The fastest growing communications medium in history, the Internet -- with 78,332 new domain registrations per week and a current total of 4,772,674 domains (domainstats.com) -- has shifted global communication onto a new level. Whereas television allowed a first glimpse into the new global communication era with worldwide satellite distribution and innovative global programming pioneered by CNN and MTV, the Internet seems to finally have lifted the curtain for the full vision of the truly global community. State borders decrease in terms of political communication - news junkies in New York, Mexico City, Cape Town, Beijing, Tokyo, Helsinki and Berlin eyewitness the same breaking news events, not only through "Around the World in Thirty Minutes" (as CNN's promotion stated) but instantanously via the worldwide web.

Today, television, radio, print media and virtual outlets increasingly compete for the global and local news audience, but this was not the case just some years ago. Then we were just fascinated by the fact that the online version of local newspaper in Alaska could be read in Australia, before the hardcopy was delivered on the doorsteps of a home thirty miles out of Juneau. Today, local newspapers, be it the prominent ones, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Times in London or Frankfurter Allgemeine in Frankfurt, or even small papers in Alaska and Scotland, update their websites several times a day and become a 24-hour news outlet. These are new developments which have also changed off-line journalism.

In the short history of the Internet, the year 1995 can be regarded as a key year, because it was the year when the global awareness of the Web first became obvious. It was then that the aggregate growth of host computers outside the U.S. became greater than within the U.S. for the first time (Internet World, 1995, p.48). Despite this new potential, established media companies anticipated the Internet as a rather costly niche product, rather than a promising outlet. For this reason, the strategy of many newspapers in the U.S. was to go online first, take the risk of a heavy investment, and then see how the market developed. The Internet was associated with the ugly "sibling," and "media companies saw the virtual world as a journalistic wild west, lacking the ethical rigor of a conventional newsroom" (Jamie Heller, 1998 in "Online Journalism Coming Into Its Own"). However, in this atmosphere, some enthusiasts were inspired by the idea that a "publication anywhere means publication everywhere" (Brian Kahin and Charles Nesson, Preface: Borders in Cyberspace, Cambridge, MIT Press,1997, ix) The opportunity to create something new was taken advantage of by a few key individuals and organizations, such as Michael Kinsley, who founded the first virtual magazine Slate, CNN, which developed its multidimensional still successful virtual outlet, and Microsoft, which formed MSNBC.

It soon became clear that cyberspace might, indeed, be a serious new challenge, not only for print media, who were the Internet pioneers four years ago, but also for television media. The challenge was to transform conventional journalism into "online-journalism" by the transfer of journalism routines into this new technology. At the same time, individuals and start-up news organizations, so called "new voices," began to compete, giving their authentic views in innovative new online-journalism and chat formats. Cyberspace has now become an information and news jungle, which demands new mediators. These are not only intellectuals -- as Douglas Kellner outlines in his recent article on "Intellectuals, the New Public Spheres, and Techno-Politics" (in: Chris Toulouse and Timothy W.Luke, eds.: The Politics of Cyberspace, Routledge: New York and London, 1998, pp.167-186, 171) -- but also journalists!

Myths and Visions

Particularly in the U.S. and in Europe, the Internet has been associated with high expectations:

The Internet is associated with the vision of a global network, being -- in principle -- accessible from all corners of the world synchronously as well as asynchronously, which enables to communicate worldwide (in the geographical as well as phenomenological sense of the word) across language, time zones, cultural and political boundaries. Nicholas Negroponte strongly advocates this global communication forum as the substantial element for world peace, because "children who are used to finding out about other countries through the click of a mouse are not going to know what nationalism is" -- a vision, which can be traced back to ideas of modernity and the enlightenment, particularly to Kant's idea of "perpetual peace" in a universal civil society (Immanuel Kant: Perpetual Peace and Other Essays, 1982).

