Response to Arianne’s 2nd question posed for Week 10: Charles Larsen

Arianne’s Question:
The question I pose to this part of his article is if the Internet has helped in being more open to new avenues of news, or if it has added more distractions to what we are trying to find out?

My Response:

As far as accessibility, I believe that the internet has proven to be a positive experience as far as reaching a greater number of people, which is certainly a positive thing. I also believe in the use of blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook to serve as forums for news, and current event circulation and discussion. In these instances, people are literally free to speak their mind. Of course this opens up the opportunity for misrepresentation of facts and inherent bias. The important thing is for people to find ways to seek viable news sources which do not simply publish opinion. Certainly people must be weary of the bias inherent in blogs, as well as the dangers of misconstrued information or propaganda. Media literacy is a key factor in sifting through citizen journalism, but its usefulness as far as the spread of information goes is undeniable.

Newspapers are available online, and make more options available through the internet then they do in print. For example, The New York Times publishes both online and on their website. Some of the stories are repeats of their print edition which serves the people who do not read the print edition at all. In addition, the web by nature offers potential for instantaneous updates so that each story is updated as more news becomes available. Since the news revolves around current events, this is most beneficial. Print articles do not have the option for the readers to respond immediately and directly to the article. The New York Times, among many newspapers’ online sites offer a way for readers to comment on opinion articles directly on the site. Links can be posted to related articles or articles published by a particular columnist. Online periodicals also offer the benefit of an archive database by which one can search through articles of previous issues. It is also very easy to share articles with others with the click of a mouse. Information gathering and sharing becomes simpler and less time-consuming, which is a definite benefit of the availability of news online.