By definition, assemblage is a collection or gathering of things or people. This could be a gathering in an online community, or a conference in a hall. It is a group of people who amalgamate together because of an agreement, similar interests, disagreement, or debate. Both non-human and human entities can be included in an assemblage, and the fact that they could be inanimate or animate does not disregard the fact that an assemblage exists.
In context, the concept of ‘assemblage’ in is anchored in ‘Actor Network Theory’ (ANT), an ideology that emerged in the mid-1980s. ANT explores collective sociotechnical processes that involves an actor and network that are connected to overcome resistance. Also, ANT looks at how different elements are interconnected through networks to form a coherent whole like authors and editors, though they have different roles and tasks, they both operate under a common goal. Another example could be the citizen journalist and an online news organisation like Crikey. These are two different publishers who have access to sources that one or the other cannot attain, but what links them together are the intentions behind what they publish. Assemblages can contain opposites, or the correct term would be binary oppositions. They are not determined by criteria or confined by a specific idea that shapes the entire assembly. So how does this apply to publishers or publishing? In this blog post, I will be discussing about how social media promotes ‘assemblages’ and how the intended audience responds to networks within these assemblages.
In this week’s readings there was an article from The Guardian titled ‘Guardian editor hits back at paywalls’. This article centered on the notion of ‘pay walls,’ which was described as “a hunch,” for newspaper industries trying different business models. Steve Busfield quoted the Guardian editor-in-chief, Alan Rusbridger, about universal charging for newspaper content on the Internet that would negatively affect how readers engage with news organisations and the industry’s response to the digital revolution.
Rusbridger said “it’s a trend about how people are expressing themselves, about how societies will choose to organise themselves, about a new democracy of ideas and information, about changing notions of authority, about the releasing of individual creativity, about resisting the people who want to close down free speech”.
How are people today expressing themselves? And most importantly how are paywalls going to negatively impact how individuals view content? Lets take Generation Y as an example. I constantly use Twitter to tweet my everyday musings and interact with my friends. Sometimes I would ‘publish’ or retweet quotes which I find inspiring. I also tweet links that are connected to social networking websites such as YouTube, FaceBook, BBC News or Google. What I tweet depends on my mood and the hash tags shown under ‘worldwide trends’. I regard myself as a ‘publisher’ and a ‘citizen journalist’. I publish thoughts, comments and (sometimes) criticise what others have tweeted. By doing this, I have undertaken the role of both an author and an editor. I briefly mentioned in the beginning how these two are separate entities with very different roles, but are connected because of a common goal. My common goal was to vocalise my opinion across a number of platforms to a broad audience. I find Twitter is an efficient and accessible platform to communicate or broadcast comments without being censored or restricted. Although everything on Twitter may not seem relevant or appealing to everyone, FaceBook or YouTube may seem more attractive. Another example is Tumblr. I maintain a blog where I frequently post images I have found on Pinterest and Flickr. I categorise these images under specific titles which make it easier for other users to search for them. Even though I published what was already published, this does not prevent me from wanting to publish it again. To come to think of it, one image I have posted received over 5,000 reblogs, and the rest a few thousand. The reason why the images I have republished are being reblogged by so many users is due to ‘networks’. Tumblr is an assembly filled with people who have an interest in fashion, photo taking, fiction writing or a lifestyle. It is diverse and the people who participate in reblogging certain things are publishers. They republish what is valuable to them and most likely a photo would receive thousands of reblogs or ‘favourites’ if it was relevant to them. If Tumblr released an official ‘app’ in Apple’s app store for a dollar or two, offering the user to apply for a subscription that would allow them to access exclusive content, I would definitely not purchase it. This would apply to news organisations and Rusbridger’s mention of ‘paywalls’. I downloaded the Age and the Herald’s app last year so I would no longer have to visit the newsagent to purchase the newspaper or sift through the website to find particular articles. However, after registering an account on both apps, I previewed advertisements that asked whether I wanted to pay a fee to remove these advertisements and have access to exclusive content. Why would I pay for content which I can receive for free online? There are plenty of top news organisations worldwide that may have reported on the same event who will publish content on a regular basis without asking for a fee from its readers.
Caption: On Twitter I follow over 20 news organisations (such as the Huffington Post, the Daily Beast and Al Jazeera) that tweet links to their articles without requesting a subscription or monetary sum. I also receive these tweets every minute or at an hourly rate. I will insert an image from my newsfeed which displays this below.
To what extent does the economy influence how news organisations function? Does this require societies to reorganise themselves in order to acquire information? Though in 2010, the global financial crisis may be crippling some news organisations, should this be a ‘good enough’ reason to suspend an individual’s right to information? The publisher has an important duty to deliver information concerning the public. By adding paywalls removes society’s right to information. This can be contrasted with the recent media reform bill the Labor Party seeks to enact. How will people freely express themselves or share new ideas?
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use” – Soren Kierkegaard.
Moreover, the MIT Press and Pan Macmillan are publishing corporations that invest in new ideas and content that would interest the public. They use traditional publishing methods by applying strict guidelines for authors to follow, and if they are successful, their content will be published online. How is this an assemblage? Well authors and editors are able to interact online through e-mail to edit work and make agreements. The Internet has empowered individuals to make use of their resources online and through a variety of platforms. Publishing corporations are specific in their guidelines when compared to Fanfiction or blogs where the author can determine what is published. In the guidelines of both publishing corporations there are specific genres they do not accept, for e.g. romance, poetry or children’s picture books. These guidelines dictate what is published and what will be reviewed. The author is expected to send their works at a specific time on a specific day. Unlike blogs, the author does not have a 24-hour time rate to submit their content. You can say that this limits the author from producing creative work and this may deter potential authors from sending their work. Self-doubt is a plague. Nevertheless, majority of individuals have partaken in an assemblage or instigated an assemblage. These assemblages can determine our perceptions and affect our identity. It can shape our reactions and ability to consume content. In the 21st century there are challenges that may hinder what is published. But at the end of the day information is still being shared between individuals across the globe. The economy or natural event will not stop information from being processed or published. It will take removal of the Internet and computers, laptops, tablets and iPads to completely rid a person of publishing content online. There will always be websites like ‘Learning to love you more’ and forums that will encourage sharing and will not deter individuals from making appropriate comments.
Any-Space-Whatever 2013, accessed 24 March 2013,
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