(Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Negeri Medan)
01. Challenges Facing Digital Media
Video: Challenges 1: The Digital Divide 4 min
Reading: BASIC: Mapping the Digital Divide 10 min This is the Basic version of the reading. If you would like a challenge, you can skip to the Advanced version by clicking on the next reading.
Introduction
The United States has long been the world leader in creating and using the Internet. The U.S. Department of Defense paid for the development of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) in the 1960s. It was the first network to use Internet protocol. American engineers, companies and consumers have pioneered advances in networking, applications and content. Today, nearly every American has a way to get on the Internet. The United States leads the world in the availability of advanced wireless broadband Internet services. The term broadband means high-speed Internet access that is always on and can carry large amounts of information. It is much faster than traditional dial-up access. Broadband includes high-speed transmission methods such as 4G LTE, wireless, fiber and cable modem.
Not everyone gets the same benefits from this technological revolution. Millions of Americans still do not regularly use a computer. Research shows that there are still large differences among groups of Americans in their opportunities to use the Internet. There are also differences in the quality of their Internet connections. This “digital divide” keeps some Americans off the Internet. These Americans tend to be older and less educated. They frequently have lower incomes. People in rural parts of the country also tend to have fewer choices of Internet companies. These people have slower Internet connections than those in cities.
Closing the digital divide can increase workers' productivity. Making the Internet available to more people can create job opportunities. President Barack Obama believes that expanding broadband Internet for Americans is very important. Since 2009, the federal government has invested money into this goal. The government will set up or improve more than 100,000 miles of network infrastructure. This will maintain the computer hardware and software that allow users to connect to the Internet and communicate over it. At the same time, 45 million more Americans have begun to use broadband. The President’s ConnectED project aims to connect almost all American students to high-speed broadband in their classrooms by 2018. In January of 2015, the President announced several things his administration would do to make this a reality. It will also make sure fast and reliable broadband is available to more Americans at a lower cost. This includes efforts to promote broadband made available in local communities. There is a push for State and local governments to change laws about selling Internet service. These laws limit competition among Internet companies. More competition among these companies could lead to lower prices for consumers.
This report examines the digital divide using new facts from the Census Bureau’s 2013 American Community Survey (ACS). We have linked the census information with the newest version of the National Broadband Map (NBM). The large size of the ACS allows us to look at Internet use in a particular way. Before this survey, this specific information was not available. Our most important findings show that the digital divide is connected to things that affect the demand for the Internet. These include household income, and the costs of providing Internet service. The cost of providing Internet in an area could be tied to how many people live there. We consider several possible reasons for the digital divide. However, our main goal is not to measure the influence of any one factor. Instead, we are trying to look at the differences between groups of Americans. We want to see how these differences affect who uses the Internet. We also look at how much each group uses the Internet.
Overall, the evidence shows that we have made progress. The largest gains have happened for those groups of people that started with the least Internet use. All Americans are beginning to use the Internet at the same rate. However, there is still a long way to go to. This is especially true in our poorest neighborhoods and most rural communities. More work must be done to ensure that all Americans benefit from recent advances in computing and communications technology.
The Digital Divide
The digital divide can be measured in many different ways. We begin by considering the relationship between Internet use and household income in different areas of the United States. In Figure 1, each dot represents a single PUMA. PUMA stands for Public Use Microdata Area. Each PUMA contains about 100,000 residents.(1) The graph shows the number of residents in each PUMA who say that they use the Internet at home. This number is shown next to the median household income for the same PUMA.(2) Median income is the amount that is right in the middle, when the incomes of a population are lined up in numerical order. Half of the people have incomes above the median amount. Half have incomes below that amount.
The figure shows a strong connection between median income and Internet use. About 80 to 90 percent of PUMAs with the highest incomes have the Internet at home. Only about 50 percent of PUMAs with the lowest incomes use the Internet at home. We can predict something about income and Internet use. It seems that doubling the median household income of a PUMA could increase its Internet use up to 20.2 percentage points.(3) It might seem that making more money would lead to more Internet use. Some might think that using the Internet might lead to making more money. However, nearly all Americans can use basic Internet service. This strongly suggests that income differences are the controlling factor in this relationship.
Table 1 uses differences in education and race to measure the digital divide. It does not look at income level. In the 2013 ACS, less than half of households headed by someone who did not graduate high school had a home Internet connection. Meanwhile, over 90 percent of households headed by a college graduate had the Internet. Black households are 16 percentage points less likely to have an Internet connection than white households. Hispanic households are 11 percentage points behind white households. Native American households trail white ones by 19 percentage points.
Table 1 also shows that the digital divide has gotten more narrow. Some groups did not adopt the Internet early on. These same groups have had the largest increases in Internet use since 2001. Between 2001 and 2013, home Internet use increased by 30.3 percentage points in black households. In white households, Internet use increased by just 21.4 percent. Internet use went up by 26.3 percentage points among those without a high school education. It only went up 14.8 percentage points for those with a bachelor’s degree.
