Pro, Anti-War Groups Use Internet to Organize Supporters

Broadcast: Apr 03, 2003

 

The Internet has been hailed as a great tool for democracy and public debate, both from pro-war and anti-war groups. The two sides have found the World Wide Web useful in helping¹ to organize their respective supporters, in the United States and abroad.

The pro-war and anti-war camps in the United States are intensely ¹⁾passionate² about their viewpoints. One thing they both agree on, though, is the value of the Internet.

"The Internet has enabled people to express their points of view in much greater numbers, much more quickly and efficiently³ than has been possible in the past, America is a great democracy and the Internet has been an important tool for facilitating that. It has been a great tool for democracy and all. And I am very happy that we have it," said Peter Schurman, executive director of an independent political group that opposes the war in Iraq, MoveOn.org. and Kristinn Taylor, co-leader of the D.C. chapter of the politcally conservative group Free Republic, which supports the war.

Mr. Taylor says Free Republic, started in late 1996, now has members in Asia and Europe. He says the group was one of the pioneers of using the Internet for activism. "Like any technology that people find useful, everyone starts using it," he says.

Mr. Taylor said that the Internet was especially useful recently, when the group hastily organized an e-mail campaign to complain about a television correspondent who criticized U.S. war plans in an interview with Iraqi TV. He says the television network acknowledged receiving hundreds of angry e-mails. Whether or not it was a direct result of the pressure, the reporter was fired.

"What people can do on the Internet, on both sides, is they can provide information like e-mail contacts and phone numbers that average citizens would not have readily available to them," he said. "It makes the communications between average citizens and people of influence more readily available."

On the other side of the debate, MoveOn.org's Peter Schurman says the Internet also provides like-minded people around the world a way to connect with each other. "Our purpose is not to influence people, but to enable people to express points of view that they already have," he said.

Adam Thierer, of the CATO Institute, says the war in Iraq has made its presence felt on the Internet, which he says has become a battleground of public opinion.

"You see a lot of different groups utilizing⁴ the Internet to put out their message and try to communicate with others to try to build support for their various positions," he said. "It remains⁵ unclear to me, however, if one side or the other is necessarily winning that battle, although there are probably a lot more anti-war sites going up these days than pro-war sites."

Mr. Thierer says this may be due to a generational gap. "There are a lot more younger people out there today who are very Internet-savvy and active online on a regular basis, who can quite easily throw up sites at a moment's notice to say something about the way they feel about the war with Iraq," he said. "Whereas, a lot of the proponents⁶ of the war with Iraq may be folks who just are not nearly as tech-savvy, for whatever reason."

Mr. Thierer's ²⁾assertion is backed-up by the numbers. MoveOn.org claims more than 1.3 million registered members, three-fourths of whom signed up in the past few months to protest the war. In contrast, Free Republic claims more than 100,000 members, but says only about 40,000 are active at any given time.

Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism⁷ and sociology at Columbia University, says although anti-war groups have the upper hand on the Internet, it is not clear if they will be able to have any effect on public policy.

"Plainly, when the organizers of policy have their mind made up, no sort of ³⁾manifestation⁸ of popular sentiment, whether it's on the streets or via e-mail, is going to have an immediate⁹ effect," he said.

Professor Gitlin says the use of the Internet in public discourse¹⁰ is still a relatively¹¹ new thing. Therefore, he says, the political impact at this point is still largely unknown.

Stephanie Ho VOA news, Washington.

1)    passionate [5pAFEnit]adj. 充满热情的

2)    assertion [E5sE:FEn]n. 主张, 断言, 声明

3)    manifestation [7mAnifes5teiFEn]n. 显示, 表现, 示威运动

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

3 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

4 utilizing   

v.利用，使用( utilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Utilizing an assembler to produce a machine-language program. 用汇编程序产生机器语言的过程。 来自辞典例句
• The study and use of devices utilizing properties of materials near absolute zero in temperature. 对材料在接近绝对零度时的特性进行研究和利用的学科。 来自辞典例句

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

7 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

8 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。