The Internet has revolutionized just about everything. We communicate, view time, gather information, and even meet people differently because of it. In many ways it has made getting the news more democratic and convenient. Internet news sites are often free and advertising is cheap. People can leave their comments at the end of the article and search the archives to find the topics they want to know about. And access to foreign news sources, like France's Le Monde (one of my favorites), is much easier. And many of these foreign news sites also have English-language versions. In addition to wider access, Internet news has also made print news obsolete in that it is very timely with its ability to be updated at any time during the day.
Discourse, which is encouraged on articles that you can comment on, is central to having a good democracy. People can potentially get more sides to a story by using a variety of online sources. So Internet news must be inherently better than that old-fashioned newspaper, right? Well, nothing is perfect once people get involved. It's just as easy to get one side of a story as it is to get more than one on the Internet because of all the slanted news sources. The immediacy associated with Internet news makes it less credible and less accurate because they rush to update their sites rather than wait until everything is released or confirmed. This all has a negative impact on democracy because they just create a wealth of misinformation.
Not only can the information be detrimental to democracy, but the Internet itself is creating a rift between socio-economic classes. Yes the free online material is very democratic. But the technology needed to get at this material is far from free. Computers and subscriptions to Internet providers are more of an investment than regular print newspapers. This leaves many uninformed.
The newspaper has been important to democracy, and used to be more important in American culture. It was the main way of being an informed citizen. But times are changing. According to USA Today, newspaper circulation worldwide has risen, yet declined in the US. This is nothing to be concerned about. If print news is dying, we need to use the alternative technologies to fill the information gap. This trend only means the end of our democracy, or at least hard times ahead, if people are apathetic to what is happening in the world.
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Katrina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on many of the points that you have made in your post however have qualms with your statement about the creation of misinformation by online news outlets. When you state that “The immediacy associated with Internet news makes it less credible and less accurate because they rush to update their sites rather than wait until everything is released or confirmed” I believe that you are oversimplifying the online reporting process and forgetting some of the basic values a journalist must attain in order to remain trustworthy. I would be my understanding that any credible outlet would and, by the very nature of the medium, should strive for the most accurate and reliable information available at the time.
As Stovall states on page 121, “Achieving accuracy is not just a matter of technique, but a state of mind that the journalist should foster” and this attempt will always be at the locus of journalistic duty. In order for a journalist or news source to remain credible in the public eye they must present only the most reliable and proven material. “Journalists strive for accuracy because they realize that their readers and viewers trust them and expect their reports to be accurate” (Stovall 121). Also, even if the information that online news sources present in their consistently updated reports is somewhat incomplete or patchy in certain areas this does not present a form of misinformation. They are simply presenting for their readers the most pertinent information about a story they posses at the time, incorporating only what is necessary to craft a well-written and informative story.
The journalist and, in effect news source, knows that they have a responsibility to support and reinforce civic culture in our democracy by informing the citizenry about current affairs. In order for individuals to cultivate effective relationships with and within the world in which they live they must understand their ever-changing social environment, which is made up of innumerable interrelated aspects. The democratic citizen must rely on the journalistic media they encounter to serve this purpose. They must rescue their minds from media propaganda and biased information, so in a way reliable journalists and news sources represent a source of strength for the masses from obscurity; like TurboMan (http://www.joblo.com/dvdclinic/images/news/turbo%20man.jpg) consistently says “You can always count on me!”
One love,
Brad Richlen