Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

Web 2.0 (as defined by Tim O’Reilly in 2005) is essentially a medium that allows audiences to become producers of media texts. Anyone with a web connection can create and publish text (UGC) it has reduced the duty of gatekeeper, if not removed them completely. There are huge amounts of views and values available on the internet through "web-based software such as blogs". This is supportive of pluralism, which is a society of competing groups and interests, none of them predominant. 

The internet has increased pluralism; it has provided the people with a platform to voice their opinions. Another advantage of new and digital media is that it “interprets censorship as damage and routes around it”(John Gilmore) therefore, it allows pluralism to flourish .The views and ideologies of political leaders and governments can now be challenged through the internet, by the internet. As Al Gore called the internet “Exciting and revolutionary” and went further to say it has had a “more profound impact than the printing press.”  Since 1991, from when the first website went online, ¼ of the world is now online and this number is expanding.  As Tim Bernes Lee said ‘let the people be free’ and this is exactly what the internet has provided, freedom. Many everyday things can now be done online for example banking (97% of bank transactions are done online in Estonia). New and digital media has provided the globe with a “New World Currency.” The web collapses distances.

UCG has become a significant part of the internet as it allows people to create their own media products. Audiences are able to produce media texts, but one view on this is that they are only able to imitate and replicate media texts of traditional media.This empowers the audience as it gives them a sense of freedom to upload what they want, whether it is trivial or with a specific meaning/message behind it. This also allows them and gives them a chance to challenge and rival the traditional media creators which gives the audience a sense of empowerment. Furthermore, cases such as the Ian Tomlinson case in 2009 have allowed audiences the chance to challenge authority. This case showed the benefits of UGC as brought to light an issue that was underlying and rarely spoken about.