The development of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is directly responsible for providing an infrastructure that realises the potential for collaborative publishing on the internet (see also Digital Journalism). It is an important development in the disintermediation (see also Peer-to-Peer - Open Source) of text-based media because it grants the authors of such media a more personal, meaningful and arguably a more truthful relationship with the audience. It also contributes to a shift in power away from private interests and redirects it towards the realm of serving the public interest. As Bruns (2003) concurs:

[I]f truly open p2p publications are showing any form of bias, they do so because their participating constituency is itself biased. More so than edited publications, then, whose coverage may be influenced by the editors’ commercial or ideological agenda to the point of not being representative of popular views and interests (Bruns 2003 pp.9-10).

The reason why P2P publications don’t serve a private interest is because of its user-to-user based architecture. Traditional forms of broadcast media have a one to many model of communication whereby it assumes a passive audience because there can be no direct challenge by the audience to the medium. In contrast, the P2P system not only enables interactivity from the audience it encourages it. In fact it might be more accurate to say that it relies upon it because the technology itself only provides a forum for the audience to have their opinions and findings voiced. Also because it involves minimal intervention by intermediaries a broader perspective on any given issue is possible.
Because of this ability to provide alternative points of view, P2P publishing, particularly independent media news sources, also fulfil a valuable social role. For example the various Indymedia organisations uses a network of individuals to offer a “grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues� (UK Indymedia 2004).
The development of P2P publishing also functions as a way for specific groups who share a particular interest to also share resources and information. For example Slashdot is a P2P publication that provides “News for nerds. Stuff that matters.� A target audience that may not be lucrative enough for most commercial based mediums, Slashdot is able to provide a service for a niche market. Moreover, because of the invaluable input of the users themselves, Slashdot is able to be more comprehensive than any non-collaborative effort could ever hope to be.
The value of shared and collaborative efforts is also evident in the production of an on-line Wiki. Due to its open editing feature not only is there a vast pool of information available but also because it is constantly being updated ensures that the information remains current.

References

Bruns, A. (2003) “From Blogs to Open News: Notes towards a Taxonomy of P2P Publications�, Brisbane: ANZCA 2003 [Conference Paper, 9-11 July 2003]

UK Indymedia (2004) “UK Indymedia� retrieved October 25, 2004, from http://www.indymedia.org.uk/

Slashdot (2004) “Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters�, retrieved October 25, 2004, from http://slashdot.org/

Marcial Christians 07:48, 29 Oct 2004 (EST)