Politics and New Media Ideas

I attended the Politics and New Media panel, which largely focused on the Internet as it was used in the 2008 presidential election campaign.

One of the recurring, though underlying, themes of the discussion was the blurring of the lines between professional and amateur journalists. One panelist mentioned that it is increasingly difficult for the public to tell the difference between blogs and news sites, while a student in attendance asked how journalists could maintain a gate keeping function on the Internet with so many bloggers disseminating their version of the news. This is certainly something that could merit further research.

Confusion over who is considered a journalist can be viewed as both a positive and negative aspect of the Internet. Citizen journalism can have its benefits and was encouraged by Janelle Huelsman, director of public relations for Scoop08. Scoop08 was a news site that covered the 2008 elections through articles submitted by (mainly) college students across the country. (It has since become Scoop44, a site dedicated to reporting on the Obama administration.) The good thing about sites like these is that they allow anyone who witnesses or researches news to report it.

The downside to everyone essentially being a journalist is a lack of professionalism and accountability. Some bloggers are committed to presenting the truth of a situation, but it is often difficult to distinguish these from people simply spreading rumor.

Another subject discussed by the panel (that I'll admit I haven't heard much about) was the digital divide. This is the gap between people with and without access to the Internet. With an upcoming switch to digital television and so many cities losing their newspapers, Cary Frith expressed concern that some people may be left without an adequate method of informing themselves. Among the many ways to go about researching this issue, one could look into what other countries have done to combat the problem (a subject mentioned by one of the panelists).

-Annie Elliott