|
|
|
|
The Ultimate News Medium?
By Brett Walther
Oxford County Library
For The Oxford Review
September 17, 2001
Where were you on the morning of Tuesday, September 11th?
I don't suppose any of us will forget where we were when we first learned of the terrorist attacks that swept across the United States. Although I was at work when I heard through word of mouth that the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon had been attacked, I felt compelled to keep myself updated on the crisis by consulting an official news source. It was only later that I realized with some surprise that I had, without second thought, instantly looked to the Internet for further information.
Canadian FM radio stations continued playing their normal line-up of music, and television stations presented a disorganized succession of eye-witness reports and confusing jumps between New York, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania and Los Angeles correspondents. In opposition, the Internet stood out as the most thorough medium from which I could collect information.
It was all there on-line. Live video footage, impressive still photography, and text outlining the situation in a way that was far easier to comprehend than the stuttering of the understandably bewildered news anchors reporting live on American network television.
Once online, there was no need to wait for any particular feature in which I was specifically interested. Instead of waiting for CNN to jump back to their Los Angeles correspondent to check on how the crisis was affecting Californians, I could simply click on the link that would transfer me to that very feature. More than other news sources, the Internet allowed me to select the information that I found most useful or interesting, allowing me to, in a sense, "custom design" my own news reports.
In addition, the Attack on America crisis demonstrated the Internet's unparalleled capacity to convey up-to-the-second developments in the stories as they unfolded. As soon as new statements and revelations were brought forward from high-ranking officials, they became available online. If I had relied on a newspaper as my only source of information, I would have had to wait until the next morning to read up on any changes to the current situation.
The depth of online news coverage of the Attack on America was first rate. Internet news reporting often provides links to related stories, and offers access to an archive of features that chronicle the historical development of a story up to the present moment. For example, once Osama bin Laden had been identified as the likely mastermind behind the terrorist attacks, www.msnbc.com offered links to coverage of the World Trade Centre Bombing in 1998 in which bin Laden is thought to be involved, as well a brief biography of the prime suspect.
Internet news may also be more affordable than purchasing the newspaper. After the start-up costs of purchasing a computer and establishing a link to a service provider, news online is "free". Alternatively, one could access such news websites from the terminals in any of the Oxford County Library branches and in all but Ingersoll avoid any charges whatsoever. All one has to do is visit www.msnbc.com , for instance, in order to immediately access a wealth of international news coverage at no cost.
In short, Internet news represents a blend of all previous forms of news media in a highly effective-and affordable-presentation. In this way, online news played an integral role in keeping the world informed of the developments on what will doubtless go down as one of the darkest days in modern history.
|
|
