In our Media 6 tutorial class we were divided into groups to discuss  topics related to media.  The group I was in talked about media as a force of change and how the media landscape is evolving.  Our group recognised a number of factors regarding the continual change in media, which included:

• Social Media
• Government legislation
• Campaigning
• Media diversity
• Multiple platform communications
• 24 hour coverage and access
• Decline of traditional media
• Monetising the media industry

We all had a general consensus that the media is currently in a form of transition and that society is changing their behaviour on how they access material like news and entertainment.  We also discussed circumstances where new media created political change like the recent Arab Spring uprise.  Ethics was also a talking point when referring to the rise of social media.  There was a precedent set recently when a man was recently charged for posting offensive comments on Facebook.  He was posting racially abusive messages to recently retired Senator Nova Peris.  A petition was signed by over 7000 Facebook users for the police to investigate the posts.  Now under Australian law Facebook users can be held accountable and charged if their comments are deemed to be discriminative, threatening or racially abusive.

The abusive post Senator Nova Peris made public.