Although not yet visible, a large impact is also expected due to the transformation of communication flow from a unidirectional distribution to a multidirectional network, where every receiver is potentially also a sender. The visions of the "netizen" and the "cybersociety" have been born. This new era of transnational communication, as well as community-building, is initiating a paradigm change in communication theory and journalism.

Yes, the Internet has become a symbol of the globalized media world. However, a closer look reveals an interesting diversity of communication cultures which become apparent in a comparison of Internet access in different world regions. In North America and Europe, it is estimated that there is one Internet user among four to six people. In South Africa, the ratio is one to 65, and in the rest of Africa one Internet user can be found among 1000 people. The "Wired World Atlas" also reveals a global imbalance in technologoical infrastructure of television and telephone penetration, where the high-end is shared by Canada, U.S., Bermuda, Monaco, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, and Australia. These listings are evidence of global relativity, which not only refers to media market penetration, but also to the technologies within one region. For example, cable use per capita in Dominica is six times greater than in France. In Cambodia, 71% of all phone users are cell phone users. In Bangladesh, the wait-time for a new landline phone exceeds six years, but you can "score" your own cell phone overnight. Throughout the Baltic nations and along the North Sea, there are more Internet hosts and cell phones per person than almost anywhere on the planet (Wired, November 1998, pp 162).

A closer look into the worldwide cyber-geography shows that almost all world regions have developed their very own Internet concepts (see an impressive graphical illustration of global internet traffic). These are not based as much on the commercial exploitation of the Internet, as on its potential to bridge other media's shortcomings, such as lack of telecommunication infrastructure or scarcity of regional media programming. By employing a relational approach, it becomes obvious that the Internet is not the technological imperial "dominator" of culture and society (as media were regarded in the theory of media imperialism in the seventies), but a communication arena, which integrates communication traditions with current development of public discourse and combines previous culturally and nationally determined public spaces into one, worldwide, accessible global forum.

To understand the potential role of cyberjournalism in this global interconnected public discourse among diverse Internet cultures -- as well as the mediating role of cyberjournalists -- it might help to very briefly sketch out five cyberjournalism environments that occur around the world.

Pluralistic Internet Environment: Media Markets Merge

The first environment is defined by basic market regulation. The U.S., which is the largest Internet market in the world, is an example of this type of environment. There are 3907 Internet providers located in the U.S., and some of these, such as AOL, operate globally. Compare this to 1663 in the rest of the world. Of currently more than 5000 newspapers on the Web, 3520 originate in the U.S.. Five U.S. States have more than one hundred web editions of local newspapers each: New York State has 175 (the most in the U.S.), followed by Ohio with 161, Florida with 142, Minnesota with 134, and Massachusetts with 126.

In this pluralistic Internet environment, online-journalism has developed its own formats. Exclusive virtual versions of print media regard the virtual space as an additional advertising market. Online news magazines (one of the most prominent being www.drudge.com, homepage of the Monica Lewinsky story) have developed unconventional cyberjournalism. E-zines, which are subscriber-based, represent a unique format in relation to new software-potential as well the notion of the web as a marketplace of, not necessarily authentic, but subjective opinions and viewpoints. John Labovitz' famous e-zine directory currently lists 5101 e-zines, none of which are from Latin America, Asia or Africa. News services, such as CNN, but also newspapers and news agencies provide "customized news," where subscribers can compose their individual daily news menus, a virtual "me-channel." Online syndication models as Pathfinder, Electronic Newsstand and Yahoo feature a variety of online publications, such as Espicurious and Swoon and are narrow-casting syndication models, which focus on gourmet and lifestyle topics.

