Digital Media and the Public Information Environment

A Retrospective Assessment

Bibliographic Data

ID14785032
AuthorsMyles Ruggles (University of Windsor, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume28
Issue4
Pages449-460
Publication date2003-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0705-3657 • E-ISSN: 1499-6642
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.22230/cjc.2003v28n4a1392
OpenAlexW1813672686
LanguageEN
References cited8

Ten years after the emergence of the World Wide Web, the implications of new digital technologies for the news and public information function of the media are still a topic of vigorous debate. This paper, which is merely a preliminary report on an unfinished review of the literature pre-dating that event, revisits some of the critical analyses that had been articulated about the new digital media when the Web emerged. The intent of this larger, not-yet-completed project is to evaluate some major tendencies, already mapped a decade ago by research in the political economy of telecommunication, against the actual outcomes of the intervening decade of development and use of the new digital technologies of information and communication. Where the early predictions are confirmed, this re-evaluation may provide a simple means to distinguish persistent structural distortions in the public information environment from transitory or local effects, superficial influences, and alarmist predictions. Where the early results are refuted or less clearly confirmed, it may provide insight into the limits of political-economic methods of analysis

Digital media · Event (particle physics · Function (biology · Media studies · New media · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · ICT Impact and Policies · Media, Communication, and Education · Social Media and Politics

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