Transcript Governments States and their_relation to media

Governments, States and their
relation to media and
Media, technology and culture
Karlstad University – Spring term 2010
Paola Sartoretto
Information Society
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Concept created by the economist
Fritz Machlup in 1950
Sector of the economy associated
with ”the production and
distribution of knowledge”.
Education, research and
development, information
machines, information services
(finance, insurance, real state)
Mass communication
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Multiple-rotary printing and mass
mailing by rail
Broadcasted media
Communication structures serve to
control economy an polity
Mass communication, persuasion
and market research are used by
governments.
Industrial Revolution
”…control of government and markets
had depended on personal
relationships and face-to-face
interactions; now control came to
be restablished by means of
bureaucratic organizations, the new
infrastructures of transportation and
telecommunications, and systemwide communication via the new
mass media.” James Beniger
Convergence
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Information technologies – mass
media, telecommunications and
computing – converge into a single
structure of control at the most
macro level
Digitalization
Castell’s questions
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Does the internet have a purely
instrumental role?
Is there a transformation of the
rules of the socio-political game in
cyberspace?
Surveillance
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Internet started as an anonimous
arena
Internet undermined national
sovereignity and state control
It is now used by governments as a
surveillance tool
Surveillance technologies
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”Control of information has been the
essence of state power throughout
history”. Castells 2001:169
Monitor machine activity
Identify servers and the origin of the
message
Governments can obtain such data in
order to carry-out different activities
End of privacy
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Surveillance at the workplace
Surveillance by government
authorities
The Panopticon
Sovereignty
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Shared information systems as a
measure against cybercrime
Extended government power on
wiretapping and interception of data
power
It is not Big Brother but a multitude
of little sisters (Castells)
The higher the development of
information technologies the higher
the ability of control in a society.
Ex.: voting processes, population
registering, communication of
information to larger audiences etc.
”The U.S. government spends about 150
million dollars a year on advertising,
which places it among the top thirty
advertisers in the country” James
Beniger, 2007
What do new communication technologies
represent for political communication?
Who can regulate the use of internet?
Governments (Castells)
 Corporations
”…the European Union’s regulation of
data gathered by dot.com
companies from their users protects
privacy to a much greater extent
than the laissez-faire environment
in the United States.” (Castells)
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Information, communication and
citizenship
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”Instead of the government
watching people, people could be
watching their govenment” Castells
2002:155.
Internet is an electronic billboard,
no communication
Internet and democracy
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Democratic governments can use
internet as a communication
channel.
People watch their elected
representatives instead of being
watched
Restore the trust between
governments and citizens.