While traditional media outlets continue to be the main source for news and entertainment content, the internet has become a secondary, decentralized network for the distribution of a wide variety of content. Key to this explosion in creative output is that the internet allows producers to supplement and bypass (though not necessarily replace) traditional media gatekeepers. Bloggers, podcasters, filmmakers, musicians and a host of other creative artists can get their work directly to the hands of their audiences. Low cost technology means that many more people can create work that can rival the quality of traditional media. This contributes to what Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson has described as “the long tail” theory: selling less (in quantity) of more, diverse, products.

This course will examine the long tail phenomenon and other theories behind media 2.0 and look at cases of actual media 2.0 artists. We will talk directly to people who are producing and distributing their work on the Internet and other alternative channels and explore how these new distribution forms challenge assumptions about how mass media should/does work.