Democracy and new media
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Source: Charlie Beckett
Date: 10 Jun, 2008
New-media communication tools are making possible a profound shift in
the way journalism is conceived and practised. The impact will be on
the public sphere and democracy itself, says POLIS Director Charlie Beckett in a special article for Opendemocracy.net.
"From bloggers in China to 'netroots' activists
in the United States, new forms of journalism are reshaping political
communications - and therefore politics itself. The success of Barack Obama's
campaign for his party's nomination in the US presidential election has
depended crucially on internet mobilisation. The unprecedented openness of the response to the Sichuan earthquake was also
conditioned by citizen journalism and the hyper-textuality of modern media. The
influence of new forms of communication is pervasive, the opportunities legion.
But is the business of journalism up to the challenge?"
Read the article in full here.