Power of the press in the palm of your hand

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Technology has put tools for content creation in everyone's pockets. As we've seen in the case of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, social media has the power to put pressure on officials and push them to action. Many have questioned whether an arrest would have happened if the authorities were not pressured by social media activists.

The video of #AhmaudArbery sickens me to my core.

Exercising while Black shouldn't be a death sentence.https://t.co/GV7GFju7tr

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 5, 2020

The effects of technology in shifting the balance of power can be seen in the struggle between the Israelis and Palestinians. There is a stark contrast in how each group views the advancement of technology: "It was apparent from talking to Israeli and Palestinian leaders that the former group saw recent technological changes as a threat, while the latter saw these changes as an opportunity" (Wolfsfeld, 2018, pg. 112). There has been a recent rise in ordinary Palestinian individuals using camera phones to document abuses by Israeli officials (2018).

From this we can learn that technology is affecting the culture by making power of the press available to everyone.

Reference

Wolfsfeld, G. (2018). The role of the media in violent conflicts in the digital age: Israeli and Palestinian leaders’ perceptions. Media, War & Conflict, 11(1), 107–124. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1177/1750635217727312