Prosumer Concept and New Media: Effects on the Journalist

The media world today is currently witnessing a paradigm shift, a shift ushered by technological change and radical innovation eliminating the power of monopoly from traditional media outlets. The emergence of the new media has created a change the roles of the media and their stakeholders, to such an extent that the professional journalist no longer possess the sole right of gathering and disseminating information to their audience but the audience now have the ability to do same, with the power the new media have thrown at them. This development has brought the concept of the prosumer to the media industry, a situation where media audience are no longer just receivers but are creators and distributors of media contents. Hence, this study’s focus is on the implication and the effect the activities of the prosumer has on the journalist and the journalism profession. The study was hinged on the Uses and Gratification, Democratic Participant and Libertarian theories. The study concludes that, the advancement in technology and the emergence of digital platforms is reshaping the media industry and the public sphere. The implication and effects of this development are both positive and negative in nature and more are still emerging. However, the opportunity and the potential exists to channel these impacts for the better.