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demassified the mass media: the one-to-many
model of broadcasting is slowly but surely
being replaced by video on demand. 1 Consumers
are active, individuals want to be
empowered: people want to choose what
they watch and they want a two-way relationship
with it. In fact, in Europe and the United
States the utterly non-interactive national
terrestrial TV networks continue to deliver the
sort of audiences satellite, cable or the internet
can only dream of. The tragedy of modern
politics is that people do not want interactivity.
Across the western world countries report a
decline in voter turnout and in membership of
political parties. In this most crucial area fewer
people are demanding the two-way relationship
which would give them greater control
over their own lives.
Implicit in all these arguments are simplistic
assumptions about the effects of new ICTs,
often put forward by less than disinterested
parties.
One cause or many
The most common problem is to assume that
new communications technology is the sole or
at least major cause of social or behavioural
change. As many academics have pointed out
this is not a simple cause and effect relationship
between the two, but a complex intertwining
of factors. 2 Gutenberg’s invention of
the printing press did not singlehandedly
bring about the Reformation, but it was an
important factor, along with wider political
and social change. 3 With the technology
boom behind us and the internet as a commercial
medium now past the toddler stage
many of the visionary’s claims have been
tested by human experience and deserve a
measured reassessment.
So what are the implications of developments
in ICTs for the PR professional The
answer is a complex one. It is rare for the
power of technological change to force society
in one direction only. Human beings are complex
animals, actions have reactions that make
the end result hard to predict. In the 1960s
the satellite era gave birth to MacLuhan’s
dreams of a global village. In technological
terms that is closer than ever, but have the
nations and regions of the world become
more intimately connected or are they more
inward looking The answer is probably both,
globalization as we now call it having contributed
to political and national insularity
and facilitated greater international interaction.
Let us examine some of the common
claims about the effects of new ICTs in detail.
Empowering the individual
Has the balance of power changed between
the individual and the corporation, between
big organizations and small organizations or
between the individual and the state The
most common argument is that the nature
of new ICTs has changed the relationship by
putting more power in the hands of the individual.
Take for example someone seeking
information about the health risks associated
with radon, a gas released naturally from
certain types of rocks. Until the advent of the
internet he or she would have had to wait for
information to appear in a newspaper, magazine
or on the broadcast media. Otherwise
they would have to go to a library to search
out a book on the subject. With the internet
it is much easier for individuals or small
groups to get their views into the public
domain. An internet search will generate a
wealth of material, though not all of it may be
reliable.
© 2004 Sandra Oliver for editorial matter and selection;
individual chapters, the contributors