Defining New Media and Traditional Media

I was sitting reading my blog this morning and thought that while my focus is on the changes that new media has brought about, I really needed to clarify what I consider to be new media, and how this is different to traditional media.

I think that it's important to acknowledge that new media shouldn't be regarded as a complete replacement of older media but more of an addition to and integration with traditional media. It's difficult to clearly distinguish between those mediums we consider 'new' and those we consider 'old', as technologies and, in turn, the media landscape is constantly changing and bringing about new media. Flew (2005, 2) suggests that "new media can also be thought of as digital media". He goes on to outline five key features of information in new media, including that it is:

• Manipulable - the digital format of new media is easy to change, adapt and edit.
• Networkable - digital information can be shared at a global scale.
• Dense - large amounts of information can be stored or transmitted quickly.
• Compressible - information stored on a network can be easily compressed, or decompressed when needed.
• Impartial - networks can share and exchange any kind of information regardless of who created it, what form it takes, or how the information is used.

The digitisation of older, traditional media forms, particularly aided by the Internet, for e.g. online newspapers, has also blurred the line between the classification of what is old and what is new.

This shift and convergence from old to new media also creates a significant shift away from the traditional model of information and towards the network model. The main difference between the traditional model and the network model is the way information is produced. The traditional model is typically characterised by the production of information by established institutions of society. There are clearly defined power structures, and usually forms a top-down hierarchy of information with the majority of information contributed by experts or professionals. The network model, however, which is particularly aided and driven by the widespread popularity of the Internet, is characterised by the production of information by anyone and everyone and is published immediately. Networked social structures and constantly changing alternative sources of information and knowledge are typical of the network model.

References:

Flew, T. (2005). New Media: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Victoria: Oxford University Press.