The New Media and the Old: The Press, Broadcasting and the Internet

Abstract

THE first year of the new century witnessed some important changes in the media environment. These included an intensification of competition among the ‘old’ media of newspapers and broadcasters, a consolidation of ownership, and continuing technological diversification. All have important implications for the dissemination of news, the shaping of public opinion and agenda-setting, political literacy, and the future of public service/broadcasting. One of the most significant changes was the growth of the internet. In the early part of the year Britain was gripped by dot-com fever as investors rushed to buy shares in the new internet firms. The founders of firms like Lastminute.com became overnight millionaires. The publicity that accompanied these share flotations led to an explosion of public interest in the internet. For the first time, new words such as dot-com and the prefix ‘e’ in front of words like commerce became commonplace in news reports. The number of households with an internet connection doubled. The year also saw continued competition between the established media outlets and more consolidation between media corporations. The tabloid press took further measures aimed at halting the long-term decline in circulation. The main broadcasters engaged in increasingly aggressive attempts to maximise viewers, with ITV outbidding the BBC for the rights to screen highlights of Premiership football, and both rescheduling their evening news bulletins to 10 pm. Both the press and the broadcasters diversified into the internet and e-commerce. The year saw new technologies provide the government with a financial windfall. In April, it gained £22 billion from telecommunications companies through an auction of radio spectrums for the next generation mobile phones. It was also keen to be seen to embrace the internet, pledging to improve access amongst the poorer sections of society and to provide government services over the internet. However, these promises sat uncomfortably with actual levels of investment so far and with legislation giving the green light to eavesdropping on e-mails. The government looked to update existing broadcasting regulation publishing a White Paper on future regulation. In the world of political journalism, the year saw new faces in top broadcasting posts and the death of one of its pioneers. Both the BBC and ITN appointed new political editors. ITN’s Michael Brunson retired to be replaced by BBC Chief Political Correspondent, John Sergeant. At