The Former Audience - Response

While I agree with Jamie about there not being a complete shift in power from the old media to the “audience,” I believe the most important thing is that there is potential for a shift. The “audience,” or more accurately, the “public,” now has the tools and power to create a major shift in the industry of media. While there will always be people with more money and more pull, they can’t shut us out for much longer. With more talk about government subsidies, the marketplace might be forced to loosen its stranglehold on journalism and the media as a whole.

I disagree with the statement “with more speakers there will be fewer listeners.” Just because someone wants to join the conversation and have a voice doesn’t mean he won’t listen to other voices anymore. True, some speakers tend to be or become rather one-sided, but most speakers are the most active of listeners. And in order to continue having things to say, the speakers must keep up with what other people are saying. While it is nice having people who’ll sit back and listen to what you say and not argue with you, wouldn’t it be in our best interest to have everyone with a great idea speak up? One interesting idea I found was that there can be fluidity between the audience and the author.

I applaud the “public” for finding a way to get their voices heard and their great ideas on the floor. Traditional media already has one foot out the door thanks to bloggers and the infiltration of proud speakers in the public into the media. With more speakers, innovations, and active listeners (or “eyeballs,” which really just gives me a weird mental picture), we can expect to have a shift from old media to power being placed in the audience. To answer one of Jamie’s questions, I definitely believe that media is headed in the right direction. Power in the hands of the people is infinitely more valuable than power in the hands of corporations.