ABSTRACT
The emergence of new media technology has created a re- surgence of concern for the survival of democracy. Benjamin Barber (1982, p. 21) argued that “this may be our last opportunity to turn the technology of the new age into a servant of an old political idea: democracy. Democracy will have a difficult time surviving under the best of circumstances; with television as its adversary, it seems almost sure to perish. “Although Barber has chosen to take an extreme position, his views are echoed by others. But not all scholars are pessimistic. In her book Electronic Democracy, Anne Saldich (1979) suggests that television has transformed the American political process, personalizing remote politi- cians and activating social groups. She celebrates the arrival of new technology that she believes will create the diversity on which democracy thrives (p. 91). But Barber tells us that this same technology will create a new tower of Babel: “The critical communication between groups that is essential to forging of a national culture and public vision will vanish” (1982, p. 23).
