Roundtable 14’s morning discussion began with the table moderator, MIDN 2/C Donald Bowers, introducing the table’s topic: “Marginal Cost of Zero: The internet and the propagation of news”. Next, the group reviewed what subtopics would be covered over the duration of the 5 scheduled roundtable sessions. The table subtopics include: “how do people get their news?” (blogs, news papers, magazines, apps), the role of internet news (instant and internationally connected), “news...is it really free?”, “how is policy affected by news?”, “are news outlets more effective than government run intelligence?”, and “where do we go from here?”. Donald then turned his attention towards the delegates to seek out their goals for the roundtable sessions. Shelby, from the United States Naval Academy, wants to know how in tune our generation (18-30) is to news and world media. Anna, from Furman University, wants to know if the internet age is overstated. Andrea, from the Italian Naval Academy, wants to find out how reliable the news he receives truly is.
Following the table introduction and goal setting session, the moderator-led discussion began. The delegates all had insightful comments and questions that added to the discussion. Daniel, an officer in the British Navy, expressed his concern for how free media effects operational security. Donald raised the poignant question of whether American tech companies going into foreign nations appear as our government trying to infiltrate under “a mask”. Donald then aired a clip from 20/20 on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart which highlighted the difference between entrainment and news . The clip lead into the discussion of the objectivity of news which arrived at the conclusion that news is a business and that the “fourth estate” must cater to the needs of their customer, the general public. Our morning roundtable discussion closed with the question that the table will examine for the remainder of the conference: “How do we know what we’re getting is true?”
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