Web 2.0: Participation or Hegemony?

1) Research the Ian Tomlinson case. What would the traditional, hegemonic view of the police be in a case like this? How did new and digital media create a different story? What does the police officer's subsequent aquittal suggest about the power of new and digital media?

A traditional hegemonic view on the Ian Tomlinson case would be that the upper, ruling classes are using forces such as the police to oppress the lower classes. By doing this they consolidate their position at the top of the social hierarchy as all that challenge them are put down by forces such as the police and are subsequently too scared to voice their contrasting opinions, proven by the factb that the incident took place at  a G20 protest.

New and digital media played a massive role in the case as it was citizen journalism created by someone filming the incident on his phone that made it a headline news story. Had this video evidence not been submitted then the police officer could have easily made an excuse such as he felt threatened and got a way with it. This highlights the power of new and digital media in that it can now expose us to things that could have previously been covered up and unknown, but thanks to new digital media such as smartphones we can record footage and post it online anywhere.

The police officers acquittal however would follow a hegemonic view as the police officer got away without a prison sentence despite the video evidence against him, suggesting that similar ruling classes in the law helped him out because of their determination to keep the ruling classes ruling.

2) What does the author argue regarding whether hegemony is being challenged by Web 2.0? 

The author argues both points of view in terms of web 2.0's relation to hegemony. One one hand web 2.0 and user generated content such as blogs have freed us from the ruling classes as everyone now has a platform on the internet to share and voice their opinions on whatever they choose. With new media we are also able to expose injustices in society such as with the video footage in the Ian Tomlinson case

However despite this the other argument put forward is that despite the many opinions now available to us, many of them are amateurish on the internet. As well as this when people may point out that new celebrities are formed on the internet such as youtube stars, they are limited to fame within this area. They can only become truly famous once brought to people's attention by traditional media and major ruling institutions. 

3) In your opinion, does new and digital media reinforce dominant hegemonic views or give the audience a platform to challenge them?

In my opinion new and digital media has allowed us to challenge traditional hegemonic views as we are now given the ability to openly voice our opinion to the world without being controlled or scared by the ruling classes for doing so. But if we are abused by a ruling class for sharing our opinions, such as the Ian Tomlinson incident at the G20 protest, new and digital emdia has enabled us to expose this meaning it is almost impossible for the ruling classes to control the masses thanks to new media.