Murray's Blog
If you would like to submit your thoughts to Murray's Blog, please email them to Blogs@Murraycowper.com.
23rd October 2007
The internet and politics
Hello and welcome to my first ‘blog’. The internet is a valuable tool that is changing the face of politics, as it removes the traditional media as the ‘middle man’, and means that politicians can focus more accurately on issues relevant to those they are representing in parliament.
On this blog, you will not only be able to read my views and thoughts on various issues, but hopefully also the ideas of your fellow constituents in the Murray electorate. In short, I would like to see it become a sort of community ‘soapbox’ for Murray residents to get up on to have their views heard.
However, whilst I am promising to embrace this new technology with open arms, I can’t say that it is without a few worries that I’m sure are shared by my fellow parliamentary colleagues and others under public scrutiny.
For example, on the internet there is no editor, and virtually no laws that can serve to protect people from lies or deceit. As any search on Youtube will show, there is little to stop anyone from posting a video that ridicules, degrades, or even spreads half-truths or lies about another person or group. Whilst this happens to some extent on television, and has even had fatal consequences in some cases (for example, see reporter Jane Hansen’s story on “Australian Story”, aired 10/9/2007), there is much more scope for abuse on the internet, and often no ways of finding the responsible parties.
Politicians in general are prime targets, as once again any search on Youtube with the words John Howard or Kevin Rudd will demonstrate. As politicians, any mistake of ours can be recorded on screen and made available for all to see 24 hours a day.
In short, the internet is both a blessing and a curse for politicians, but for the general public, it is more of a blessing – as there are less and less opportunities for us to pull the wool over your eyes.
So I urge you all to use this resource to its potential, participate in the Virtual Town Hall, submit your blog to blogs@murraycowper.com, and utilise the information available on my site as much as possible.