Posted on 09/09/2009 8:19:28 AM PDT by mnehring
...All of this worries Cass Sunstein, author of Republic.com. A First Amendment scholar at the University of Chicago Law School, he fears that the Internet is contributing to a fragmentation of public discourse that is undermining democracy. For democracy to work, Sunstein says, it's important that citizens be exposed to many alternative viewpoints, occasionally encountering information that is unexpected or even jarring. They were more likely to get that exposure, Sunstein says, when they read the same newspapers and magazines, watched the same TV news, and spent more time in public spaces like parks, where they met people with contrasting viewpoints. On the Net today, he says, "many people are mostly hearing more and louder echoes of their own voices." He cites studies showing that people become extreme in their leanings when they spend time with people who feel the same way.
Sunstein thinks the danger to the republic is great enough that he favors government intervention, such as subsidies for Web sites that encourage deliberation by diverse citizens, or requirements that Web sites provide links to other sites that promote opposing views....
(Excerpt) Read more at -news.uchicago.edu ...
This one is worth pinging some key players.
A “First Amendment” scholar proposing govt censorship. You gotta love it. And not one liberal will notice the irony.
When they start censoring the internet, modem will be in high demand because we will have to dial into someones computer like the old day to post on a forum, so don’t get rid of those old modems
Just like the “constitutional scholar” in chief, he has studied it well in order to try and circumvent it at a later time.
W/o FR, there would have been no impeachment of His Slickness. Sunstein would have been happy.
Sunstein had a lot to say about the impeachment. I’ll post more when I have time.
Good find. Thanks.
“it’s important that citizens be exposed to many alternative viewpoints, occasionally encountering information that is unexpected or even jarring.”
The hypocrisy of liberal academics is amazing. Most college campuses indoctrinate their students into a left-wing world view and belittle conservative views. Sustein is not interested in opposing points of view. He wants to suppress conservative expression throughout the media. The Left is the enemy of freedom.
I have not read Republic.com. If Cass Sunstein’s point is that discourse should be encouraged, then it is difficult to argue with him. The standards he suggests are somewhat benign if naive. The key is whether he presents a balanced view of what has and is happening in the media currently.
I follow the climate debate. I regularly visit and try to contribute to a number of blogs. What is intriguing is to see who cross links to other blogs. Those blogs managed by this who believe in catastrophic anthropogenic global warming seldom link to luke warming or skeptical blogs. I suggest you check out www.realclimate.org and contrast it to whatsupwiththat.com and climateaudit.org.
I will have to check out Cass Sunstein’s examples.
If someone has some time, here is one of Sunstein’s books that discusses (in his very politically correct, legalese way) that the free market of speech must be regulated, specifically on the internet.
This will require some transcribing.
"Encouraged" is not his point, although he uses very political words to make it sound that way. It is government 'encouragement' he is calling for, which, as we know, is regulation.
800-965-4701
800-828-0498
Ping
Liberals are genetically incapable of appreciating irony.
and anti-gun/hunting
“Senate to Vote on Anti-gun Kook for ‘Regulatory Czar’”
— Nominee favors bringing an end to hunting
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
http://gunowners.org/a090809.htm
The washington post has forbidden us to directly link to their articles. I wonder why.
they read the same newspapers and magazines, watched the same TV news,
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