Source Note #30: “My Kids Needs Internet Access to Do Their Homework!” (Youtube, Citizen opinion)
Title: My Kids Needs Internet Access to Do Their Homework!
Summary: This is a video of a woman explaining why she believes the government should provide internet for everyone. She believes it is a necessity, and says that her children cannot accomplish their homework without internet access. Her husband lost his job, and their family can’t afford to pay for internet any longer.
Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Citizen, Multimedia, Stakeholder
What is it? A youtube video
Publication Information: January 28th, 2009
Author: Kimberly Bryant (She shares her story on camera. The video is from InternetForEveryone.org)
Location:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0aMAwNp0AA
Accessed: March 12, 2009
Support: This video is Kimberly Bryant telling her personal experiences with the lack of affordable broadband in her life. She strongly believes the government should not only expand broadband everywhere, but also subsidize broadband so it can be inexpensive, or even free, for all.
Audience and Agenda: This seems like a very manipulative video. Kimberly Bryant invokes a sob story to petition for free/affordable broadband everywhere. This makes sense, since her story is told on behalf of InternetForEveryone.org, an interest group that wants universal broadband access at the government’s expense. There are only 361 views of this video on youtube, but the InternetForEveryone coalition contains many large groups, such as the ACLU and Ebay.com.
Usefulness:
This video gives a personal face and reason for broadband expansion. Bryant gives the extreme position that government should not only expand broadband, but provide it for its citizens. Obama’s current plans for broadband aren’t geared towards Bryant’s wishes, and hers had socialistic tenancies that many would consider unnecessary.
Works cited:
http://www.internetforeveryone.org/principles
http://www.ebay.com/
2 Replies
[...] – “My Kids Needs Internet Access to Do Their Homework!” (Youtube, Citizen opinion) – (Citizen, Stakeholder, [...]
[...] Broadband is a rapidly growing industry. Roughly 75% of Americans who connect to the internet do so via broadband. (Source Note #14) Americans are subscribing to broadband at an ever- increasing rate. (Source Note #22) Five years ago Americans were paying a much higher fee for broadband usage and man had problems getting coverage in their area. In 2009, while costs have dropped and much of America can receive broadband coverage, there is still a sizable number of Americans who don’t receive broadband service. In many rural areas of the country, broadband service simply isn’t available. The infrastructure isn’t laid out in these places, and internet companies don’t have any financial incentive to expand to areas with a limited customer base. With many people today considering broadband an everyday necessity for purposes of work, school, and communication, areas that can’t get coverage face a technological handicap. (Source notes #3, #20, and #30) [...]