This year more than any other election year has demonstrated the important role that the internet is playing in the decision-making process of choosing our representatives and leaders. This media that was created to facilitate global cooperation among scientists to share ideas and advance scientific breakthroughs and cures has evolved into a collection of digital tabloids along the lines of the National Enguirer and others of this ilk.
Like the remote control for television viewers, the search engines provide virtual tekkies with an array of sensationalized headlines to choose from. Irrespective of valid content, the search engines thrive on yellow journalism that would make Randolph Hearst proud. Savvy internet entrepreneurs know this, they have studied how to grab the attention of the search engines. As a result, they compete for the most outrageous stories and bylines. Substance be damned! Increasing traffic is the be all of these internet sites. The number of visits each day provide the ratings as to whether or not a web site is successful. The potential power of the internet for good or evil has been recognized by our political leaders, and therein lies the problem. When we have internet providers aligning with countries that promote censorship, or with an individual candidate or party, we lose an effective tool of the Fourth Estate and put in jeopardy the check provided by a free press.
We have seen television newscasts spiral downward in quality, independence, and substance from Edward R. Morrow and Ted Koppel to an entertainment media like the current Nightline. We have seen the development of “truth squads” that align themselves with the search engines to ferret out opposition for the sole purpose of stifling comment and opinion. Under the guise of keeping the media “honest” they wield enormous power to block discussion, and ban web sites that do not concur with their political agenda.
But As For Me…
Lest you think that this commentary is made, like other articles on this site by a conservative, let me make it perfectly clear, I am a liberal, and I have paid my dues to possess that label in the streets of Chicago in 1968, the rural areas of Nebraska during the Children’s Crusade and on campus swimming against the current political tides of the day.
Responsible web sites are those that struggle to inform, not to incite. Sensationalism may be an acceptable tactic for certain internet sites; however, it does not belong on web sites that are concerned with providing the electorate posts to assist them in their decision-making process.
Freedom of the press is one of the tenets of any democracy. When our political leaders get in bed with the media such as Google with Barack Obama for example, we might as well tear-up the secret ballot. Further, this is not the first time that the media has become too cozy with a candidate or a party. Although the Democrats are mentioned here, the manipulation and control of our news services has been done by both parties with varying degrees of success. When the news media is punished for asking the tough questions, we need to step back and take an historical perspective of the times in recent history when freedom of the press was arrested with control by the prevailing political power. But this is a two-way street, writers of political posts must exercise responsible journalistic standards in providing information that will serve to educate, not to solely entertain; a free press whatever its’ form should not be up for sale.
