The era of Podcasts and Social Electronic Networking

I remember back in my college days (in the middle 80's), I was a DJ in the university radio (in Sao Jose dos Campos - SP - Brazil) and I wanted to expand my show to another commercial radio and I got a slot, one hour per week provided that I could find sponsors for my show. I could not get sponsorship (partly my fault because I looked for sponsors in the wrong places, partly because the show was out of tune - maybe too advanced/ modern - with the city) and I went back to my radio program in the College Radio.
It is a shame I was not born two decades after. If I were in my college now, I would start my podcast. Besides this, it would be possible for me to improve my research of new bands and music since it would be easier to find new rock groups and songs over the Internet than reading foreigner music newspapers and magazines and relying on few music stores and radio programs.
Although having a negative conotation with some part of the media which focus on the sexual predators and the deceiving, social electronic networking either through e-mail, newsgroups, YouTube, Orkut, instant messenger, electronic forums, etc... also promotes the networking of individuals with the same interests independently of the physical location which rarely would be possible before.
At the same time, now we can read news reported by newspapers all over the world freeing us from the monopolistic point of the view of the local culture and the traditional media vehicles.
There is a revolution in the media and the traditional media is left without guards. This is good, maybe the traditional media will change to incorporate new point of views or even will be left behind.

The only downside is that this new media although popular in the G7 countries, is still limited to the minority who can afford a computer and Internet access in the emergent countries.
We might experience a gap between the old TV / newspaper/ magazines consumers and the new eletronic media consumers.

I love History and I believe that the knowledge of History is very important to know who we are and why we act / react the way we do.
One example is how the cultural heritage of the colonizers persist throughout the ages. The USA was colonized primarily for people in search for a haven where they can follow their beliefs (religions), this is why the first amendment (the freedom of speech) is so important for the USA.
But recently this fundamental foundation of the American nation has been shaken by the Fear (the fear of terrorism). Can the notion of first American settlers and the Founding Fathers be supressed by the Fear of an idea the Americans know very little?
The Americans have not realized that they are not fighting a war against a Nation, a race or religion, although the media and the majority of the American intellectuals think the opposite. Terrorism does not mean the Arabs, the muslim world or the Al-Queda, it is in fact a means to the end.
IMHO they should look at why someone chooses terrorism as an act and try to reinforce other means to achieve the same objectives.
Besides fighting against terrorist organizations, they should enfasize organizations that adopt other more peaceful means, one example is the peaceful Tibetan resistence led by His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
In the Merriam Webster dictionary terrorism means: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. They are fighting against power coercion (to be more precise: against one of the ways power can be exercised - with terror). The paradox: in fighting against Terrorism, the current administration can be generating terrorism!!! Therefore in this case they have to fight against themselves!
But somehow the word has been obliterated to the meaning of all the US enemies that uses a violent method besides diplomacy or straight war confrontation.