Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

Developments in new and digital media have meant that audiences now are able to have a wider reach to opinions and views which can influence their own ideas. this can be an example of Hegemony as the elite institutions still influence a a large amount of the audience with views that sometimes not even in the favour of them. this might be because the audience is too scared to voice their own opinions as they may be against what the elite institutions have to say. This is an example of how elite institutes have psychologically brainwashed the majority of the public.However, new and digital media has allowed individuals to form views that backup pluralism as there are platforms where individuals can voice their own opinions while staying anonymous. Examples of this include the Scottish referendum where both views of hegemony and pluralism where being displayed on the television for everyone to see even though some broadcasters had bias views. 

Also, the extent to which audiences are empowered depends on the website they receive the opinions and views from. For example most of the internet is owned by Google, this can be linked to Poreto's law where 80%is controlled by 20%. This is also a hegemonic theory .An example of was the Scottish referendum in which the BBC was supposedly providing a balanced argument but was leaning towards their own  views for a NO vote. There are pluralistic views that are apparent where on blogposts and articles it is available for users to give their opinions by posting a comment. This can be seen by other users and thus may influence them with their views. this is an example how audiences may encourage other parts of the audience. Also if the comment or post is very popular with a certain opinion it is likely that the institution will see this and can therefore mould there future articles to satisfy the taste of their audience