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06-29-2009, 02:46 AM
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455 posts, read 987,545 times
Reputation: 374
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I am going to try to keep this as general as possible: What do you guys think the effect that new media technologies will have on politics?
We've seen this past month how Twitter/Facebook/YouTube have helped citizens side-step an oppressive government's attempts at censorship in Iran.
Maybe this is an indictment of the state of news media, but such minutiae as Obama eating a cheeseburger is now a major news story.
Essentially, new media is gradually making privacy harder for governments and politicians. How do you think this will shape political discourse in countries around the world?
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06-29-2009, 07:11 AM
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3,554 posts, read 7,545,526 times
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Like most people (I'm guessing here) I see it as a mixed blessing. It's kind of like "freedom of the press" in general. With that freedom you get people who work for "news" organizations who sit on radio and TV and tell a lot of outrageous lies. Those who call them out on their lies are then labeled as "America haters" or "friends of terrorists". And that's just in the US.
American companies are helping the Chinese and Iranian governments limit access by their citizens because they are either (1) out for profit at any price, or (2) out for the greater good by allowing some access.
Any time I despair for the limits that are placed on new media in other countries I take heart in knowing that somewhere, someone is a smart person who is hacking around the government and "yahoo" imposed restrictions. That and I remember that within one year (actually about 6 months) of "Windows" being released, the Berlin wall came down.
golfgod
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06-29-2009, 08:32 AM
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Location: Victoria TX
42,661 posts, read 83,190,824 times
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I find myself split between the "there's nothing new under the sun" camp and the "there's one born every minute" camp.
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06-29-2009, 08:43 AM
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6,735 posts, read 9,018,140 times
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The media war has divided this country like never before. It's pathetic! There is one station in particular that is an absolutely one sided propaganda machine. But I look at most of their programming as political entertainment.
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06-29-2009, 09:11 AM
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Location: Tennessee
37,101 posts, read 38,714,045 times
Reputation: 59342
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickmahorn
I am going to try to keep this as general as possible: What do you guys think the effect that new media technologies will have on politics?
We've seen this past month how Twitter/Facebook/YouTube have helped citizens side-step an oppressive government's attempts at censorship in Iran.
Maybe this is an indictment of the state of news media, but such minutiae as Obama eating a cheeseburger is now a major news story.
Essentially, new media is gradually making privacy harder for governments and politicians. How do you think this will shape political discourse in countries around the world?
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Can you please define "new media technologies" for me? I'm old so I don't want to embarrass myself by talking about something that's already yesterday's news when it comes to technology.  |
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06-29-2009, 10:03 AM
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Location: Portland, Oregon
7,084 posts, read 11,642,360 times
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The best thing about new media is you have everyone posting things that would be a non issue or things that aren't well researched, the worst about about it is anyone can post anything. I don't know why, but there seems to be the thought that blogging/new media is somehow more truthful or more honest because regular people do it...which couldn't be further from the truth in my experience. People still have an agenda, a view, and very rarely check facts...many lie and hurl insults because the controversy generates fame.
It will be interesting as things evolve, but I think there will be bits and pieces that surface because of new media that will make it harder to cover things up. On the whole though it will be ignored without compelling evidence of the stories validity.
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06-29-2009, 10:09 AM
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3,562 posts, read 5,024,805 times
Reputation: 1861
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rickmahorn
I am going to try to keep this as general as possible: What do you guys think the effect that new media technologies will have on politics?
We've seen this past month how Twitter/Facebook/YouTube have helped citizens side-step an oppressive government's attempts at censorship in Iran.
Maybe this is an indictment of the state of news media, but such minutiae as Obama eating a cheeseburger is now a major news story.
Essentially, new media is gradually making privacy harder for governments and politicians. How do you think this will shape political discourse in countries around the world?
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Is it making privacy harder or is it saying, "Nice shiny object over here"? |
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