Review article
Will the Internet set us free: New media and old politics in Bosnia-Herzegovina
Lejla Turčilo
; Fakultetu političkih nauka Univerziteta u Sarajevu
Abstract
The Internet has become a significant tool and very important channel of political communication in contemporary world. The first advocates of on-line political communication promoted the idea that the Internet is removing barriers to free information flow between political decision-makers and those in whose favor these decisions are made (public) and that incorporation of the Internet in political communication sphere causes changes of former dominant models of political communication, based on secrecy and non-transparency. Thus, the Internet “could set us free”, and open new ways of citizens’ participation in political communication.
This paper tries to find an answer to a question: has that happened in Bosnia-Herzegovina? Has the Internet started to “set us free”? It analyzes the usage of the Internet in political communication in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the pre-election time. The hypothesis from which we start in this paper says that the Internet is not fully incorporated in political communication in Bosnia-Herzegovina (or, to be precise, is not incorporated in the proper manner), so the accurate term to describe situation in B&H politics when it comes to new media usage is “political communication using the Internet” rather than “on-line political communication”.
Keywords
Internet; political communication; political parties; NGOs; Bosnia-Herzegovina
Hrčak ID:
65462
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2010.
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