Not only can the diversity of cyberjournalism's off-spring be observed in this pluralistic environment, but also the convergence of the traditionally separated media markets of television, radio and print media. Online newspaper editions contain downloadabe video footage, reach into the television market and update their online news-sites almost as frequently as a 24-hour television news program does. On the other hand, television provides text-based archives and news material. News agencies also enter this new competetive consumer news market; wholesale news are in many cases -- without gatekeeping and journalistic editing -- accessible to a wide audience. Reuters is one example of an innovative news agency, which offers a variety of customised subscriber-based financial news. Other news outlets enter this individual news service market, such as The Los Angeles Times - Washington Post News Service, which is available for a broad audience by subscription. The fundamental transformation of the current media market "order" of separate technical distributors (over-the-air, cable, satellite) will be the convergence of these program-provider platforms by Internet technology in the not-so-distant future.

Radio also seems to have discovered the value of a global and national distribution forum for a culturally-diverse program content. In the U.S., a variety of Internet radio programs focus entirely on fragmented audiences, which could not be reached by conventional syndicated over-the-air or cable distribution. These are multicultural niche markets with programs in Russian, Arabic, German and Bulgarian. In this environment, Internet Providers not only provide technical access, but are beginning to enter into portal-content programming. America Online just established Oxygen, a diversified Internet program for women, and also virtual editions of magazines such as Time, Entertainment Weekly, Parent Time and Money, which will be placed in exclusive postions on their site.

Post-Communist Transition: Internet as a New National Public Forum

A second type of environment is found in new Eastern European nations. Today, nine newspapers have an online version in Russia. These consist of short versions of offline papers. Compare this to the situation two years ago, when only two newspapers were on the web, or to a listing of each of the Internet servers in Russia, and it is clear the Internet has matured. There is also an increasing media variety on the net. Among the nine newspapers which are online today, there are Russian as well as English editions. Besides newspapers, sixteen magazines and twelve radio stations are already represented. In this environment, there is a prominent trend towards the slow, but continuous development of a public discourse, where the Internet is used as an additional and fast information source in this developing new democratic society.

Among the virtual magazines which exercise a new "online journalism," the weekly news magazine Argumenty i Facty is the most advanced. It offers an in-depth analysis of Russian political and economic news and has two outlets on the web: a separate news archive and an online version of the weekly edition. An increase in information services for journalists as well as the public also becomes evident. Russian Internet Broadcasting is a syndication model of a Russian News Navigator and a guide to Russion news sources on the Internet.

Comparable to the pluralistic environment (as described above), start-up news agencies are also online and obviously serve as news sources for professionals and the public alike. They are an example of the Internet's special version of jounalism in this environment. Although these examples seem minor compared to the ones of the pluralitistic environment, their role in the public discourse is of great importance. In Russia, a variety of agencies cover regional news territories, besides the national agencies: Ria Novosti, a Russian News provider, Interfax for Russia and the Baltic Countries, and, of course, the reformed ITAR-TASS, the former news agency of the communist party. The sixteen available magazines feature mostly popular culture, computer technology and science topics.

State Regulation: Limited Access and Reciprocal Cyberjournalism

China, Malaysia and Singapore are examples of a third type of environment. In China, nineteen newspapers are represented on the web. The majority of these deal with transregional political issues, which are located in the U.S.. The supply of critical information on national policy, originating from an out-of-state server, due to in-state censorship, can be described as reciprocal cyberjournalism. This kind of cyberjournalism keeps the political sphere alive and critical towards authoritarian governments. Another example of such an extra-territorial reciprocal "mirror" site is Tunnel Magazine, which focuses on current Chinese political affairs and is hosted on the famous U.S.-based geocities server.

In China, computer access was restricted to privileged groups within universities and scientific organizations three years ago. Today, Internet access in China has risen to 1 million accounts. It is estimated that 1000 new users sign up every month to recently available commercial providers, established by AsiaInfo, based in Singapore (see also International Herald Tribune, June, 17, 1998). Despite this slight commercialization of the Internet, the Chinese and other authoritarian governments (such as Singapore) are still exercising censorship and block access to critical websites.

In Malaysia, the number of Internet users -- compared to Western standards -- is still low. There are only 500,000 Internet accounts out of a population of 22 million. As the International Herald Tribune recently remarked "the increasing reliance on the Internet for news and information highlights a problem faced by Malaysia and other authoritarian governments around the region." Although Internet literacy is promoted by the country's leaders, tight controls on local newspapers and television stations are still exercised. (International Herald Tribune, Sept, 10,1998).

