School of Journalism and Media Studies, Africa Media Matrix Building, Rhodes University, Upper Prince Alfred Street, Grahamstown, South Africa
Berger, G., School of Journalism and Media Studies, Africa Media Matrix Building, Rhodes University, Upper Prince Alfred Street, Grahamstown, South Africa
Technologically, the Internet is the most global medium in the history of humanity. It shakes up traditional distinctions between local, foreign and international news. On the other hand, it would also appear that many news institutions in cyberspace still retain the character of the traditional media with regard to three features: preferencing local and national news, domesticating news about other countries and reflecting imbalanced flows between First and Third World countries. This article shows that while some First World media, both online and offline, are chanting the mantra of becoming 'hyperlocal', it is much of the rest of the world that is experiencing the Internet as an international medium, albeit from a subordinate cultural and linguistic position. However, there are prospects for a new alignment. © The Author(s), 2009.
