AQA Media Studies for A Level: Revision Guide

117 8 Media industries Corporate media will often have large budgets and an infrastructure that supports production, distribution and circulation, whereas independent companies will be working with smaller budgets and have limited access to distribution platforms. Independent companies may not be able to afford to use cutting-edge technologies and are unlikely to have the business connections that allow them to access global markets in the same way that corporate media can. However, the development of affordable and accessible digital technologies and communication methods means that small production companies and even individuals have more access to methods of production and distribution than ever before. Platforms such as YouTube and Instagram have enabled a new type of media ‘company’ to develop – often centred on an (apparently) individual media producer. Vloggers such as PewDiePie or Zoella began as individuals who made use of production technology that had become more accessible and affordable. They both created amateur videos and took advantage of the developments in wi- and uploaded their work to the video-sharing platform YouTube. At the start of their careers, neither vlogger had access to the same technology as the bigger conglomerates, but they were able to nd an audience of young people who were moving online to nd their entertainment. These individuals disrupted the idea of media production being something that only large companies did and, as they have become more successful, they have developed into small media companies themselves, using management companies to help build a brand and increase the circulation of their products. They have diversi ed, providing other products for their audiences to buy, and have increasingly used more professional technologies to produce their work – even if their distribution via social media remains ‘amateur’. There are many examples of bloggers and Instagrammers who have also made this transition from amateur to professional in the way they produce and circulate their media products from their own media companies. Digital technology has altered the way audiences behave and changed the way they access media products. For example, print products are no longer as popular as they once were, so traditional media producers need to diversify if they are to survive. Newspapers reach more readers online than via the printed form and this means that newspaper producers have had to consider different audience needs in the way they present their content. The British newspaper, the Independent , no longer publishes a printed newspaper and provides all its content online. In recent years, magazine titles have also moved away from print, including Teen Vogue , offering only a few special print editions or moving to a totally online form of distribution. The Independent , since 2017, produces all its content online.