The Internet has become the newest and largest source of
both global news and opinion, and has changed the way media will work in the
world for a long time to come. It has connected people in a way they never were
before. Having the ability to search for any news story is an opportunity that
has never presented itself to people before. As technology has grown so has how
the human population follows the news.
In the beginning the only way to spread the news besides
word of mouth was through a printed medium, a newspaper. Magazines also allowed
news about topics to be detailed in more depth than just newspapers clippings
and articles. Then radio became the next
source of news. Families would gather around their home radios at specified
times nightly to hear about what happened in the world that day. Televisions
brought the news even closer to home. For the first time people could witness
live news situations unfolding and follow them in real time. But when the news
began to be broadcast on the Internet everything changed. Not only was the
timing of the spread of news drastically sped up but for the first time the
audience was able to choose which news they wanted to follow. They were not
confined to what was in the paper, or which stories were shown on the nightly
news. “Because of the Internet, you, the
reader, no longer have to buy information in pre-fabricated packages like
‘newspapers.’ You can just go online and individually select the articles you
want to read.”[1]
Access was available to any story at any time at the click of a button. Not
only could they read the news they could comment on it and express their own
opinions. People could write personal blogs on any topic they choose. “Bloggers and other amateur journalists are
scooping mainstream news outlets as well as pointing out errors in mainstream
articles, while people who’ve been made subjects of news articles are
responding online, posting supplementary information to provide context and
counterpoints.”[2]
Sharing information in ways like this expands the knowledge the reader has on
certain issues. By reading different reactions and contextual points, ones
understanding of a situation is that much greater.
Online news also brings people together more
than other news outlets ever had in the past. Common interests and opinions can
be shard over news online. “Citizens
who have similar interest can meet each other and have a conversation together
easily by using a bulletin-board, chatting, and community.”[3] It allows alike or opposing viewpoints
to argue and stand up for their sides, and let their opinions be heard. This
gives someone at home a voice, which they may have never had if it weren’t for
the internet. Someone does not have to be a professional journalist to give his
or her opinion on a news story.
Following the news online is not
something that is going to go away anytime soon. The numbers of followers grows
on a daily basis. A lot of times it takes large stories for someone to first be
drawn the the internet but once they see the wealth of knowledge and news it
permeates one is instantly hooked. “Americans reliance on the Internet is increasing.
For example, immediately after the 9-11 attacks, only 3 percent of online
Americans said the Internet was their primary source of information about the
attacks and their aftermath. Only a year and a half later, in the weeks
leading up to the war with Iraq, 26 percent of online Americans said the
Internet was their primary source of news and information about the possibility
of war - a number that places it on a par with both newspapers and
radio.”[4]
The future of online news could someday spell the end, or at least decline, for
other media entities. As the younger generations continue to get older it will
only add to the growth. Young people are already so dependent on technology and
the internet, that when they are grown and become the leaders of industries,
internet media will be the only thing many have grown up using as their source
of news. The conclusion off all this is that the Internet, as a source of news
and opinion, has changed the way people will be kept informed and express their
feelings and thoughts about what is happening in the world around them.
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