The last two decades has seen remarkable technological advancements in the world, including the introduction of web 2.0. This refers to the new social networking, sharing and publishing websites which have turned the internet into a database which anyone can contribute to, and a community that anyone can be a part of.
David Gauntlett argued that the traditional media were not democratic because they had all the power over censorship and could decide what news and content the general population were exposed to. The traditional media Gods (newspapers, broadcasters) now share this power with the general population. Citizen journalism can now be carried out and published in seconds via web 2.0, meaning that no longer does one have to work for a newspaper or broadcaster to find out and spread news to millions of people. This citizen power was portrayed perfectly in Tunisia in 2010 when the government censored protests due to fear that they would be seen and spread and copycat behaviour could take place. However the footage of protests, and the reasons behind it were exposed via video sharing online. Facebook was uncontrolled by the government and many Tunisians used their mobile phones to record the protests and share the recordings and information they had online. This shows another of David Gauntlett's points; that special broadcasting equipment is not needed as it would have been 30 years ago, instead anyone with camera phone and internet connection can share these vital pieces of information of footage. This would suggest that the media is becoming more democratic as there is no longer an elite force of traditional media holding all the cards, it is now just as easy for regular people to share information. It could be argued however that people still do not trust citizen journalists as much as more established sources as they are less reliable; as easy as it is for people to post a story quickly, it is just as easy for them to make one up quickly.
Mozorov agrees that the web can be used as a democratic tool, especially through social networking websites such as Twitter. An example of this is when an injunction taken out by Ryan Giggs was broken by around 70,000 Twitter users, however the law could not punish all these people, therefore they all got away with their 'crime' and the information was let out from the clasp of the courts and higher forces. However one negative point which Mozorov draws from this is that the internet can make it easier for the government to track people and monitor them. An example of this is when police in the UK discovered messages sent via Blackberry Messenger which aimed to instigate riots. Although in this case it was for the greater good, it does not hide the fact that the government can still track our personal messaging and calls (an issue recently brought to light during the News of the World phone hacking scandal).
The idea of censorship can also be applied to the music industry with there being many legal situations surrounding music on YouTube now. Sony are one of a number of companies who often withdraw audio tracks from YouTube videos for fear that people will just use the website to listen to the aforementioned music for free. David Gauntlett's ideas over the democracy of media can be related positively to the modern music industry. As he said in regards to journalism, expensive equipment is no longer needed to create or publish a story; everyday common equipment works just as well. In the modern day, it is easy to rent out a studio to record a song, promote it via YouTube or Myspace, and distribute it online via iTunes and similar websites or companies. This of course improves the democracy of the media as it gives power and control to the people to compete with big label artists, or even get signed by a big label, as stars such as Soulja Boy and Justin Bieber were after their big breaks on Myspace and YouTube respectively.
Overall it does seem that as technology advances and becomes more available to the general public, the opportunity for citizens to contribute to the online database and discussion increases, which would suggest that the media is indeed becoming more democratic, although it is also becoming more controversial and it should be remembered that these technologies can be used in negative ways as well as positive or democratic ways.
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