Community or Colony: The Case of Online Newspapers and the Web

Abstract

Although the development of relationships on the Net may be seen as “community,” the increasing global presence from commercial media such as online newspapers suggest that another metaphor may be jousting for preeminence – colonization. Findings from an on‐going case study of online newspapers suggest the early ideals of democratic community‐building in cyberspace are encountering resistance as newspaper organizations delineate “virtual geographic space” and stake out “territory” on the web by subtly discouraging access to other sites (i.e., a type of virtual “homesteading”). Additionally, changes in the production practices of print journalists due to the emergence of electronic newspapers are discussed.

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