Week 1 Journal entry

The new semester for MA Media and Broadcast Production could not have a more exciting beginning. For someone handling the Interactive Media module, Dr John D'arcy definitely knows how to keep us engaged and proactive in the class. From the traditional Television and radio news outputs, this course is definitely diverse and something new and 'avantgarde' to keep us excited all throughout the semester. The initial week started with a brief introduction to the new media and how it fosters interactivity and engagement which is definitely futuristic. Interactive media varies from simple interactive Youtube videos to sound maps and virtual reality and computer simulations which can literally transport the user to another non-existent virtual dimension. The scary, dystopian virtual worlds from film and television are not so far from the future anymore. The future is already here.

To further understand the concept of new media, I referred to New Media and New

Technologies(Lister, Martin et. al 2009) It is apparent that 'New Media' is impossible to define. not because it's diverse. multidimensional aspects, but also due to the fact that it is constantly evolving. It is a complex phenomenon comprising a quick-moving array of technology experiments and additionally there is a complicated array of interconnections between the new technological possibilities and traditional media formats. According to New Media and New Technologies (Lister, Martin et. al 2009) New media can be considered 'epochal', being a part of wider historical phenomenon; either as a cause or effect. Also. it can be the result of an 'ideological change' a creation of something revolutionary and superior than its predecessors.

To further analyse the concept Lister and Martin breaks down 'New Media' into its constituent parts. New media can comprise the new textual experiences, new and fresher ways of constructing a reality such as computer simulation games and special effects in films. New media also introduces diverse ways of representing the world , the reality in which we live such as 3d visualisations of a war, a painting etc. It creates possibilities and breaks boundaries for the human kind to experience the impossible It radically changes the way in which the user interacts with the media and receives texts as well as the meanings incorporated in the texts. New Media has the ability to alter the relationship between the user; the human to their experiences with their reality as well as the ttechnological medias , even blurring the boundaries between what is real and what is artificial.

One of the most primary qualities of New Media is interactivity. When compared to older media which offer passive consumption, new media offer 'interactivity'. The consumer gets a greater sense of engagement with the media he is consuming , wider choices and the ability to actively understand, analyse. criticise as well as reject the information he finds. Traditional theories of how meaning is created between readers and texts presupposed that the text would have been stable but that interpretation would be variable. This text's traditional stability has changed under the influence of interaction and new media has certainly revolutionised interactive text. The interactive text have suggested the need to think about the user as a powerful component apart from the traditional sender-receiver relationship.

To sum up, 'New Media' has certainly revolutionised the way in which man communicates with another and has allowed greater freedom and greater possibilities for extracting knowledge. For further classes I hope to get more theoretical as well as practical insights of the interactive media.