Audience as Producers

Rosen’s assertions that we, everyday folks, can now take control of the production of media content and are no longer merely consumers beholden to professional “media people,” is an assertion that I agree with because there is proof of consumers taking control of media content everyday. Going by the definition of media on dictionary.com, media is “the means of mass communication,” the internet is an inexpensive tool that an be used for mass communication just like the TV and the radio without the high startup cost.
An example of how consumers take control of media content is fansubs where people translate the movies and shows that they like into a different language so other users around the world can understand and appreciate it. Most fan subbing is done for free and does require a lot of time and effort to complete. The site viki is built on people subbing in various languages, English being the most dominant. How it works is that someone uploads a video that he/she wanted subbed and the uploader goes to look for segmenters (people who make cuts/pinpoint the parts where people start and stop talking) and subbers (people who know the language and are willing to sub). The speed of the project depends on the commitment of the segmenters and subbers. The beauty of this dynamic is that people who don’t know the language can also help out by being segmenters because it doesn’t require them to know the language. I believe that fansubbing is just a small part of how consumers can participate in media production and more and more as new platforms are developed, more people are trying to participate because ate given the opportunity to.