Monday 26 January 2009

Internet power rebound?

One of the biggest adopters and innovators on the Internet has been the BBC.  I am a great fan of their website and was pleased to be a part of their 10th anniversary news website celebrations in 2007.  Today, a debate is raging about the BBC's decision to not to screen an appeal for the people of Gaza on the grounds of preserving impartiality, instead preferring to give the charity even greater publicity by featuring its decision in its news broadcasts.  One observer, the ex-broadcaster and politician Martin Bell suggested it was now worried about being blamed for things and demonstrated against even before doing something, partially because the power of the Internet now allows such opinion to gather momentum and publicly focus criticism very fast and very widely.  It seems slightly ironic that such a great innovator of the net is itself being buffeted by it.  We are seeing more and more organised campaigns which exploit the Internet ... this will only increase in future.  Organisations and Governments are very well aware how powerful this new Internet democracy is ... this BBC episode is just one more example!

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