Spillover: Internet and the Regionalization of Information

The term "spillover" relates to the relay function of major satellite footprints. In "spillover" areas, the program content does not target their audience but is geared towards a large media market. Africa is an example of this "spillover" environment, as are Alaska, Malta, Portugal.

Two years ago, only 30 of the 46 African countries had Internet access. Today, 45 of the 46 capital cities have full Internet accessibility. Internet users are estimated to range from 700,000 to one million. In South Africa alone, there are around 600.000, leaving 100,000 users among the remaining 700 million on the continent. Africa Online, an Online Provider for Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe had 750 subscribers in 1995. Today, this service, which was founded in 1994 by two MIT students, is a subsidiary of Prodigy Inc. African cybercenters exist in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, each with over 3000 users. Apart from South Africa, North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt show a strong Internet user growth. There are also African newspapers on the Web: Ethiopia has four online editions, Laos has 1, Morocco has 2, South Africa has 21, Swaziland has 2, and Zambia has 3. In this "spillover" environment, the Internet is primarily used for national communication, the business community and other wealthy professionals. According to an Africa Online survey of 1998 "the number of South Africans over the age of 50 outnumber those aged under 21" in Internet use and "the amount of 20 somethings going online decreased while the amount of 40 somethings increased." Among these, 19% were women (as compared to 38% in U.S.).

Dualist: Parallel State Regulation and Commercial Expansion

The term "dualist" originates from the fact that this final type of environment is defined by a strange parallelism of state regulation and increasing commercial enterprises in the media market. Bertelsmann and Berlusconi's Fininvest are just a few of the leading European media companies whose success, despite strong market regulations, is surprising. Examples of this environment include West European countries, such as England, Italy, Germany. The media market is heavily regulated because media, at least in the tradition of legal regulations, are defined as cultural goods and means of national integrity, rather than predominantly commercially exploitable products. Television and radio programs, as well as cable channels, are part of this regulation, whereas the Internet seems to be a truly open market, free of any legal boundaries. Despite this potential, Internet access appears to be the problem in this dualist environment. The fact that national telecommunication monopolies define telephone rates in local markets poses a limit to commercial and other exploitation of the Internet in many of these dualist countries.

According to a recent OECD study, The Communication Outlook 1997, Internet access rates via telephone lines are the highest in Ireland, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany and other dualist countries (around $70.- per month). The media industry considers in principle the Internet as the new urgently needed provider platform for otherwise highly-regulated products. Internet visions are related to the Internet as a new commercial market, which overcomes conventional dualist market boundaries (see Eli M.Noam: Cyber-TV, Bertelsmann Stiftung, 1996).

Conclusion

From this globalized perspective on these environments and their media cultures, the Web, with its new cyberjournalism facilities, can be interpreted as a global public. However, the "public" and its opinion is no longer a substantial element of the political system of one society (J.F.Crgen Habermas The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, Cambridge, MIT Press, 1992), but has transformed into a somewhat autonomous global public sphere. This sphere can be described not as a space between the "public" and the "state," but between the "state" and an extra-societal, "global community."

Cyberjournalism has the potential to mediate this global public. Since the Internet becomes more and more fragmented by search engines, such as Yahoo! (Yahoo! Operates today 15 language versions), internet portal-providers and "me-channels", cyberjournalism can maintain the sense of community, which was associated with the Internet some years ago. To reopen public discourse around a "news event" is one example of this mediation process, which is exercised by cnn.com as well as by CNN's programming (such as Q&A) on a global scale. To provoke global interaction across these environments would be one new role for cyberjournalists. Global cooperation and syndication in regards to news reporting, involving the discussion of regional news angles and a mediation of news relevances, might be another new challenge for journalism in cyberspace.