The Globalization of New Media Exposure:The Dependency on The Internet

As the Internet continuous to grow into a resourceful media, many people consider the new media as one of the technologies that brings them global information. The geographical boundaries between countries are disappearing as the result of the universal technology. Assuming that Indonesian students in the United States are a diasporic audience of online news media, the aim of this study is to compare the use of the Internet and the traditional media, so that it may increase the mutual shaping of the users and the role of the technology worldwide. The new media is known for its advantages and disadvantages. A main advantage of using the new media for people temporarily living in other countries such as in the United States, is that they are able to seek and gather more extensive news about their home country. The problem is, however, the new media may cause these people to have a low interest in receiving American local news or in choosing American media (traditional or non-traditional) because the Internet provides direct access to news sources from their home country. The argument is that there is a dependency relation between Internet users and the Internet on some level.

Autorentext

Adeline Widyastuti holds MA degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and MSc degree in Information Architecture Knowledge Management from Kent State University, Ohio, in 2001 and 2003. She obtained her BA in English Literature from University of Indonesia. She currently works for the Fulbright Scholarship Comission in Jakarta.