快猫短视频

republic.com by Cass Sunstein, Princeton University Press,
$19.95/拢12.95, ISBN 0691070253

DOES the media revolution threaten democracy itself? Cass Sunstein鈥檚 question
in republic.com is not just another Internet scare.

It goes like this. As TV, the papers and the Web become millions of currents
in one medium, citizens will each choose one channel鈥攖heir Daily Me. They
may select only information that confirms their prejudices鈥攆or football or
against abortion, for example. They may debate only with those who share their
views. But the tradition of representative democracy depends on the existence of
鈥渁 public鈥� with shared experiences and dialogue. What to do?

Unfortunately, Sunstein, a professor of jurisprudence and adviser to the US
government on whether digital TV should be regulated, is not at home online. He
mentions online bomb-making manuals but misses out search engines, which provide
exactly the exposure to the unexpected he agonises over. And he fails mention
the need for literacy to fuel curiosity. His proposals are mere mumbles about
public-private partnership. I hoped he would reinvent bbc.co.uk as a solution to
the problem, but he copped out, unconvinced that the First Amendment to the US
Constitution allows an American equivalent of a bbc.co.uk.

But do read this flawed book, if only to expand the Daily You to cover the
wonderful weirdness that is American political discourse. And to ponder: who
turns all-curious toddlers into couch potatoes and how?