Michael Bresciani
The internet - - America's new lost and found
By Michael Bresciani
A visit to one of the best conservative news sites bounced me over to one of the most irreverent videos I've seen in a long time by just clicking on a few well placed links. I was reminded once again that the internet doesn't guard anyone's sensibilities I got off that road with a simple click of the mouse.
I sat thinking of how Bill O'Reilly only the night before had tried to dismiss a story only because it was found on the internet. His co-anchor reminded him of some of the most amazing breaking stories that came from the internet and were missed entirely by all other media sources. He coalesced to his cohort but in a condescending manner. I still think Bill may have missed the point.
It is easy to understand that the Apostle James was referring to what comes out of a man when he said "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" (James 3:11) Yet, it is still hard to imagine a fountain that can bubble up with clear fresh water at times, and bitter poisonous slime at others, until you discover the internet.
The same internet that was used to raise millions of dollars for the Obama campaign now is being used to haunt the President with questions about his missing documents and now the use of a Connecticut social security number that makes no sense for a person who never resided in Connecticut a day in his life.
Major newspapers going online just to survive and the deep rift that is forming between state sponsored media and independent journalism that just wants to tell it like it is, makes the internet look like the only true breakthrough media left in the nation. The day when a story was legitimized only when it made it to the evening TV newscast is becoming a thing of the past.
The success of internet news organizations like Breitbart which recently published a Krauthammer piece that boldly asserts that the Obama administration is "lawless" to the much maligned World Net Daily that broke the story of the Presidents Connecticut social security number are just in time for a world moving as fast as it is today. This is not news with a slant it is news that points in all directions and allows the readers to decide. It is water seeking its own level without the teaspoon of sugar to make the medicine go down.
The double sided nature of the internet is feared by those who don't want every detail to be known but rather than being something to fear it is something that is inevitable. It is information finally discovering the place where the rivers change direction across the great divide. Not much you can do about that except to decide which side you are going to live on.
Emails gave way to chat rooms which gave way to blogs which gave way to social sites which gave way to ad infinitum. You can find church services on the web or sleazy porn sites that make you want to throw up. You can find nonsense of every kind including You Tube type video sites that would take five lifetimes to view if you didn't take time to eat or sleep.
The internet is banned or regulated in some countries but in America it is the great lost and found of our generation. You can get lost in it, or use it to find truths that can never be fully covered in the evening news with a few sound bites and the need to go to commercials.
For people who have integrity and still take the time to discern between what is urgent and what is actually important; the internet can be a place to find, as in the words of the late Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story."
© Michael Bresciani
May 23, 2010
A visit to one of the best conservative news sites bounced me over to one of the most irreverent videos I've seen in a long time by just clicking on a few well placed links. I was reminded once again that the internet doesn't guard anyone's sensibilities I got off that road with a simple click of the mouse.
I sat thinking of how Bill O'Reilly only the night before had tried to dismiss a story only because it was found on the internet. His co-anchor reminded him of some of the most amazing breaking stories that came from the internet and were missed entirely by all other media sources. He coalesced to his cohort but in a condescending manner. I still think Bill may have missed the point.
It is easy to understand that the Apostle James was referring to what comes out of a man when he said "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" (James 3:11) Yet, it is still hard to imagine a fountain that can bubble up with clear fresh water at times, and bitter poisonous slime at others, until you discover the internet.
The same internet that was used to raise millions of dollars for the Obama campaign now is being used to haunt the President with questions about his missing documents and now the use of a Connecticut social security number that makes no sense for a person who never resided in Connecticut a day in his life.
Major newspapers going online just to survive and the deep rift that is forming between state sponsored media and independent journalism that just wants to tell it like it is, makes the internet look like the only true breakthrough media left in the nation. The day when a story was legitimized only when it made it to the evening TV newscast is becoming a thing of the past.
The success of internet news organizations like Breitbart which recently published a Krauthammer piece that boldly asserts that the Obama administration is "lawless" to the much maligned World Net Daily that broke the story of the Presidents Connecticut social security number are just in time for a world moving as fast as it is today. This is not news with a slant it is news that points in all directions and allows the readers to decide. It is water seeking its own level without the teaspoon of sugar to make the medicine go down.
The double sided nature of the internet is feared by those who don't want every detail to be known but rather than being something to fear it is something that is inevitable. It is information finally discovering the place where the rivers change direction across the great divide. Not much you can do about that except to decide which side you are going to live on.
Emails gave way to chat rooms which gave way to blogs which gave way to social sites which gave way to ad infinitum. You can find church services on the web or sleazy porn sites that make you want to throw up. You can find nonsense of every kind including You Tube type video sites that would take five lifetimes to view if you didn't take time to eat or sleep.
The internet is banned or regulated in some countries but in America it is the great lost and found of our generation. You can get lost in it, or use it to find truths that can never be fully covered in the evening news with a few sound bites and the need to go to commercials.
For people who have integrity and still take the time to discern between what is urgent and what is actually important; the internet can be a place to find, as in the words of the late Paul Harvey, "the rest of the story."
© Michael Bresciani
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