The Tripod

We all know the importance of the Internet and the media in our daily lives. Most of us are constantly tuned into the news via our computers, Blackberries, and iPhones. Facebook updates us on our friends, and various online news sources update us on the world. This seems, to us, to be a completely normal, if not vital, part of our daily lives.

The Internet has grown up with us, and we with it. In 1989, when many juniors and sophomores in college were born, the first provider of dial-up Internet for consumers debuted, along with the term "World Wide Web." Through the 1990s Internet use grew, and by 1996, right around the time many of us were entering elementary school, about 45 million people were using the Internet. With the founding of Google in 1998, Napster in 1999, and Wikipedia in 2001, by the time many of us reached high school the Internet was a daily part of life, and a principal provider of instant information.

Today, information via the Internet is almost taken for granted. It is easy to forget the ease and speed by which news (and rumors) travel, especially when we are usually benefiting from these perpetual sources of media. However, in our constant reliance on the Web it is easy to forget that the consequences of our own actions can reach a worldwide audience with the few clicks of a button.

The Trinity community was harshly reminded of the negative effects of a fast-spreading media fire after the men's squash team won their 12th consecutive national championship, and one of our own, Baset Chaudry '10, became the object of repeated media criticism.

Why did something that could easily have been forgotten turn into a public relations nightmare for the College and the squash team? Ultimately, the "right" few seconds were caught on tape at an already highly publicized sporting event. Added to this were stereotypes of Trinity, misunderstandings of the "gentleman's" sport of squash, and ingrained prejudices that, combined with the image of a towering Chaudry over a shorter opponent, gave reporters, bloggers, and sports fans all reason to make assumptions about the College, the team, and the player.

The result has received international media coverage. From ESPN, to Perez Hilton, to the UK's Telegraph, a search for Trinity Squash on Google results in hundreds of news results. However, the Tripod's coverage of the squash team's win was only the third most viewed article on our Web site. Past championships consistently received more attention in the Tripod, probably because there were not, at the time, a massive number of alternative sources. With constantly updated newspapers and Web sites, our poor Tripod article didn't have a chance. It's an example of the pure mass of information available, as well as the range of sources that provide that information.

As editors of a student newspaper, we have a unique perspective on the media aspect of the incident two Sundays ago. In the age of never-ending Internet sources, readers have to make intelligent decisions as to what is fact, what is fiction, and what is an uninformed mixture of the two. All news stories are reported with some amount of bias, whether intentional or not. It is up to the reader or viewer to discern the truth and form an intellectual opinion. Perhaps the next time we are confronted with a story like Baset's from an outside perspective, we will be more contemplative about the assumptions we draw, and not as quick to reach conclusions. This is where the vast amount of information on the Internet could, in fact, prove useful, for if the Internet does anything, it certainly gives us all the tools necessary to decide for ourselves.

-S.E.H.

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