Jian Gomeshi loves music and hosts Q on CBC Radio. He even manages Lights. When he's not doing any of this, he's apparently making documentaries about the death of print, radio and TV. In their stead? The Internet! Scary!
Actually, he shows a lot of bloggers and cool Internet folks using the 'net to make money and careers for themselves. They argue that traditional information distributors, like TV, are outdated and "shaking in their boots." The blogosphere has the ability to call out traditional journalists, they tell us, and right the wrongs of so many years of slanted mainstream media.
On the other side, some argue that mainstream media is a central component of media these days and that independent or amateur media are more like leeches than killers — annoying sucklers that can be burned away if need be.
The reality is more middle of the road. What the End tries to do is show us how mainstream media and non-traditional media have to interact. As mainstream media continues to dip their toe in non-traditional media realms — like hosting their own blogs, making their own wikis, or building their own social networks — the effectiveness and exclusiveness of social and online media will continue to fall.
Behind all of these interactions are business people with capitalism in one hand and a hatchet in the other. Moving online is perfectly profitable, and increasingly moreso. What's more important is how the consumer culture is changing. People are more atomized and individualized. Give me the definition, not the dictionary; give me the article, not the newspaper.
The multifaceted nature of online media is more adept at tackling the depth and scope of real news and can integrate new media over time. Historically, traditional media are slow to integrate new media into the fold, but after so many years they can slowly catch up, build momentum and fully integrate into the new media world.
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