Analyzing Technical Characteristics of Internet-Based Convergent Media and Regulation Determinant

The purpose of this study is to suggest a regulation determinant applicable for Internetbased convergent media. The adaptation of Internet in the media industry has dismissed the role of scarcity and pervasiveness which used to justify regulating media. A basic question is how technical feature of convergent media affects diversity, one of the essential goals of media regulation. The Structuration theory suggests that media technology doesn’t change the level of diversity directly, but it changes participant’s actions, consequently affecting the level of diversity in a society. Broadcaster as a gatekeeper has a strong incentive to have more power in screening and provisioning information in the process of delivering information to users whereas information owner and user also do so for their sakes. Diversity is promoted when information flows from its origins to final uses without constraints. Considering that the degrees of broadcaster’s control of information flow are varied depending on architecture of convergent media and it affects the level of diversity it, the study concludes that the level of control over information flow by broadcaster can serve as a regulation determinant of upcoming convergent media. The study is the first to extend structuration theory to the media regulation study and is expected to make a practical contribution as it proposes a unified concept as a guiding rule for convergent media regulation.