Technology Shapes 21st Century Newsgathering: Reflections From The Last Millennium And Its Last Month
Will the Internet change the gathering of news, and how? How will American institutions, including legal rules governing the media, be transformed by an interconnected world? As 1999 has clicked over into 2000, several recent events offer hints of profound change and remarkable continuity, suggesting ways that the 21st century media will be affected by new technologies.
This is not a new process. Technology shapes our lives in strange and unexpected ways, bringing changes that can overwhelm existing civic and political institutions. In past centuries, transforming the forms of communication and news led to the transformation or destruction of competing social systems.