Emerging Categories of Media Institutions

New media challenges current ontological taxonomies of media institutions. A question, therefore, arises concerning critical media analysis, namely how do ontological differences between types of media institutions affect matters of power and responsibility. Whenever there is a visible change in media technology and media practices, there is a debate about the presumed negative—and positive—effects on society of that change. Generally speaking, there are two opposing attitudes. Radical commentators claim that society will change fundamentally due to the media development. Moderate commentators hold that such developments actually only enhance or augment existing practices, which means that good or bad tendencies in media use are the same as before. What is clear is that as (or if) media landscapes change strongly in favor of emerging media at the expense of traditional mass media, their political power will be decreased.