CIRA has been at the forefront in spreading the information revolution across the North-East. They have worked to establish Internet access for several local communities, including Trimdon, Hemlington, and Saltburn. Brian said: “The arrival of the Internet, with its capacity to provide communications across the world for anyone and at anytime, was seen as a great new opportunity for providing unregulated free speech and a genuine shift in power from politicians and business interests to ‘the people’.
“I will suggest that greater connectivity and access to the Internet does not necessarily lead to citizen empowerment and improved democracy. Instead, to be ‘electronically included’ is to be constrained by the rules, procedures and restrictions governing computer-mediated-communications. Despite being increasingly wired up through cable TV there seems little evidence to suggest that the people of Teesside will use the new media to govern themselves.”
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