Summary of Media Revolution

The Media Revolution was a documentary about the decline of newspapers in sales and also how some newspapers embraced the digital world. It was known that in 2009 the daily newspapers lost 2.25 Million reader in the past 10 years. Individual it was known the Mirror lost 750,000 readers, the Sun lost 400,000 readers and the Sunday papers have lost 500,00 readers.

This documentary also had information on how advertising effects the newspapers. A lot newspapers are losing many advertisers due to the decline in the numbers of people buying newspapers. To combat the drop in advertisements in newspapers they have raised the cover price on the papers in order to make up for the loss in money from advertisers.

Digital Economy Act

On the 8^th June 2010 the Digital Economy Bill came into force. This is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom regulating digital media and was introduced by Lord Mandelson. This act established a law, which aims to make it much easier to track down and sue persistent users of illegal downloading.

Infringers of this law will receive a letter notifying them of their infringement of the law and will be warned that if they continue this behaviour legal action will be taken. If they are caught again they are given another warning and if they then continue they will receive a final letter and then if they do not stop then their ISP can legally give the rights holder, the owners illegally downloaded item, a copyright infringement list. The rights holder can then approach a judge to gain a court order to identify some or all of the subscribers on the list and then take legal action against the illegal downloader.

This act is made to protect record companies and their bands but there are actually bands and musicians out there who oppose this act. Such people like Kate Nash, who’s career stemmed from free downloads from the website Myspace, and Billy Bragg are opposed to the act as they view the act as self defeatist as how Bill Bragg puts it in an interview with the BBC show Panorama “It’s like going out and taking away every ones music players and complaining that now one is buying and CD’s”.