and perspectives to be voiced out > informed decisions
on democracy - Ensuring greater separation of powers through checks and balances, allowing voices on
govt from the ground to be surfaced:

- Media as the 4th estate

- E.g. Edward Snowden, Panama Papers, Wikileaks

- Changes nature of interaction between leaders and people: SGeans and the PAP
(through online platforms such as FB):

- Blurring of lines between what is official and personal opinion

- A boon for grassroots activity but also propaganda

- At the same time: Presence of echo chambers and dangers of being increasingly insular
in views

- New media as a threat: Inability to censor modern media:

- Heavy censorship > Rise of the 5th estate (citizen journalism)

- Both good and bad: Citizen journalism on the rise to crack down on
corrupt/undeserving officials (e.g. HK Umbrella Rev against proposed electoral
reforms tantamount to allowing CCP’s pre-screening of eligible candidates, Arab
Spring, etc)

*Jasmine Revolution is a poor e.g. because it was never carried through

C. EDUCATION

New media - Requiring new skill sets as we have more access to info
changing the
needs and - Need for skills to critically sieve through information
availability of - Need to be adaptable to new information
education
- More means for people to collaborate and educate themselves

- Worry for falsehoods + lack of ability to discern them

- Democratization of information – availability of free, quality info (online courses,
 E-learning) > more avenues for poor to have access to education

- Poor countries with limited resources invested in education can download

teaching materials online

D. PRIVACY

Blurring of lines - Online monitoring/surveillance changing relationship between govt and public
between public - Potential of using things in one’s private sphere against them
and private
- Blurring of private/public spheres posing dangers to minors (exposed to social
media at an increasingly young age)
- Minors’ need to better regulate their behaviour
- Increased stress from youths to consistently be on guard

> Fears of data collection by social networking sites: ‘Big Data’

E. ECONOMY

Increased - Impact of advertising + consumerist culture

globalization, - Media as a strong influence on what is bought/popular
proliferation of - Rise of crowd-sourcing + social networking > ramifications on how world works
Westernisation
- Emergence of new industries, more opportunities, wider market reach

- Threat to other industries due to age of social networking

- E.g. Bookshops, hotels
- A new normal where people are more enterprising and circumvent existing
industries through e.g. AirBnB, Uber