THE NEWS MEDIA| 149LOWERED BARRIERS TO PUBLICATION
The Internet has lowered the barriers to publication. A generation ago it was all
but impossible for average citizens to report on what they knew or to present their
analyses to the general public.^74 Today the Internet provides more opportunities
for home-grown media, enabling a would-be political reporter to easily set up a
website or Facebook page. For example, thousands of active-duty and retired mili-
tary personnel have used blogs to chronicle their service in Iraq and Afghanistan,
a phenomenon known as milblogging.^75 In addition, many interest groups use
Facebook to keep supporters informed about issues and events. One of the major
Tea Party organizations, Tea Party Patriots, had nearly a million “likes” on its
Facebook page as of late 2012.
Similarly, YouTube posts videos of campaign events and campaign ads, many
prepared by people with no offi cial connections to the candidates. These videos
have the potential to change elections. For example, in the 2006 Virginia Senate
race a volunteer for challenger James Webb recorded incumbent George Allen
using a Tunisian racial slur, macaca, to refer to the volunteer, who was of Indian
descent.^76 The episode, which mainstream media later picked up, dogged Allen for
the entire campaign. After initially seeming a shoo-in for reelection, Allen lost by
more than 9,000 votes.
The Internet also creates new opportunities for two-way interaction among
citizens, reporters, and government offi cials. Many reporters respond to com-
ments posted by readers or host live chat sessions, allowing people to ask follow-up
questions about published stories.^77 Politicians do the same: in April 2011, Presi-
dent Obama used Facebook for “town hall meetings” where he responded to ques-
tions posted online.^78
Finally, the Internet enables ordinary citizens to report on events as they
happen. For example, when New York City police arrested Occupy Wall Street
protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011, the first reports and vid-
eos of the event appeared as Twitter posts. Politicians must now assume that
anything they say or do (good or bad) will be instantly publicized via the same
technology.
A BETTER-INFORMED CITIZENRY?
How much diff erence does all this Internet information make? Some pundits argue
that the Internet will transform American politics, leading to a better-informed,
more politically active citizenry.^79 And it may—someday. Some studies do show
that Internet usage is associated with higher levels of political participation, but
others show no such association.^80 Moreover, there is no clear evidence that surf-
ing the web makes people more politically informed.^81
Why hasn’t the Internet created a better-informed citizenry? First, although
the percentage of people who routinely use the Internet is very high, access is only
the fi rst step in becoming informed. Finding information on the Internet still
requires doing your own research, and despite the availability of search engines it
is not always obvious where to look for political information.
Second, some of the vast quantity of information on the Internet is of question-
able reliability. For example, it is easy to fi nd fake photographs of the U.S. presi-
dent, other prominent fi gures and celebrities, or international terrorist leaders.
Some websites identify these pictures as fabrications, but others do not. When
citizens do not ta ke t he time to investigate what t hey see or read, it is ea sy to accept
false information as true.