Mediatization of the Net and Internetization of the Mass Media

Abstract

To measure the impact of the internet on the traditional media, researchers usually begin by considering their presence and use online. The hypothesis of this article is that the most crucial measure of the impact of the internet on the classic media does not depend on the more-or-less forced invasion of the internet by the press, radio and television, but is to be sought in other processes. More exactly, it is to be found in the mediatization of the net, both fixed (computer/internet) and mobile (internet/mobile phone), and in the ‘internetization’ of the classic mass media. These two processes at the same time enable one to measure the impact of traditional media on the internet, making it possible to trace the succession of thrusts and counter-thrusts, modifications and reciprocal incursions, for which the traditional means of communication and the internet have been responsible.