[Air-l] habermas on the internet

[radhika gajjala]

Depends who the "intellectuals" concerned are - if he means 
traditional elite intellectuals "focusing" in traditional form - why 
yes ...



>"Use of the Internet has both broadened and fragmented the contexts 
>of communication. This is why the Internet can have a subversive 
>effect on intellectual life in authoritarian regimes. But at the same 
>time, the less formal, horizontal cross-linking of communication 
>channels weakens the achievements of traditional media. This focuses 
>the attention of an anonymous and dispersed public on select topics 
>and information, allowing citizens to concentrate on the same 
>critically filtered issues and journalistic pieces at any given time. 
>The price we pay for the growth in egalitarianism offered by the 
>Internet is the decentralised access to unedited stories. In this 
>medium, contributions by intellectuals lose their power to create a 
>focus."
>
>  From Habermas's  Kreisky prize lecture printed in Der Standard March 
>10-11 translated in part in signandsight.com.   thoughts?
>
>
>jeremy hunsinger
>jhuns at vt.edu
>www.cddc.vt.edu
>wiki.tmttlt.com
>www.tmttlt.com
>
>()  ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail
>/\                        - against microsoft attachments
>http://www.stswiki.org/  sts wiki
>http://cfp.learning-inquiry.info/  LI-the journal
>
>
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