Or when war correspondents could connect directly with the home desk by using their own satellite dish, so footage could be broadcast within seconds. But, fundamentally, in most cases everything stayed the same in the 'one way' relationship between the media and the public. The media still are the most important managers of the public arena in every democracy. But looking at the structure and organization of the Internet several characteristics are pointing in a new direction. This network is sort of a chaos, it is completely decentralized with no central supervising authority, government or commercial corporation.
Communication is no longer a one way street.
In newsgroups or discussion lists everyone has access to the rest and can report whatever news or opinion to the rest. Of course you can start your own list. Because of this decentralized two-way system, ratings or circulation figures do not matter anymore. Segmentation and fragmentation can be endless on the Net, and that creates new publishing perspectives. The costs stay the same with a thousand or a million users, quite different from a traditional magazine or newspaper.