Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press

I feel this article, while a little mushy about its terminology, makes an excellent point about both (a) the ways in which the media routinely misrepresent national sentiment and (b) the ways in which the increasingly centralized power of corporate news has led to a sort of editorial myopia that the Internet seeks to remedy.

What is important to point out, of course, is that the revelatory power of the Internet has disruptive effects as well. By creating new spheres of consensus and debate outside those normally legitimized by the mainstream media, the Internet is not only revealing elements of the American psyche that have long existed in obscurity, but is also giving those new spheres unprecedented power and influence. Without pointing fingers, I think we can all agree that certain blogging communities are responsible for sustaining some of the nastier and more pernicious memes in modern news, and that such conspiracy theories do more harm than good (I also acknowledge that not everyone on Newsvine will agree about which communities are doing harm, ;-).

Like it not, America is increasingly off the chain, including its more unsavory elements. This redistribution of journalistic power will unquestionably have lasting effects that will be difficult to anticipate.