Media's New Frontier

You want to know where the future of media is headed? “Sea to shining sea,” those words describe the eventual expansion of the Western United States. American Progress painted by John Gast in 1872, was the representation of a new frontier that was Destined to be, “Civilized”; Manifest Destiny. Not a term usually associated with media, but it explains the power of an idea.

This is a metaphor for the media and internet convergence of today’s world.

The Angel, centered in the painting, laces the plains with telegraph wires, holding a schoolbook as she leads the settlers in wagons, followed by the, “Iron Horse,” into the new world. The painting is a wonderful symbol of human beings willingness to take risk when there is opportunity.

It was the telegraph lines laid, paving way to telephone and power lines, which soon were followed by fiber obtics cables, and eventually a digital world and communications by means of satellites. Finally, the World Wide Web.

Holding a book signifying education; the heavenly Angel in the famous painting, therefore now signifies information. The book is now a laptop. The internet invented for the purpose of exchanging information, has revolutionized how people share and exchange that information. Globalizing and making the world a smaller place, stories and events can be shared almost instantaneously, and people have access to more information than any other age before it.

Much like the great expansion of the 19th century US, this new frontier will, and already has begun invading, and changing the known world. The culture in which we are part of, has become a marketing driven society. People experience constant bombardment from almost every avenue, radio, T.V., internet, and even on your cell phone. Consumer culture is now available to people from South America to Africa.

The settlers in the painting hold their modern tools; pitchforks, farm equipment, saddled horses, and rifles. Just imagine those settlers with I-phones, Black-berrys, and laptops. Technology and the plight of the internet have blurred the lines in media, and a new world has opened up once again.

Journalist no longer just write stories, and photographers no longer just take photos. A new type of journalist has emerged, called a Multi-Media Journalist, who can do a variety of task. From write the story and take the pictures, to upload photos and even begin to edit video footage.

Just like the pain, struggle, and uncertainty the people who settled the American West faced, so too do the traditional journalist, media affiliates and even economic future face. The country has already begun to see the migration from the typical media practices to the new frontier of sharing information.

In the painting, animals and Native Americans flee from the oncoming settlers. In the new frontier of the digital world, there will be things that will be threatened. Print media, and typical journalism jobs are threatened. In our own city The Rocky Mountain News, a Pulitzer Prize winning, 150 year old publication printed its final edition in February of this year. The Seattle based newspaper, The Post-Intelligencer, also shut down their printing operation this month, although they retained a fourth of their staff to maintain a web-site.

The Train has left the station on the digital revolution. Media convergence is a continuing phenomenon, and everyday there is new information on mergers, and changes in major companies adjusting to the changing world. Technewsworld.com is one of the many sites devoted to showcasing new technologies and is loaded with articles on the converging media.