Figure 2 shows a third way to look at the digital divide. It shows the relationship between age and home Internet use in 2013. It considers different levels of household income.(4) People generally use the Internet less, the older they are. However, this trend is even more true for Americans who are in the bottom fourth of household incomes. Figure 2 also shows a strong relationship between income and Internet use. This relationship is true, even apart from a person's age. For example, look at a 90-year-old who is in the top quarter of the household incomes in the country. That person is more likely to have the Internet at home than a person of any age in the bottom quarter of household incomes.
There are several possible explanations for these patterns in Internet use. The simplest explanation might be that Internet access is expensive. Those with more income are more able to afford it. In a 2010 FCC survey, 36 percent of people who did not use the Internet said the main reason was the expense. Yet, things like age and income may also be connected to the non-monetary costs and benefits of Internet use.(5) The Government Accountability Office recently did a review of broadband Internet use. The report said that some people stated that the cost was the reason they did not use the Internet. Some said they did not use the Internet because they did not have the right computer skills. Some people said they did not see the importance of the Internet.
Footnotes
(1) PUMAs are geographic areas defined for studying statistics. PUMAs are built using sections of land as they are divided for taking the census. They are also built using the boundaries of counties. PUMAs nest within states. Each one contains roughly 100,000 residents. They cover the entire United States.
(2) We asked people a specific question to find out how many households had the Internet. It was question 10 of 2013 ACS, “At this house, apartment, or mobile home—do you or any member of this household access the Internet?” By asking the question this way, we did not include householders who only use the Internet at a public location. These people might use the Internet at school or the library. We only count the people who use the Internet at home.
(3) We examine home computer use rather than home Internet use. The pattern is very similar. The average rates of computer use are higher those of Internet use, though. It is most that way for the poorest 20 percent of households. Estimates suggest that doubling median household income leads to a 19.3 percentage point increase in the probability of having a computer at home.
(4) Note that a person is counted as using the Internet at home if they live in a household that has Internet. It does not matter whether or not they are the primary user of the Internet.
(5) Let us use a 2011 study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration as an example. This study looked at people who do not have home Internet access. In this group, 67 percent of the those over age 65 say that they simply are not interested in it. Only 26 percent of those aged 16 to 44 gave the same explanation.
Reading: ADVANCED: Mapping the Digital Divide 10 min This is the advanced version of the reading.
Introduction
The United States has long been the world leader at creating and deploying the Internet. From the original Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) through today’s advanced mobile networks, American engineers, companies, and consumers have pioneered advances in networking, applications, and content. Today, nearly every American can access the Internet, and the United States leads the world in the availability of advanced wireless broadband Internet services, such as 4G LTE.
The benefits of this technological revolution, however, have not been evenly distributed. Millions of Americans still do not regularly use a computer, and research shows that there remain substantial disparities in both Internet use and the quality of access. This “digital divide” is concentrated among older, less educated, and less affluent populations, as well as in rural parts of the country that tend to have fewer choices and slower connections.
Closing the digital divide can increase productivity and open ladders of opportunity, and President Obama has made expanding broadband Internet access a priority of his Administration. Since 2009, investments from the federal government have led to the deployment or upgrading of well over 100,000 miles of network infrastructure, while 45 million additional Americans have adopted broadband. The President’s ConnectED initiative aims to connect 99 percent of American students to high-speed broadband in their classrooms by 2018. And in January of this year, the President announced several steps that the Administration would take to ensure fast and reliable broadband is available to more Americans at lower cost, including efforts to promote community-based broadband and a call for State and local governments to roll back short-sighted regulations that restrict competition.
This report examines the state of the digital divide using new data from the Census’ 2013 American Community Survey (ACS), which we link with the most recent version of the National Broadband Map (NBM). The large scale of the ACS allows us to examine Internet use at a level of granularity that was not previously possible. Our most important findings illustrate how the digital divide reflects factors that influence the demand for Internet, such as household income, and also the costs of providing it (e.g. population density). Although we consider several potential explanations for the digital divide, our main goal is not to measure the causal impact of any particular factor, but rather to characterize disparities in Internet access and adoption as they exist today.
Overall, the evidence shows that we have made progress, with the largest gains occurring for those groups that started with the least. While this suggests the beginning of convergence toward uniformly high levels of access and adoption, there is still a substantial distance to go, particularly in our poorest neighborhoods and most rural communities, to ensure that all Americans can take advantage of the opportunities created by recent advances in computing and communications technology.
