Saturday | 11 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
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Saturday | 11 January 2025 | Epaper
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Will media convergence ensure press freedom?

Published : Monday, 6 January, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1338
Riaz Ullah
Have you seen this daily on YouTube? Have you read some news items on the web portal of this daily? The answer is almost a big "Yes". Let's make it a little bit complex. This daily newspaper  was supposed to do what? It comes with the entitlement of publishing printed newspaper. But now it is no longer confined into only publishing printed newspaper. Rather it is  creating  different types of content in several forms with a view to publishing and disseminating them through multiple channels-video sharing site like YouTube, social media and the web portal.

The exact theme happened to the television and the radio. The audience of the news item is tending to watch them on YouTube, instead of watching television sitting in the drawing room. Interestingly some of our generation Z audience browse social media and video sharing platform sitting in front of televisions.

The radio has also been to this new trend. They provide their live program  in social media and video sharing websites too. Now the question is what has made this revolutionary change in the media industry. The answer lies in one single terminology 'media convergence'.

The term 'media convergence' was introduced by prominent cultural theorist Henry Jenkins  which refers to the historical period when the traditional media, called the old media, and the new media collide. It is the 'critical juncture' when the old media embraced the new trend of technological advancement and adapted with the new form of media.
Now the traditional media are not that traditional. Rather, they have lost their primitive rigid character and blended their role and form with the convergence culture and the new media.

Another major paradigm shift occurred in the age of new media called 'citizen journalism' or 'alternative journalism'. This is the one man-one media theme of journalism facilitated by the technological advancement and the convergence culture. Syed Abdullah's unrevealing the loan default of Rafsan's family and Azhar Anik's work on the  'Matiur's goat scandal' are the latest two instances of citizen journalism. In India where the traditional media are shamelessly being mouthpieces of Narendra Modi, Dhruv Rathee is playing a crucial role as one-man media.



Media Convergence,the rise of the new media, opened up a new dimension of press freedom. Because the power elits have less control over the new form of media.For instance, one doesn't have to go through the strict licensing procedure to open up an youtube channel and facebook page. As the new media is so much decentralized, the ruling class,the government, has less control over the content that are served through new media platforms. The traditional laws those were combating press freedom do not include new media- the youtube, the facebook etc.

On the other hand, the one man media,citizen journalists, do not have that much institutional burden as that of traditional one.They have fear to lose nothing.They can accomplish what the traditional media failed to do.

Therefore, the  problem is journalism is facing a constant challenge with its  freedom. And it is the  prime cause of discomfort for the power elits and the ruling classes. The power always considers the press as a threat. This is why they employ hundreds of mechanisms to seize the press by the throat. For example, when they realized that the traditional laws can't combat freedom of the new media, they formulated new laws. The ICT Act, Digital Security Act and Cyber Security Act were particularly formulated to suppress the new media. But nothing could save the power elite of the fallen regime in Bangladesh. It is an indication that the new media are being difficult for the ruling class to suppress. Especially when every individual with a  smartphone and internet connection is becoming media. We are hoping for the best for the more freedom of press in the era of media convergence, where the ruling class and the power elites are losing control over the new me.

The writer is a student, Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka


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