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Internet Potential and News Media
The news media are influential in all aspects of the society and in all dimensions of the modern world. Of all the platforms of the news media, the internet is the most influential and the most positioned to be used by people for forming opinion and sharing ideologies. The internet has become the most powerful tool for passing news in a manner that connects all the people in the world. The use of the internet is not only limited on the passing information or mass communication, it extends to the creation of awareness globally. This makes the internet a powerful news media tool, especially in the political arena. According to Horrigan, Garrett and Resnick (1), the internet is largely used for mass communication in a manner that tends to influence the public in masses. This makes the Internet, a news media platform, to be uniquely positioned for influencing the world, especially the political world. This paper seeks to understand the functions of the internet and its potential to be used in ways that are perceived by various authors as abuse for political reasons. The discussion will show that despite the internet being a tool for good functions, it can be used for bad purposes just as argued by Chomsky and Sunstein in regard to news media.
One of the main functions of the internet is globalizing the world into a virtual village of sharing. This gives the internet the potential to use the internet for passing the local news into global news. This presents a potential for use of the internet to shape political ideologies in the entire world. The internet will be used just like any other media, to pass information to the world in a bid to influence certain predetermined opinion. This affects democracy by impacting on the access to viewpoints and influences the views that people get from the media (Sunstein 1). This is done through the control of the new media, by characters whose use of the media makes it worse for the democratic situation (Herman and Chomsky 1).
The internet therefore has a potential of being used to shape the political opinion of the world, more than any other tool of the new media. For instance, the ideology that America is at war is presented through the new media as a unique thing. According to Barstow and Stein (1), President Bush sought to convince the world of the American position in regard to the war using the new media. The use of the internet in this context could have impacted to the whole world and not just Americans. The use of the internet as a media tool would therefore make it easy for governments like the United States influence the world opinion, especially in their favor.
The internet has been used as a news media tool, through the functionality of being able to pass information to the masses. Passing information to the public and on mass impact is the main role of the news media. However, the use of the internet for this purpose is the most significant because information spreads faster and wide on the internet than in the conventional news media like radio and television. According to Horrigan et al (1), the use of the internet increases the number that is reached and passes the message faster. This means that the internet has potential for abuse of the political class as they seek dominance over the people who receive news.
Just like other news media, the internet can be used to pass the predetermined news to influence the public towards a certain direction. According to Barstow and Stein (1), the use of the news media for the presentation of predetermined was observed in the united states during the reign of president bush. Barstow and Stein (1) report that the government of president bush influenced the news that televisions showed to the public. In the same way, the internet has a potential of being used to pass information and news that are preferred to the media by the government of the day. This means that the people will receive what the government determines as the best for the public, despite having a different perspective of the truth.
However, the internet gives an equal platform for the whole world to access the same level of news or information being passed. The use of the internet as a news platform gives the people the access to information despite having a challenge in accessing the traditional media. This is because the conventional media like the television and radio tend to be controlled by the state and more biased. According to Barstow and Stein (1), federal agencies are broadcasters, and influence the news that is broadcast by reporters. However, the internet has a different perspective because they give a platform by posting news and information without excessive control by the state. However, this potentially gives a threat of abuse by posting any information that may not be necessarily be true facts as news.
The main function that makes the internet a full communication platform is the ability to get an instant reaction from the audience. Therefore, the use of the internet as a news tool provides the opportunity to receive opinions from the audience. This creates a platform of people interacting with each other to create an argument or opinion. According to Sunstein (1), democracy thrives better when people consider the different arguments and ideologies that challenge their viewpoints. Using the conventional media, people do not get the chance to interact with the broadcasters and the news makers. The internet gives the platform for sharing the news, the arguments and the opinion, all in one large systemized platform of sharing news globally.
Another major application of the mass communication function of the internet is to create public awareness. One of the main types of awareness that is created by the internet is the political awareness, especially in the active periods of political processes like campaigns and elections. In modern day, the internet contributed significantly to political awareness and different viewpoints (Iyengar and Morin 1). According to the number of Americans receiving political information has been on the increase. To substantiate the argument, Horrigan et al (1) states that over 40% of the internet users received political material during campaigns online. Horrigan et al (1) further argues that this statistic indicates an increase from the previous elections of 2000 when it was 50% less. This shows the potentiality that the internet has in terms of generating opinion, sharing ideas and creating awareness.
The creation of awareness through the internet is not limited to the political opinion or political opinions. Governments can use the internet to create awareness of the state of the nation and challenges facing a country. Since the 9/11 attack on the United States, the government has been spreading valid information that America is at war (Sotag 1). According to Sotag (1), the Bush administration took a campaign to create awareness of the new kind of war that America was fighting against terrorism. Taking this awareness as a model, the internet can be used as a tool of fighting terrorism through the news content that is channeled online. This would be important because the internet provides a platform for mass communication and at the global level.
However, the internet can also be used for the worse in relation to the creation of awareness. Like any other news media, the internet can be used to spread information and content that makes any situation in the world worse. For instance, propaganda can be spread through the internet by not only posting on the negative but also untrue information. According to Herman and Chomsky (1), the people who seek to ensure inequality and dominate in terms of wealth and power use the mass media to spread information that benefits their individual interests. Mostly, the political class is more likely to use the internet for propaganda and untrue information, rather than other people in the society. This creates a concern for the modern society as people seek to advance the internet for sharing news and ideas.
Conclusion
The use of the internet as a news media is based on its function as a communication tool to the public in masses. The internet is a news media that are significantly used to influence the opinion of the public through its mass communication method. One of the main areas that the development of the news media has influenced is politics and the electoral processes. Like any other media, it is vulnerable to bad use, especially by those who seek control of the information and opinion shared locally and globally. This makes the internet a tool whose functionality can be used to make situations worse for the democratic public.
Works Cited
Barstow, David, and Stein, Robin. Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged TV News. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://chronicle.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/article/Exposure-to-Other-Viewpoints/2082#sthash.J6IbpLur.dpuf>
Herman, Edward, and Chomsky, Noam. Manufacturing Consent, A Propaganda Model. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Herman%20/Manufac_Consent_Prop_Model.html>
Horrigan, John., Garrett, Kelly., and Resnick, Paul. The Internet and Democratic Debate. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://www.pewinternet.org/2004/10/27/the-internet-and-democratic-debate>
Iyengar, Shanto., and Morin, Richard. Red Media, Blue Media. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/opinion/real-battles-and-empty-metaphors.html?src=pm>
Sunstein, Cass. Exposure to Other Viewpoints Is Vital to Democracy. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://chronicle.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/article/Exposure-to-Other-Viewpoints/2082#sthash.J6IbpLur.dpuf>
Sotang, Susan. Real Battles and Empty Metaphors. Web, Accessed, June 26, 2015 <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/10/opinion/real-battles-and-empty-metaphors.html?src=pm>