Chapter 2:

Information and New Technology:

Media at the Crossroads

Some guiding questions

What are the origins of the Information Highway?

How do we access information on this ‘highway’?

What are issues of ownership?What are central concerns about

cyberspace and democracy?

Metaphors for new technologies

All territorial, spatial maps: ROAD SYSTEM

metaphors (superhighway)

FRONTIER metaphors (homesteading)

SPACE metaphors (cyberspace)

Predictions about social impact

Utopian global village, worldwide community

Too much information, much of it faultyFalse communities, less face-to-face

interactionUnequal access will create new class

distinction

TREMENDOUS GROWTH OF THE INTERNET

Its impact is political, social, cultural, and

economic.

ORIGINS of the Information Highway: the evolution of a new mass medium

THREE STAGES OF MEDIA INNOVATIONS

Novelty or development stage

Entrepreneurial stage

Commercial mass medium stage

Stage 1: Development of the Internet

U.S. military-government planning in 1950s: goal for national security

Late 1960s: Defense Department launched ARPAnet for military and research

Ironically, no central authorityDevelopment of email and bulletin

boards

Stage 2: Entrepreneurial Development

1982: National Science Foundation network

Late 1980s: end of military involvement (ARPAnet) at end of Cold War

1993: multimedia capability on Net

Rapid spread beyond government and academic worlds

Stage 3: Commercialization of Internet as a mass medium

By 1998, over 100,000 regional networks and 36 million servers (hosts)

Companies seek to turn Net users into consumers through ads and Web sites (e-commerce)

Government and nonprofit presence on Net: disseminating information, documents, services

How is the information highway different from

earlier forms of mass media?

Revolutionary ways that data are stored and retrieved

Increasing convergence of mass media (e.g., newspapers, music, books, and TV news now on Net)

Allows individuals to create and distribute their own messages

Three distinctive innovations

INTERACTIVE: receivers can respond to messages immediately

MULTIPLE CHANNELS OF DELIVERY OF TRADITIONAL MEDIA: users can read magazines & books or listen to CD’s online

INDIVIDUALS CAN BE PRODUCERS, not just consumers, of media content

E-COMMERCE: shopping online

Came of age in 1998 holiday shopping season

Online catalogs: software, books, CD’s, clothing

ADVANTAGES: 24-hours, discounts, no geographical barriers, convenience

DISADVANTAGES: fraud, technologies, lack of customer service

NEW CONVERGENCES: effects on traditional media

Blurred boundaries between (1) point-to-point forms of personal communication and (2) mass communication

Especially impacted telephone and personal computer

Three key developments

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY: digitizing traditional media forms

MICROTECHNOLOGY: smaller and lighter tools, such as laptops and palmtops

FIBER OPTIC CABLE: can carry more information much faster

MAPPING THE INTERNET:five major mapping

systems

WORLD WIDE WEBCOMMERICAL ISPsBROWSERSWEB SEARCH

ENGINESINSTANT MESSAGING

SERVICES

OWNERSHIP ISSUES

ON THE INTERNET

Increasing convergence of owners and players in mass media industries

Players and companies jockeying for position

Media megacorporations Computer hardware/software

companiesInternet access and service

providersPhone and cable TV companiesInternet search engines, portals,

and Web browsersTV networks

Despite a clash of values, the Internet so far has eluded centralized control.

Can it stay that way?

Should the Internet be governed?

If so, who should be in control?

Can the public interest be protected and maintained?

ALTERNATIVE VOICES

Is the Internet monopolized by big corporations like Microsoft?

Is there space on the Internet for alternative, non-commercial, inexpensive visions and products?

CITIZENS, CYBERSPACE,

AND DEMOCRACY

Can the Internet

provide a utopian space for democratic communication

?

Promises for democracy

Wide accessibility for all citizensDecentralized social networkDevelopment from “bottom-up”

rather than “top-down” Major involvement of amateursMassive sharing and storage of

useful information

Major problem areas regarding

cyberspace today

Suitability of online materialInternet security and privacy

Concerns about the Internet

Increased circulation of “cyberspace litter”

Lack of editorial control leads to proliferation of misinformation

Concerns about pornography, child protection, hate-mongering

Knowledge gap between users and those without access

Is there a conflict?

Internet’s potential for democratic use

versuscommercial, corporate

interests

What are some possible solutions?

How can we make the Internet:

More democratic (access to all, both in our nation and globally)?

More participatory?More able to meet the needs of

individuals as citizens, consumers, and producers?