Media and communication

Broadcast media, such has television, generally uses one-way communication. With the Internet, new technologies are providing increased interactivity and participation in broadcast media including television. For example, YouTube allows users to post videos and recently announced a feature where a user’s videos can be linked right into blogs and news article. It will be interesting to see what effect interactivity and participation will have on traditional broadcast media. With everyone participating, there is more opportunity for different points of view. On the other hand, this broad participation may undermine trust in the content, similar to what has happened with blogs. This kind of media seems to promote advocacy where the facts may be twisted rather than objective reporting. There are so many choices for sources of information, and it becomes harder and harder to determine what sources to trust. Instead everyone seems to cite whatever “facts” fit their argument the best.