Digital technology is having a great effect on defending and improving press freedom worldwide. It is circumnavigating goverment’s restrictions on controversial reports and allowing individuals far greater access to both be able to report on controversial events and to view differing opinoins on controversial events.
The New Zealand anti terror raids are a classic example. the terror raids which involved the New Zealand goverment take action against suspected maori terrorists who were found with guns and ammunition. The ‘establishment’ newspaper in New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald carried wide reports on the raids and the public’s reaction to it, from both the majority white community and the minority indigenous maori community, however, there was little interviews with people who had been affected by it.
Through the use of blogs you can view a more ‘personal’ view of how the blogs affected certain sections of New Zealand society. In DFP’s Kiwiblog, the blogger reveals that he knew a suspect in the terrorist and gives a direct link to another blogger who interviewed the terrorist suspect Tame Iti. Tellingly, the second blogger, Stephen Franks, heard about the raids whilst in Greece. This statement serves to prove many people’s points that on the internet, regional boundaries, blur. Here, a blogger tells of surfing on the internet to find information about a terrorist raid in New Zealand – his homeland. In his blog, Stephen Franks talks about meeting the terrorist suspects. There is a feel of a direct connection with comments on revolutionary struggles against the state and a wry look on student revolutionaries. What is noticeable is that in this direct connection, which is able to accessed widely throughout the world, including the United Kingdom.
What was once only accessible to a select few in one country is now accessible to a vast multitude in a wide range of different formats. Therefore digital technology, as can be seen in the case of New Zealand’s anti terror raids is enhancing the range of opinons that can be viewed in a dramatic way.
The internet has enabled a boom in politcal satire.
Among some groups and institutions there is a growing amount of concern about the nature of global news. For example, anti-globalisation groups condemn organisations such as the BBC and CNN for not giving an accurate picture of the World’s news. They say the major broadcasters are the servants of Western governments and businesses, with agendas shaped to assist and maintain their power.
