How the internet has changed everyday people

I cannot begin to tell you how the internet has allowed everyday people....that's you and me, to voice our opinions above the crowd of politicians, big business and paid spokesman for BIG money ventures. If it was not for the internet, we as the general pubic, would not be aware of the many events that go unreported by the main stream media.

I have a really good example of the fact that TV news is now getting the news from us, yes us the people and not from disaster events. A few weeks back in Eugene, Oregon, there was a small riot, a drunken riot but a riot none the less. It involved over 400 people that were having parties in the college section of town. Police were called and arrests were made. None of it showed up in the local news for days. The riot was filmed and put up on YouTube, people were finding out about the event on their PC's, laptop computers, iPhones and other internet connected devices. The local news did not cover the event until............................3 days later. A TV news channel in Portland (almost 150 miles away from Eugene) picked up the news event from YouTube and broadcasted it. I found it really odd that the TV channels did not have the event. The riot was reported on the AP wire (I checked) but apparently nobody reads it at the TV news room.

So private people putting up a news worthy event on YouTube can make a difference. Blogging (writing) about what you have seen or did can make a difference too. Someone, somewhere will read it and it will change how they see something, or react to what you have written, or think how they can make a difference too. It all starts online.