What is the media industry?

Examples of media organisations include:

• BBC
• Disney
• News Corp
• Nintendo
• Marvel
• The Guardian

Media texts can be used to inform, entertain, or promote ideas or products.

Audiences can consume media texts in many different formats on a range of platforms

‘Traditional media’ or ‘old media’ are the names given to the industries that existed before the internet:

• radio
• print
• television
• magazine and comics
• music
• computer games
• newspapers
• film
• advertisements

There are also emerging formats and platforms for media texts that have developed since the rise of the internet. They are called ‘new media’ and include:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Vlogs
• Online games
• Podcasts
• Apps

New media is on-demand content accessed via the internet through digital devices, such as personal computers and smartphones.

New media texts can involve interactive elements such as audience engagement and feedback.

Technological advancement has allowed previously separate media industries to develop media convergence.

Media convergence lets audiences use one platform to consume various types of media texts.

For example, on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop you can listen to the radio or download music, surf the internet, watch videos, read newspapers and magazines, and participate in social media.

Popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are drivers of media convergence as they allow audiences to post links to a variety of media texts that they want to share.