The “New” Media

One of the questions raised at the UGTV summit last week was whether the term “user” is an adequate label for the independent content creators who proliferate on the web.

And while the question was mostly shrugged off as semantics, it hit on something that is especially relevant of late. There is no such thing as multi-media any more, there’s just media. And user generated content has become an integral part of it.

Every major print media company now creates video and every major video producer creates written content. Independent producers are creating media that competes with both of them, and the distinction between content offerings by media distributors be they print, television or online is becoming less visible.

Ten years ago this was not the case, and content producers have had to adapt to stay relevant. The conversation that is taking place online now is multi directional. The old paradigm of one-to-many broadcast will be dead once IP convergence hits the television screen and individuals can choose to watch public internet content on a large screen.

So whether content is created by amateurs, semi-professional individuals, or what is today known as mainstream media, the content each creates will need to compete with everything else. Soon we will no longer distinguish between the type of content distributed by the New York Times, WNBC, and YouTube. What they offer won’t just be print media, or video journalism, or online video. The playing field will be considerably leveled, the content they offer will be all that sets them apart, and it will all just be media.