The prediction, in brief:

To its critics, teledemocracy conjures the image of alienated, silent voters, sitting alone inside an electronic cocoon. Like television directors sitting in a sealed TV control room, these modern-day robotic voters absorb virtually all their information about the outside world electronically – through CNN-style live coverage, tabloid-news shows, and sensational newsmagazines; and, increasingly, at programmed computer terminals. The wired public then feeds back its ill-formed, unsophisticated, unmediated opinion instantaneously, without deliberation, following simple on-screen instructions to press Y for yes, or N for no … But is that actually the way electronic democracy will operate, or needs to operate the in future?

Predictor: Grossman, Lawrence K.

Prediction, in context:

In his 1995 book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in the Information Age,” Lawrence Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS, writes:”To its critics, teledemocracy conjures the image of alienated, silent voters, sitting alone inside an electronic cocoon. Like television directors sitting in a sealed TV control room, these modern-day robotic voters absorb virtually all their information about the outside world electronically – through CNN-style live coverage, tabloid-news shows, and sensational newsmagazines; and, increasingly, at programmed computer terminals. The wired public then feeds back its ill-formed, unsophisticated, unmediated opinion instantaneously, without deliberation, following simple on-screen instructions to press Y for yes, or N for no. These isolated electronic citizens never participate the the political community. They rarely discuss issues with fellow citizens face-to-face. Historian Daniel Boorstin contrasts the private, ‘segregated’ experience of watching television, in which each person’s experience is separate and silent, with the necessary healthy and vigorous deliberative ‘public life of a democracy.’ But is that actually the way electronic democracy will operate, or needs to operate the in future?”

Biography:

Lawrence Grossman wrote the book “The Electronic Republic: Reshaping Democracy in an Information Age” (Penguin, 1995). The former executive at NBC and PBS urged people to realize that digital communications had altered how things can and should be done. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics

Subtopic: Democracy

Name of publication: The Electronic Republic (book)

Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 1: Transforming Democracy – An Overview

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 17

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne