Examine the impact of the new media on Parliaments and MPs Essay

Examine the impact of the new media on Parliaments and MPs - Essay Example ment should make sure they do whatever it takes to protect a free and independent media as its presence is vital for a functioning democracy as well as good governance (Girard 2002). It is for this reason that make parliament strive to establish a culture through legislation which protects the media. Generally, the aim of this essay is to investigate the effect of new information and communications technologies (ICTs), mostly the internet, upon parliamentary democracy in Britain. This study views three important aspects which the internet puts on parliamentary democracy such as, the practices, principles and rules related to the use of the internet in a parliamentary context. It is hoped that, perception on the development of and issues of e-democracy can be established. To facilitate the media’s operation, Parliament should ensure freedom of expression, rights to information in addition to freedom of the press. According to Rogers (1995) it is important for parliamentarians to participate in debates on how to bring about a balance between the freedom of speech and standards of responsibility on top of decency and quality. In Britain for example, BBC have had a powerful effect on the rising technologies. Earlier, internet domain was delegated to an individual. Domain requests had to be emailed, manually screened and then forwarded to the UK naming committee before processing. Membership was restricted to a certain group of people who were part of a peering arrangement. The naming committee could object to a name and if small number objected then the name was refused. In mid 1990s growth of internet and the introduction of the WWW pushed request for domain name registrations grew to levels that were not manageable. Automation tools were provid ed which formalised the naming process. A good professional relationship should be created between the parliamentarians and journalists for them to fulfil their duties. This relationship is based on mutual respect as well