If we were ever wondering about the power of the new media, we have to look no further than this current election.  Voters in unprecedented numbers have taken to the Internet via computers and cell phones to participate in this election in a way never seen before.  From fundraising, to YouTube videos and text messaging, people have created media and influenced news in a powerful new way.  

The immediacy of this media is apparent when billions of people are updated at the moment, before the headline reaches the TV anchors or newspapers.   Campaigns and news outlets have had to adjust to the fact that once their news or campaign videos hit the Internet, videos are cut up, re-worked, and re-used in ways out of their control.   The average voter is in control of content more than ever before in history.

I’ve often said, “Whoever tells the stories, defines the culture.”   The new media has opened the door to powerful new storytellers: you and I.  It’s more important than ever before for people to be Mediawise®.  Rumors fly faster than it takes to hit the enter button.    Videos hitting our emotional centers in the brain make us laugh out loud or tug at our heartstrings.  Mediawise participation with this new media gives us the skills to use all of our brains to make judgments based on the facts and thinking part of our brains along with the emotional centers.  Responsibility is a key Mediawise skill also.  This new media can inform, entertain, and sway our vote, but it can also hurt and demean when used by adolescent cyber-bullies.

I wish I could say that when the votes are all tallied on Tuesday, that we could sit back and reflect on the wondrous new landscape this new media has brought us to, but unfortunately reflection is hard in this split second world.   Reflection is also one of the old media traits we should hang on to.

How has the new media changed the way you get news?

Dr. Dave