AOL chief: Internet affects media

     Associated Press
      ARLINGTON, Va. -- The Internet can make the news more democratic, giving the public a chance to ask questions and seek out facts behind stories and candidates, the head of the country's largest online service said Friday.
      But the greatest potential for public participation is still in the future, Steve Case, chairman of America Online, told a meeting on Journalism and the Internet sponsored by The Freedom Forum, a foundation promoting understanding of the news media.
      Already, though, the new technology of computers is changing the face of journalism, giving reporters access to more information and their readers a chance to ask questions and turn to different sources, other speakers said.
      "You don't have to buy a newspaper and be confined to the four corners of that paper anymore," Sam Meddis, online technology editor at USA Today, observed about the variety of information available to computer users.
      But the speakers noted that easy access to the Internet also means anyone can post information for others to see.
      "Anyone can say anything they want, whether it's right or wrong," said Case. Readers have to determine for themselves who to trust.
      "In a world of almost infinite voices, respected journalists, respected brand names, will probably become more important, not less," Case said.
      The Internet today is about where radio was 80 years ago, or television 50 years ago or cable 25 years ago, he said.
      But it is growing rapidly because it provides people fast access to news and a chance to comment on it.
      For example, when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash, millions went online for details and to join in mourning, Case said.
      He forecast increased political participation online in this year and in 2000 with politicians able to answer directly to the public -- an opportunity to increase voter turnout and for politicians to raise funds from the public.
      Turning to the process of journalism itself, Stephen Miller, assistant to the technology editor of The New York Times, said the Internet provides reporters with a good starting point to seek information so they can ask better questions.
      But Miller said he worries about reporters who "learn just enough to be dangerous."
      It's vital to know how to interpret statistics and to evaluate the source of information, he said: "Just because it's digital doesn't mean it's true."
      The World Wide Web "isn't the end of reporting, it's really the beginning of it," added Meddis.
      Llewellyn King, head of the newsletter group King Publications, said that while the Internet is a tremendous source of data, he doesn't see it producing a "new journalism."
      "The work is remarkably the same as it ever was," said King, though he later conceded that with so much spot news on the Internet, reporters will be turning more to interpretation - "what does it mean, where is it going."