ABSTRACT
At the same time, the distinction between producers and consumers of the media has become blurred and the way in which we consume media texts more complex.
The combination of the world wide web and the new electronic goods means that many people now have the opportunity to author original pieces of work and almost instantly distribute them to a worldwide audience. It also means that our knowledge of events such as the London bombings of 7 July 2005 are no longer dependent upon switching on the television or radio at 6.00 p.m. to see a news report or waiting for the next day’s newspapers to read about what has happened the day before; rather we can go to websites or 24-hour rolling news television stations and see images (such as Figure i) direct from where the event is taking place and through mobile phones or web-based blogs can hear first-hand accounts of what has happened.
