Interesting discussion. Brianna, is it your view that the degradation of public debate is a novel phenomenon, aided by the internet? Christ, arguably journalism has long been terrible - full of incorrect information and constantly manipulated by vested interests... There is a reason journalists sit above lawyers on the most distrusted list for the public.

Having said that, I see the potential for secret algorithms to pre-determine the scope of ideas presented to us. It's a worry. And yet, the world that has been opened up to the public by the internet is still undeniably vast.

Surely the mirror image to the 24 news cycle repeating factoids/falsehoods is Wikileaks, for example, which allows citizens to verify journalism? Or what is left of journalism anyway... There is a void created by the decline in investigative journalism - no doubt - but there are some interesting ways in which that is being filled that just would not have been possible without the internet.

-Lizzie