Cadet Killian Buckley's Blog

The 24 hour news cycle and the constant spread of news online has dramatically changed the ways citizens receive information and understand the world around them.  The most recent news doesn’t wait for the morning paper; it is posted by a blogger on-line for readers to immediately read.  Videos and pictures can be spread to the masses at the click of a button.  The media is changing and growing at a amazingly fast rate due to technology.  These changes are altering the way the governments deal with the media.

This is particularly true in nations like China with a one-party rule that relies on “firewalls” to prevent outside influence and media from interrupting the delicate balance of their control.   China has been forced to, or chosen to depending upon your point of view, to open up economically, politically, and with its control over the media.  The younger population wants to be connected to the world around them.  There are a great deal of youth within China going to college in Western nations, like the United States.  These students have been exposed to the free media and social media within these nations.  They desire a government that would allow them the same access to this interconnected media platform.  China, while slowly changing, fears an onslaught of Western ideals that would force changes upon the Communist Party.  The Beijing government is trying to be more modern without exposing the citizens to overt Western media.