Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times:
When we go online, each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper. We select the kind of news and opinions that we care most about.
Nicholas Negroponte of M.I.T. has called this emerging news product The Daily Me. And if that’s the trend, God save us from ourselves.
That’s because there’s pretty good evidence that we generally don’t truly want good information — but rather information that confirms our prejudices. We may believe intellectually in the clash of opinions, but in practice we like to embed ourselves in the reassuring womb of an echo chamber.
That’s cause for concern by itself, but I wonder if this was one of the factors that led people to move to online news consumption in the first place. Think about it – haven’t we all heard these? “Oh, I read only the sports page”. “I wish newspapers had bigger business sections”. “I love the Op-Ed pages in the Guardian!”
That’s what online is about – you can read only sports, only business, only politics, only gossip, only high-brow opinion pieces – whatever agrees with you – or whatever you agree with.