There is no doubt that the Internet has the upper hand in reporting real-time news. Where print news has to wait a day, and televised news hours, Internet news is reported almost instantaneously and around the clock. It is fair to be questionable of this news, as it is not (for the most part) being reported by professional journalists, or published by major news sources. This news is rather reported by independent journalists and writers who use blogs, youtube videos, etc. to report their stories. What makes this news reputable and different than televised or printed news is the fact that it is not passive, spoon fed news. Writers of blogs, and hosts of youtube news videos often state opinions for the sake of argument with their viewers. One of my favorite online news programs is called The Young Turks, it is a grassroots youtube news show, which airs multiple clips a day.
Viewers are actively involved in news like The Young Turks, which brings me to Neil Postman’s argument in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death. “Medium is the Metaphor” outlined in Postman’s book is a way to say that different mediums cannot support the same content to be perceived same way (Postman, 7). Where TV news is condemned by Postman for being “entertaining,” I like to think that this new wave of Internet news brings in more intelligent and informed discourse where viewers can argue and critique each other in a public sphere (well, public being online; on a youtube comment section, or a blog response for example). Perhaps as Internet news develops it will steer American society away from that of a Huxleyan nation (as predicted by Postman), and more towards an informed, intelligent society, unafraid of challenging mainstream, passive news.
References:
- Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. New York: Penguin, 1985.
- The Young Turks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIV82zmaggs&feature=sub
True words, some truthful words man. Totally made my day!!