e audience of the medium. Also, because of the commercialization of the Internet, some researchers believe we are controlled by the medium, as with television in its earlier days. Researchers also believe it is important to look at the owners of the content on the Internet, most of which are large companies competing for our attention and money. As members of the Critical School believed, so some current researchers believe, that if restrictions are placed on this medium, the Internet will be no more than a means of profiting corporate America and publishing government propaganda. In a nutshell, the Internet would be used to ‘brainwash’ society, and there would be no real individual needs being fulfilled. Frank Beacham, a writer and media producer in New York City states, ‘ The fact is the Internet is a threat to any institution – government, corporate or otherwise – that tries to enforce conformity of human thought. Such conformity of thought was easily manipulated by the corporate/government cooperative that ran (and still runs) traditional ‘old’ media in the United States.The versatility and multidirectional communication makes the Internet one of the most exciting mediums because content can be very diversified and users are not only able to receive messages, but they are able to respond as well. The Internet is an interactive medium with potential to expand even farther than it already has. The Internet defies the controlled, one-way broadcast model of information distribution and empowers the user with the capability to talk back to the sender. ...
