British New Media

Graham Meikle

The production, distribution, and reception of news in Britain are all changing as digital media provide new possibilities for producers and consumers alike. The key trend is toward convergence of media content, computing, and telecommunications sectors. According to the UK government Office of Communications, as of August 2008, broadband was available to more than half of all British households, with a rapid increase in mobile broadband use; 87 percent of homes had digital television; and the number of active cell phone accounts exceeded the country's population. The increasing ubiquity of such platforms means that news is increasingly accessed on computers and mobile devices, creating opportunities for new kinds of news organizations, original approaches to circulating content, and new forms of audience participation. However, undergirding these significant transformations are two distinctive and continuing characteristics of news in Britain: the dominance of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in broadcasting and the highly ...

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