TV in a postmodern world
Terry Heaton writes about the future of TV and the apparent challenges it faces and the opportunities for the medium. With some official looking graphics he goes into what he says would be the unbundling of traditional TV. Making the content selectable taking apart for example a TV News Show into Sports, Weather, International New, Local News and posting each one to the web and by generating a income with some advanced programming that goes into a specific topic (like a transmission of a whole sports game in full length or an indepth documentary). I would like to challenge his view - or add to it - by saying why do we need huge mega media corporations to do this? Isnīt a fan of a specific sports event more capable to deliver the news on his video blog? Or an independent journalist more respectable researching a specific topic for a documentary. Wouldnīt a giant news database that would collect news semi automatically (ala google news) from local sources be a better more accurate more balanced Reuters? I just canīt give up hope that the future of any information lies in the hands of smaller operating units rather then multimega corporations as it would deliver a more close to life accounts of the world around us. The ongoing dialog that everyone is talking about would deepen and therefore things would get multiple perspectives. Also it would be harder for politicians to control or manipulate media as its been done so regularly. So in the end its not only the unbundling of specific broadcast - that might be a short term measure for the massmedia to stay alive a little while longer - its about an total splinter of communication and information down to each and every individual (with web access). The very absolutely best example that is already happening now is the Bagdhad Burning Blog by Riverbend - a Iraqi girl blogging from inside Bagdhad for as long as the war is going on and giving a very accurate account of the feelings and happenings from a very individual perspective that rivals every news about Iraq at the moment. Reading her entries gives you much more insights into the every day problems piling up in Bagdhad and the nonesense some of the massmedia is telling the educated western world. Now not with video yet - as video blogs are still harder to make - but I guess the theory is that all todays massmedia will be "hard hit" with personal perspectives of individual reporters - TV, Text or Radio.