Technology’s Role in Commodification of Not-for-Profit Media

This study explores the role of technology in providing an extended public sphere of participatory democratic discourse. By examining the case of ‘the wire.in,' an Internet-based journalism, the study analyses how technology shapes up and impacts the startup's practices and structures that eschew the advertiser-subsidised, corporate-owned business model of the mainstream media. Empirical data for the study is derived by integrating qualitative analysis of the in-depth interviews conducted by the founders, staff, and contributors of the wire. in and mainstream journalists and a wide assortment of texts related to the startup. The findings show that while technology makes it easier and cost-effective to set up an Internet-based journalism site and distribute content, it does not work as insulation against corporate influence. The wire.in depends on social networking sites, owned by multinational corporations to advertise and distribute content, thereby making itself and its content become a commoditized product on social media. This undermines the startup's democratic potential to provide an extended public sphere.