Mapping the Digital Divide
The digital divide can be measured in many different ways, and we begin by considering the relationship between Internet use and household income across different areas of the entire United States. In Figure 1, each dot represents a single Public Use Microdata Area, or PUMA, containing roughly 100,000 residents [PUMAs are geographic areas defined for statistical use. PUMAs are built using census tracts and counties, nest within States, contain roughly 100,000 residents, and cover the entire United States]. The graph plots the share of residents in each PUMA who report that they use the Internet at home against the median household income for the same PUMA [The specific question item we used to calculate the share of households using the Internet was 2013 ACS question 10, “At this house, apartment, or mobile home—do you or any member of this household access the Internet?” Thus, we do not include householders that only access the Internet at a public location, such as a school or library, in our measure of Internet adoption. Following the convention that Census uses in its public reports on computer and internet use, group quarters are excluded from these estimates, and a household is only counted as having internet access, if it reports having a subscription].
The figure shows a strong positive association between median income and Internet use. The most affluent PUMAs generally have home Internet adoption rates of 80 to 90 percent, while the PUMAs with the lowest median incomes have adoption rates of around 50 percent. Estimates from a linear regression suggest that doubling a PUMA’s median household income is associated with a 20.2 percentage point increase in the expected rate of Internet adoption [If we examine home-computer use rather than home Internet use, the overall pattern is very similar (although average computer adoption rates are higher (most so for the poorest 20% of households), and regression estimates suggest that doubling median household income is associated with a 19.3 percentage point increase in the probability of having a computer at home].
In principle, higher income might lead to more Internet use, or vice versa. However, the fact that nearly all Americans have access to basic Internet service strongly suggests that income disparities are the dominant factor in explaining this relationship.
Table 1 uses differences in educational attainment and race, rather than income, to measure the digital divide. In the 2013 ACS, less than half of households headed by someone who did not graduate high school had a home Internet connection, compared to over 90 percent of households headed by a college graduate. Black and Hispanic households are also 16 and 11 percentage points less likely to have an Internet connection than white households, respectively, while Native American households trail white ones by 19 percentage points.
However, Table 1 also shows that the digital divide has narrowed considerably since 2001. During that period, the largest increases in Internet adoption occurred for the demographic groups with the lowest initial adoption rate. For example, between 2001 and 2013, home Internet use has increased by 30.3 percentage points among black households, compared to 21.4 percent among white households. Similarly, Internet use grew by 26.3 percentage points among those without a High School education compared to 14.8 percentage points for those with a bachelor’s degree.
Figure 2 provides a third perspective on the digital divide by graphing the relationship between age and home Internet use in 2013 for persons with different levels of household income [Note that a person is counted as using the Internet at home if they live in a household with a subscription, regardless of whether they are the primary user]. While Internet use declines with age, this negative correlation is much stronger for Americans in the lowest quartile of household income. Figure 2 also shows that there is a strong positive relationship between income and Internet use even after accounting for age. For example, a 90 year old in the top quartile of the household income distribution is more likely to have an Internet connection in their home than a person of any age in the bottom quartile of the income distribution.
There are several possible explanations for the patterns in Internet use illustrated above. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that Internet access is costly, and those with more income are more likely to be able to afford it. Indeed, a 2010 FCC survey found that 36 percent of non-adopters cited expense as the primary driver of their decision. However, factors like age and income may also be correlated with the non-monetary costs and benefits that an individual or a household derives from Internet use [For example, a 2011 study by the NTIA found that among those who lack home Internet access, 67 percent of the those over age 65 say that they simply lack interest, compared to only 26 percent of those aged 16 to 44 who offer the same explanation]. For example, a recent review of broadband adoption by the Government Accountability Office cited not only affordability but also lack of perceived relevance and lack of necessary computer skills as the primary barriers to broadband Internet adoption. Moreover, if demographically similar households tend to locate close together, correlations between household demographics and Internet adoption may reflect shared variation in costs and prices. The next section of this report sheds some light on this latter possibility by examining the geography of Internet use.
Quiz: Check your Understanding: Mapping the Digital Divide 4 questions
Video: Language Focus – Data Commentary 5 min Practice Quiz: Game 3: Choose the Appropriate Data Commentary Language 6 questions Quiz: Unit 5 Assessment 1: Choose the Factually Accurate Data Commentary 6 questions Video: Citizen Journalism 5 min Reading: Want to be a citizen journalist? You might be one already. 10 min Quiz: Check Your Understanding: "Want to be a citizen journalist? You might be one already." 3 questions
Video: Challenges 2: Ethics in the Digital Age 5 min Video: Challenges 3: Intellectual Property and Censorship 4 min Reading: BASIC: Egypt Clamps Down on Media Ahead of 'Arab Spring' Anniversary 10 min Reading: ADVANCED: Egypt Clamps Down on Media Ahead of 'Arab Spring' Anniversary 10 min Quiz: Check Your Understanding: Egypt Clamps Down on Media Ahead of 'Arab Spring' Anniversary 4 questions
Peer-graded Assignment: Unit 5, Assessment 2: How has digital journalism affected traditional journalism? 1h
Review Your Peers: Unit 5, Assessment 2: How has digital journalism affected traditional journalism?
Video: Course Conclusion 1 min Bonus Additional Resources
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