NDM forces audiences into ghettoes; they experience nothing new and stick to whattheyalreadyknow

Intro:

Audience fragmentation is a feature of the modern media landscape. We live in a global village, to use Marshall McLuhans prophetic words, a mediasaturated world. NDM means increased choice, convergence and easier access. But the question is whether audiences are being forced to stick to what they know, to be conformist and unadventurous in their media choices. In this answer I will focus mainlyoncinemaandchangesinfilmproduction,distributionandexhibitionandI will consider to what extent audiences habits have changed. I will also use other areasofmediastosupportmyarguments
SecAagainsttheargumentofthetitleaboutnichemedia&nicheaudiences

Modern audiences are not necessarily fragmented. Adorno believed that the cultural industries merely provided a lowest common form of entertainment to please the masses, making audiences passive and conformist and thus making it easierforgovernmentsandinstitutionstomanipulatethemintoastateofpassive unthinking acceptance. The question assumes that traditional media meant that audienceswerealwaysamass,homogonousuniformgroupwhichhasnowbecome fragmentedandsegmented. Cinemahasprovidedaudienceswithavarietyofgenres.Themostsuccessfulfilms tendnowadaystobehybridgenrefilmstoprovidesomethingforeveryone,inorder toreachawiderdemographic.FilmslikeSlumdogMillionaire(Boyle,2009)isnota nicheorghettofilm.Itattractedworldwideaudiencesof70million.Thesuccessofa genreistherepetitionandvariationofitscodesandconventions,itsrepertoireof elements.Avatar3D,Titanic,ToyStory3andevenMamaMiaareamongthe most successful films of all time. Globalisation plays a part in the mass audience phenomenon. Film production, distribution and exhibition are still in the hands of large studios such as Warner Brothers who can inject millions into marketing and production in order to attract huge global audiences. Avatar cost over 70 million dollarstomake. Whilst globalisation can be seen by cynics as a way of exporting US values to the restoftheworld(aformofculturalimperialism)itisclearthatthisisaratherbleak view. The crosscultural aspects of modern cinema industry are important too. Slumdog Millionaire shows that a partly subtitled film can become highly successful. The recent success of The Artist, a modern homage to silent movies, shows how a film can still have a global appeal. Even relatively low budget, low conceptfilmssuchasTheKingsSpeechcanalsoachievebudgetsuccess.Boxoffice profits are also no longer the only way to measure how well a film does. DVD release,plusnewmediaplatformsdownloading(legalandillegal)andondemand services also help the success of a film. So niche audiences are not necessarily a creationofNDM. High concept, big budget films will do well if they provide what audiences want. New forms of distribution and exhibition help create mass markets for films. Viral marketingandsocialnetworkingalsohelpstocreateabuzzforfilms.Filmsprovide escape, this is true whether they are primarily Dystopian (The Road, Children of Men),orUtopian(MamaMia,Avatar,ToyStory).

 Blumler and Katzs Uses and Gratifications Model of audience reception confirms thataudienceswillactivelyengagewithmediainordertomeettheirneeds.Itcould be argued that the need for reassurance and escapist entertainment becomes greater as the more dangerous the world becomes. Gerbners ideas on TV consumption and Mean World Syndrome are only valid up to a point. Post 911 neurosisgeneratesaneedforentertainmentandescapistdrama.Thiswouldexplain themassappealoffilmslikeToyStoryandtheHarryPotterfranchise.Theirnarrative preoccupationonbinaryoppositesofgoodandevilultimatelyresolvesitselfinthe victoryofgoodoverevil.Thedaysofmassaudienceterrorattheradiobroadcast oftheWaroftheWorldsintheUSin1939maybeover,butthisdoesnotmeanthat massaudiencesnolongerexist.Thecollectiveexperienceofcinemaisstillvaluable. Inaddition,NewMediahaveprovidedanalternativetothecollectiveexperiencein theformofgeneratingacollectivebuzzaroundanewmovierelease.NeoMarxists suchasGramsci,plusmanyculturalobservers,wouldstillregardmodernaudiences aslargelyconformist,uniformandeasilyled.Theonlywaythatmediainstitutions suchasNewsCorporation,andWarnercansurviveistorelyonmassaudiences.If there is no mass audience out there, the challenge for media conglomerates is to createthem.HighconceptfilmsandbigHollywoodstudiosdothiseffectively.
SecBinfavourofniche,isolatedmediapockets

Ontheotherhand,itistruetosaythatNDMarecontributingtothefragmentingof audiences,bothinthewaywephysicallyengagewithnewmediaandinthewaywe choosemediainthefirstplace.Howeverthisisnotnecessarilyanegative.Filmsare increasinglybeingwatchedonplatformsotherthantraditionalcinemas.YouTube andVimeoprovideamarketforshortfilms,bothprofessionalandusergenerated. AfeatureofPostmodernmediaisthebreakingdownofbarriersbetweendifferent platforms,genresandhighandlowculturalforms.Theeraoftheblockbusterfilm maybecomingtoanendwithviraltextsandshortclipsgainingpopularity.Inthis wayaudiencescanbesaidtobebreakingupintonicheareasandonlyengagingwith familiarmedia.ViralsuccessessuchastheComparetheMeerkatscampaignshow the role played by niche audiences but even niche audiences can become mass audienceswhenviewedglobally.Y&Cs4Csaudiencesegmentationmodelrelieson thisforidentifyingglobalaudiencetypes. Newmediacanprovideavitalplatformforlowbudgetfilms(KenLoachandMike Leigh).Itcanbeashowcasefornewtalent,studentfilmmakersandevenunknown usergenerated content. Social media is producing social filmmaking which means that a film that that taps into the popular mood (Zeitgeist) can easily reach a worldwide online audience. Traditional gatekeeping and two step flow models break down as new forms of film distribution and exhibition take over. Audience powermeansanewpluralismintermsofmediacontent,breakingawayfromthe hegemonic stranglehold of the media industry and, in some cases, state control. This democratization process is helpful in giving more choice to audiences and allowing untapped talent to find markets. The challenge is to monetize these successes. Quality is recognised by audiences but transforming this into financial successremainsthechallenge.Atthemomentmediacontrol,evenofnicheNDM outlets, is still in the hands of the media monopolies and revenue comes from advertisingratherthanflowingintothehandsofcreativetalent.

 Conclusion In conclusion, the statement in the title is true to an extent but mass audiences cannotbedismissed,asthetasteforthecollectiveliveviewingexperienceremains strong.Inaddition,fragmentednicheaudiencescanalsobegoodjudgesofquality. Audiencesarenotpassive,butasBlumlerandKatzamongothershaveshown,they make active choices in their media consumption for many different and positive reasons.NDMarenotathreatbutachallenge,andanopportunity.