David Gauntlett

‘New and digital media erodes the boundary between producer and audiences to the extent that it makes little sense to talk about media audiences anymore. We now have media 2.0’ David Gauntlett. He also suggested that web 2.0 allows audiences to become ‘more active’ and ‘more creative’. It allows ‘faster, more collaborative creativity’ and links with our desire to be connected.

It could be argued that because of developments in digital technology, audiences have more choice when it comes to the consumption of media. He focused on the idea of ‘the long tail’ of independent media products – no longer a focus on ‘mass’ products but dealing with the way in which products that are aimed at niche audiences are now very much prominent in the media. There was also a realization that globalisation was an important factor in the analysis of media texts, whilst the internet and digital media have fundamentally changed the ways in which we engaged with all media. Media audiences are seen as 'extremely capable interpreters' of media content with a critical eye and an understanding of production techniques that enables to produce their own texts for consumption.