This week’s presentation is somewhat similar to last week’s presentation as both topics are inter-related by new media. From this we are able to see that new media is playing a prominent role in today’s society. Beng Wee and Nicole explained this topic well by tying it to Singapore’s context through the general elections 2011.
It is true that new media provides alternative views to be heard online especially if the citizens do not agree with the mainstream media. So does this mean that new media, with the help of citizen journalists, is becoming a watchdog to our society? Take the 2011 Singapore general elections for example. The new media played a huge role in the 2011 elections as parties were able to post their manifesto and speeches online or in their facebook page. This also allowed netizens to play the role of watchdogs as they were constantly updating one another about the current happenings of the elections even on cooling off day (Nie and Saad, 2011). In my opinion, this also cause the elections to be even exciting as parties have to constantly try to outdo each other through online media as they know that they are being judged by netizens.
Thus, with the rise in new media, citizen journalism arises as well. This is when anyone can write about anything online and this usually arises when the public does not trust the mainstream media or when they want to be heard without any editing done by professional journalists (Quinn and Lamble, 2007). This is of course done with regards to current happenings and issues as blogging about a person’s personal life is not considered citizen journalism. Personally, I feel that with the rise in citizen journalism, people especially the younger generation are more aware of the current happenings. This is because, statistics have shown that the younger generations are the ones who prefer using the online media. Thus, by allowing an increase in citizen journalism, youths are becoming more updated about what is going on around them.
However, one must be careful about what they post or read as not everything they read is true as it can be posted by anyone and also what people post online might not be substantiated with hard evidence. So who do you trust than? Online media which may provide shady evidence or traditional media which may not be full of transparency?
References
1) Nie, H.Y. and Saad, I., 2007. The impact of new media on GE 2011 [Online]. Singapore: Channel News Asia. Available from: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1128681/1/.html (Accessed 24th May 2011).
2) Quinn, S., and Lamble, S., 2007. Online newsgathering: research and reporting for journalism. Focal Press.
