I’m reading Thomas Freeman’s book, “The World is Flat”, and in the book Freeman points out dates and events that have changed the world. As a political junkie, as I read the book, I realized that one of his dates was also the start of a whole new style of politics in America, the date was 8/9/95.This was the date when Netscape went public.
Netscape was the browser that opened the Internet to the general public. Netscape allowed you to surf the Internet, send and receive emails, and send files and pictures over the Internet. Once the Internet was opened to the public, information could travel at the speed of light from one side of the country to the other.
As we have seen through the last thirteen years, the Internet has made it possible for politicians to take their story to the public through websites, we have seen the Internet become a formidable tool for fundraising, and Dean, Ron Paul, and Obama have all used the Internet to fund their campaigns. Obama has so much faith in the Internet that he has foregone public money, relying on the Internet to fund his Presidential campaign. The power of the Internet has been a boon for politicians in the last two campaigns.
Of course, with every positive, there is an equal and opposite negative. The negative is the way in which the Internet has opened up the campaigns, and made it possible for anyone to report anything that is said, anywhere in the world, at anytime, day or night. With a cell phone camera, or digital camera, any candidate’s statement can be on the net in seconds. Then that video can be presented any way the person wants to present it, in context, or just phrases that fit an agenda. There is no editor or copy writer to review and fact check things that hit the net. Opinions or downright lies can be presented as fact, and no one can stop it.
It seems that in the past, a great many things never made the nightly news. A news executive might decide it wasn’t worthwhile, or it couldn’t be confirmed, or he just didn’t want to upset the candidate by reporting the incident. Of course, unless one of the networks was at the event, there was no video, and unless a National reporter was there, it probably wasn’t even noted.
Today, the video is taken by cell phone, uploaded to You Tube, and found by a blogger or political operative, which turns it over to the “Drudge Report” or one of the cable news shows. These sources have to fill the funnel of content that needs masses of new info to feed the public, so they rush it to the screen, or the website, with the proviso that it is an Internet source. That source doesn’t have a name, or a reputation to protect, so who cares if the facts are true or not. The problem is that a number of people in the public use the Internet and cable as their news source, so they take it as fact, and it becomes part of the public record.
As a voter, I hope that we all check out things that we read on the net,(other than my blog) and confirm the actual facts before we let information influence our votes,
GOOD LUCK
The Internet is the last vetige of the "Wild Wild West". Anything goes and almost nothing is censored. Great blog....are you still writing?
Posted by: Jason Argile | July 23, 2008 at 09:36 AM