Blogging: is it becoming a propaganda tool?
February 29th, 2008 by Wendy McAuliffe
‘Propaganda’. Now that’s a word I haven’t used for a while. Probably not since my politics A-Level! But yesterday’s report by US blog the Drudge Report, of Prince Harry’s stationing in Afghanistan, has brought to light the propaganda influence a blog can have.
Tonight Jon Snow is referring to events over the past 24-hours as a “propaganda war”.
Without wanting to state the obvious, the shocking reality of the situation is that one blog report, which ignored media censorship rules, has led to Prince Harry being flown home from Afghanistan. Public opinion is very divided on whether Druge should have published the classified information or not, as it would be on such a highly contentious issue…but for me what’s more concerning is the political power a single blog has managed to achieve.
The potential for abuse is deeply concerning. The uncensored openness of the blogosphere is what makes it what it is, but are we heading for an abuse of that freedom? If blogs of influence begin to harness the power they have within their network, and use it for the wrong reasons, that could take us to a very bad place…
Tags: Blog, Blogging, druge report, prince harry, propoganda
