"...television is also a one-way medium. Individuals receive but they do not send, they listen but they do not speak, they are given information but they do not share it in return, they do not comment on it in ways that others can hear. Therefore, automatically, their ability to use the tools of reason as participants in the national conversation is suspended."
-Al Gore
Therein lies the promise of the internet. While most of the content is still a one way street, it marks a vast improvement over the dominating qualities of its predecessor; and a fundamental change in how things are thought about. This changing of the playing field, this seismic shift, occurs so rarely, that when it does, it is always profound. At the very least, the internet gives us more choice, and flattens the content-based playing field so those who are not backed by Wall Street still have the opportunity to have their voices heard; many of these voices were extinguished in the 1980's media consolidation. And opportunity is what freedom and democracy are built on.
"When information is freely available to individuals and flows unimpeded throughout the political or economic system, the important decisions are not always made by the same small group of people. "
-Gore
