At journalism school in the mid-1990s, at the very dawn of the Internet age, it was fashionable to think the World Wide Web’s rise as our society’s pre-eminent information medium would spell catastrophe for democracy.

The (counterintuitive) theory peddled by journalism professors and other wiseheads was that our newly democratized civic thoughtspace would be overrun by unverifiable information — undermining “Truth” from reputable sources and imperiling social progress.

Without “good information” from professional journalists, for instance, voters would be helpless to evaluate candidates and their ideas.

Fortunately, that’s proved to be bunk.

The theory was bogus on at least three counts.

It vastly overestimated the mainstream media’s credibility and how much good information it produces.

It vastly underestimated how readily everyday people would take to gathering information on their own.

And it completely overlooked how competition would make news organizations better and more reflective of their audience’s information needs.

I don’t wish to overstate. Ignorance still runs rampant among the electorate, and there are plenty of falsehoods and rumors passed off as truth online.

But that was no less true before the Internet, or TV, or radio for that matter, when information was shared sitting on barstools and around dinner tables.

There are also plenty of small towns, such as ours, where established media organizations are still responsible for much of what a community knows about itself.

It’s hard to imagine local candidates would be vetted as much by voters without the Independent-Mail’s election forums — now Webcast! live — or the publication of candidate Q&As in print and online through our Voter Guide.

But if citizen journalism sites and discussion forums, such as the two-year-old Cocklebur at IndependentMail.com, are any indication, that “good information” is just the starting point for a wider, more robust and more information-rich debate.

Let’s face it, for the chattering classes who have always made up the lion’s share of voters, influence-peddlers and decision makers, the Internet is nirvana.

They get unfiltered access to the thoughts of candidates and policy wonks. They track every twist and turn of ideas in the blogosphere. They network with political like-minds. And they research issues, voting and fundraising records like pros.

The amount and availability of useful, high-quality information is astounding — and it’s being put to use.

I’ve never bought the idea that America has “fallen” into political apathy.

Indeed, I see a reawakening of civic commitment.

For all our sakes, let’s pray that’s truly so.