Mainstream News Media in the Online Era: A Critical Analysis

This essay critically analyzes the relevance of mainstream news media in the online era, addressing the core question of its continued importance in the face of social media's rise. The paper begins by defining mainstream media and its traditional formats, such as newspapers, television, and radio, then explores how these media outlets have adapted to the digital landscape. It examines the role of mainstream media on the Internet, considering its strengths, such as credibility and in-depth analysis, while also acknowledging its limitations compared to the immediacy and interactivity of social media. The essay draws on course concepts to compare and contrast the characteristics of mainstream and social media, including their approaches to news delivery, audience engagement, and advertising. Ultimately, the essay concludes that while mainstream media faces challenges in the digital age, its ability to provide credible, in-depth news continues to hold significance, but adapting to the changing media landscape is crucial for its continued relevance.

Running head: RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
Mainstream media can be considered as the abbreviation for collectively referring to
various mass news media, which aims at influencing people by both reflecting and shaping
thoughts of people (Harcup and Deirdre). The terminology of mainstream media is utilized
for describing the large forms of news conglomerates such as broadcast media and
newspapers. The utilization of mainstream media can be utilized in terms of public discourse.
Mainstream media encircles print media, radio, and television in projecting the conglomerate
version of news and facts. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the questionable
relevance of mainstream media in the new age of the online era.
Mainstream media are the forms of media, especially the traditional forms of media
rather than the Internet, which influences a large range of individuals and usually portrays
accepted opinions and beliefs. Mainstream media news is mostly concentrated on the news,
which is focussed more on news rather than presenting opinions (Joye, Heinrich, and
Wöhlert). The news constituted in the mainstream media currently is mostly dependent on the
social media news for a diverse range of content and opinions from different communities.
Mainstream media has established itself by involving a range of media platforms and due to
the major command of the viewership, the role of mainstream media in attracting advertising
dollars is very significant (Elejalde, Ferres, and Eelco). Mainstream media news attains the
opportunity for reaching a large audience and ultimately helping with the advertising goals.
Traditionally, it is believed that families spent most of their time at home watching television
and reading newspapers.
However, advertising or projecting news through the application of mainstream media
channels can cause various constraints in regards to stimulating opinions, channeling tailor-
made messages and projecting immediacy. The effectiveness of mainstream media depends
on the appeal it can associate with the audience with the array of services and products and
news being demonstrated by the dominance of the traditional channel.

2RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
Yes, mainstream media is mostly concentrated on the traditional formats of media,
which certainly restricts its reach and features with the current consumer expectations. The
limitation of mainstream news media due to the concentration of its focus on traditional
media include the lack of target approach for the chosen audience group and the platform
enabling two-end conversations. However, the efficiency of any media news form,
mainstream media news or alternate media news, which is dependent on the social media
platform, is based on various factors and nature of the content (Chung). Mainstream media
news utilizes the traditional channels that seek to earn money by relating or projecting
content to a large group of consumers, whereas the application of alternative media allows
the businesses to target a specific viewpoint (Klaehn, et al.). Mainstream media news restricts
the publishing of smaller business corporations or start-ups. Although, the gaps in
mainstream media's efficiency do not deny the credibility of the mainstream media news as it
is considered more reliable in comparison to the alternative media.
The role of mainstream news media in the age of the Internet is to derive and project news
with full credibility, authenticity, and professionalism. Despite a vast array of information
available in the media with the increasing popularity of social media platforms, but in this
case, mainstream news media ensures in-depth analysis and review of a fact or event, which
may consume time but will be backed by sufficient proofs. Mainstream media can create its
stand on the Internet by ensuring two-way communication but maintaining the digital look
and feel of a newspaper or television news for maintaining familiarity and authenticity.
Although, mainstream news has established its credibility and reach in the globe with
the increasing familiarity with traditional media. However, with the increasing benefits and
applicability of social media platforms and news, the efficiency or advantageous factors
associated with mainstream news media is decreasing. Social media news and platform can
engrave conversations, where mutual interaction is enabled with the target audience. There
are several barriers in context with social media news such as clutter and lack of credibility

3RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
but similar to the mainstream media news, the social media is not focussed only on the one-
sided approach. Social media news allows immediacy, which is crucial for reporting
information or data quicker than the mainstream media news with the flexibility of posting or
viewing the news over a range of technological devices (Bhagat and James). The messages
and news content in the social media platforms allows the opportunity of tailoring which can
be accurately viewed or targeted to a specific group of audience.
Therefore, it can be concluded by the paper than mainstream media news is losing its
relevance in the presence of social media. However, altering the nature and preference of
media can influence its growth significantly and elevate its relevance.
References:

4RELEVANCE OF MAINSTREAM NEWS MEDIA IN ONLINE ERA
Bhagat, Sarbottam, and James Parrish. "Examining the Role of Information Quality,
Relevance, Expertise in News Sharing on Social Media." (2018).
Chung, Myojung. "Not just numbers: The role of social media metrics in online news
evaluations." Computers in Human Behavior 75 (2017): 949-957.
Elejalde, Erick, Leo Ferres, and Eelco Herder. "On the nature of real and perceived bias in
the mainstream media." PloS one13.3 (2018).
Harcup, Tony, and Deirdre O’neill. "What is news? News values revisited
(again)." Journalism studies 18.12 (2017): 1470-1488.
Joye, Stijn, Ansgard Heinrich, and Romy Wöhlert. "50 years of Galtung and Ruge:
Reflections on their model of news values and its relevance for the study of journalism and
communication today." CM: Communication and Media 11.36 (2016): 5-28.
Klaehn, Jeffery, et al. "Media theory, public relevance and the propaganda model
today." Media Theory 2.2 (2018): 164-191.