Weaving the Web: The Internet's Effect on International News Coverage and International Relations

Abstract

The convergence of media fostered by the rise of the Internet is reshaping international news coverage and changing relations between nations. The tripartite relationship of public, news media, and policy-makers is made tighter by the convergence powers of the Web. To take advantage of the Internet, news organisations are expanding their in-house capabilities and forming new partnerships. In the United States, these changes could have particularly profound effect on long-neglected international news coverage. Governments are also affected by these changes, using the Web to acquire and disseminate information. For their part, members of the public can gather information on their own, rather than waiting for news organisations to filter and then deliver it. Other facets of international relations affected by the Internet include the expansion of venues for terrorist organisations, supporters of democratisation, and watchdog/pressure groups. Beyond news and other communications functions, the Internet presents new challenges to systems of international relations. The information revolution is proceeding on numerous fronts, redefining the role and power of the news media and presenting policy-makers with a tool that they must contend with as well as use for their own purposes.