WHERE I STAND...

This blog has enabled me to actively engage in the future of internet TV, but while I can feel the concept knocking at the door I’m uncertain as to when and how it will happen.

In carrying out our own surveys, interviewing those who know the business inside out, sampling the various internet channels available and talking to pioneers of the idea, I still stand divided on how it’s going to work and who is going to make it work and my main reservations do indeed lie with ethics and regulations.

Firstly there are no universal regulations for any forms of media to adhere to on the internet, and this calls into questions the ethics of the stories being written, even if written in good faith. In the press, television and radio worlds, words are heavily governed by laws protecting those being written about, and yet at the moment the internet remains an untamed wilderness where any form of content can survive.

Secondly I’m unsure whether I like the idea of internet TV. It’s a soul-less form of technology and is creating an even more fickle audience than ever before. There seems to be little or no loyalty to the majority of internet content. People follow what’s in vogue (YouTube), or simply move away if they don’t like what’s being published or think that someone else is managing their content better or at a much quicker pace.

I would also hate to lose the heritage of the local paper, but that’s more of a selfish reason, rather than an objective one. It’s where I had my first real taste of paid journalism - and I’m sure thousands of other journalists would agree with me on this. (Look at my earlier blog entitled West Midlands Pilot for the context of this comment).

Internet TV was such a huge topic to delve in to, and I’m still moving back and forth between supporting the idea and shying away. There are pros and cons in both corners. More jobs for broadcasters would be great, and I’m sure as the audience I would also like to have optimum choice for my viewing, but at the same time, do I want to watch things on the internet? And would I really be satisfied with putting all my faith in an unregulated internet site?

Ultimately despite the pros, cons and angst that previous pilots have caused within the press world, local internet TV is on its way. There will be a media corporation who break down these barriers and create a service which is supported by a large fan basis and respected by them too.

When this is going to happen I remain unsure about, but only then will we really be able to discuss where local internet TV can take the future of media, whether you’re behind the screen, on it or a blurring of the two.