Rathergate: De-massified Media's Coming of Age?

Self | September 13, 2004 | Raymond Chuang

[RayChuang88]

I think the amazing success of FreeRepublic.com in exposing the scandal of the forged memos at CBS is truly one of the defining triumphs in this age of modern communications technologies.

Some of you probably have read the books of Alvin Toffler, the author of Future Shock, The Third Wave, Powershift and several other books commenting on the change in society. In The Third Wave, Toffler mentioned specifically the concept of de-massified media, where as communications technology improves the monopoly control of the dissemination of information will be seriously weakened. Well, the rise of proprietary online services in the late 1980's and the public Internet from the middle 1990's on has made that prophecy a reality.

Remember how Matt Drudge caused no anguish to President Bill Clinton when he revealed his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky in early 1998? Drudge was one of the first people to take full advantage of the awesome information dissemination power of the Internet and it revealed how behind the curve the mainstream media is. Because the Internet can spread information around the world in a matter of minutes, people now have to be MUCH more careful what they say in public anywhere in the world. Remember how Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks made those anti-Bush comments early in 2003? The Internet spread her comments around the world in minutes and that severely hurt the career of the Dixie Chicks among the core audience of country music fans (which tend to be quite conservative politically).

And now, the fiasco with the forged memos at CBS. Posters at Free Republic like Howlin and Buckhead were able to watch that report on CBS' 60 Minutes II and within a few hours commented that there was something seriously amiss with the memos CBS had on their hands. That piqued the interest of a number of other people on the Internet who have expertise on computer software, typography, graphic design and typewriter technology and within 12 hours of CBS airing the report they were able to show the memos were forgeries, much to the dismay of CBS.

These successes I mentioned are the affirmation of Toffler's prophecy of de-massifying the media. It shows that with modern communications technology we can easily bypass the once-tight control of the mainstream press and truly affect world events, as Buckhead's posting may very well do to the 2004 Presidential elections.