This document discusses how people access and consume news from different sources in modern times. It notes that younger people often get news from social media apps, while older generations rely more on newspapers and television. While social media makes news more accessible, it can also be unreliable because the stories that appear on feeds are based more on popularity than importance. More traditional news sources like the BBC are generally more reliable because they back up stories with evidence and multiple perspectives. However, social media still allows for a more democratic spread of news and opinions as people can share and discuss stories online.

1. ‘We media’ and Democracy
In presentdaythere are manyways people canconsume the newsfromaroundthe world.The
differentwayswe canconsume newsiseasyfromwhateverage groupyourange from.Teenagersor
youngadultsare nowgettinginformedabout the worldaroundthemtodaybecause of social media
or apps justlike me.Whereasthe oldergenerationwouldreadthe newsfromanewspaperorwatch
the newson the TV.However,itiseasyto agree that the newswe consume ismucheasiertofind
today.For example onmysmartphone I have downloadedthe appBBCnews.Thisappletsme
chose the newsI am interestedinandwill come upstraightawayonmy newsfeed.Howeverthere
are some negativesinthis,becauseeventhoughIam informedwiththe newsIlike,the more
seriousnewswhatcouldbe happeninglike electionsordisastersworldwide mightnotappearonmy
newsfeed,whichtherefore doesn’tkeepme informedabout the more seriousthings. Byusingthe
BBC app I knowthat the sourcesare reliable.This isbecause itisa publicservice andthe newsgiven
to us isalwaysbackedupby an interview orothernewssources.Theyalsouse right-wingandleft-
wingviewswhichsuggestthatithasthe influence of everyone’sinterests. However,Idouse social
mediaappslike FacebookorTwitterwhichalsoinformsme of the news.Twitterismore reliable as
theyhave Twitterpageslinkedtothe BBC or SKY whichgivesme newsstories.The Twitterapplets
youviewwhatistrendingat the time butit couldbe nothingimportantasthe trendingpart only
includeswhatpeopleare tweetingabout.So,thissuggeststhatitisunreliablebecause itisonly
whatpeople are tweeting aboutand itcouldbe nothingimportantlike anew footballer’scontract
extension.Furthermore it’sonlythe interestsof the publicanditdoesn’thave othernewssourcesto
back it up.However,thisissimilartoFacebook,butthe differenceis,onFacebook newsstoriescan
be sharedon the newsfeedfromotherpeople.These are actual newspaperswhatare online what
can be shared,justlike the DailyMail orthe Guardian.These companiesare mostlyunreliableas
theyonlyuse clickbaitto gainviews.Thisisbecause theyare a profitbasedcompanyand the more
viewstheygetthe more moneytheywill make. However,eventhoughthese storiesare mostly
unreliableitisanotherwaypeople are beinginformedaboutthe news,meaningthatmediais
makingiteasyto finda newsstoryor at leastbe informedbysome type of news.Overall,bothsocial
mediawebsitescaninformyouaboutthe newsinsome sort of way,whethertheyare reliable or
not.We can evenfindthe newsfroma friendonsocial media,bythemtweetingorpostingastatus
on Facebooksharingtheirviewsorjustsimplyinformingeveryone.Inthe same wayas bignews
companiesitinformsus,eventhoughitdoesn’thave anyevidence tobackitup,and if we are
interestedinwhattheyhave posted,we will goonthe internetourselvesandendupfindingthe
article aboutit.This showsthatDan Gillmor’sview thatmediaisbecomingmore democraticistrue
because we aren’tbeingtoldbynewsorganisationswhomaybe bias.However,thiscanhave a
negative effect,becauseif someonepostsomethingonline,someone whohasmade afake account
couldcommentonyour statuswitha negative comment,bybeingracistorsexist orsimplytryingto
cause an argumentand getpeople ontheirside.Thiscanleave anegative thoughtof youif people
agree withthe ‘troller’orfake account.So, to some extentitisgoodthatwe can postwhat we like
online aboutthe newsorevenraisingawarenessforsomethingimportant,howeverinsome cases,
people whodon’tagree withyoucanruinyour reputationasa YouTuber or online andcause
massive controversy.
Whenfindingmyownnews,Iuse differentwaysin acquiringit.Forexample Imostlygetmynews
fromthe BBC newsappI have downloadedorinsome cases,Icatch a bitof the 10 O’clocknewson
BBC and watch some of that. AsI know,everyone’snewsdietis differentandwe all are interested
indifferenttypesof news.Forexample Iama bigfan of sport and mostlyreadthe newsonsport.I
have alsodownloadedthe BBCsportapp whichgivesme newsonall the storiesof sportsinsteadof

2. othernews.Iuse thisapp at least3 timesa day,whereasthe BBCnewsapp I usesrarelyandup to
twice a week.However,one issue Iaminterestedinisthe Islamicstate crisis.Thisisbecause it
involves countries aroundthe world.Notonlythat,countriesaroundthe worldare beingtargeted
by these peopleandare causingterror attackswhichI believeishorrible towitnessandhave toput
up withthat.An article whatinterestedme isthatMP’s inthe UK believethatthe crisiscouldpose a
global threat.Ibelieve we needtodeal withthisproblemnow asothernationswhodon’twantto
getinvolvedcouldbe targetedandIsee thisas unfairbecause theyhaven’tdone anythingwrongor
evenjoinedinthe war.Furthermore,the article statesthatif the governmentinIraq doesn’treform
itspolitical andeconomicproblemsitwouldleavespace forotherterroristgroupstospringback and
be replacedbyotherIslamistgroups.So,insome caseswe needtorelyon the governmentof Iraqto
sort itspolitical madnessinordertostopthe IS. However,eventhoughthe UKandothernations
have conductedairbombingsinSyriato hinderthe war,I disagree withthemtosome extent.Thisis
because there are familiesandchildrenlivingthere whoare innocentandhave nothingtodo with
the crisis.Howevertheyare beingtargetedaswell asthe ISand innocentpeoplecouldbe dying.
Eventhoughwe needto stopthem,there couldbe othersolutionsbydoingthis.Thisismy
interpretationof the storyinIS.ThisiswhyDan Gillmor’sviewthatthe mediaisbecome more
democraticbecause peoplecanengage inkeydebateswithissuesaroundthe worldandexpress
theirownopinions.