Week 8: Blogosphere—To Censor or not?

When I had a vacation job, I had to sign a contract to keep trade secrets secret. Hence, I often self-censor myself when I whined to my friends about my job in case I spill the beans accidentally. This was especially so when I worked as a clinic assistant in a hospital’s urology department. Patients’ conditions must be kept confidential However, I often liked to joke about how men came in and asked for Viagra and consulted the doctor on their sex life. They often talk in softer tone when I am around and I was once asked to leave the consultation room for the patient’s privacy.

The contract was to prevent me from divulging any trade secrets. However, what if I am a whistle blower who discovered some malpractice in the hospital and work with a journalist to break this news story in the form of collaborative investigative journalism? I am breaking the terms of the contract and will face legal actions, yet what I do will benefit the public. There must be some sort of legal protection for the whistleblower for the collaborative journalism idea to work. Or do so anonymously. This brings me to the point on privacy issue.

Privacy is often valued by Americans, yet for the blogosphere to be seen as a credible source, internet veteran Jamais Cascio said that some form of social change has to be made to reduce the threat arising from disclosure of personal information. How can we achieve this state when privacy rights are so prized? Are we willing to sacrifice some privacy for open access to information?

Personally, I am reluctant to. I don’t want the whole world to know what I am doing. Like how Marian Lu does not divulge too much personal information on her working blog vs her personal blog, a line of balance needs to be drawn. However, I am more concerned about what Gilmor said about government surveillance on the Internet.

This concern, which often leads to heavy self-censorship, stemmed from my experience in Singapore. A few years ago, a student was charged in court making racist remarks against the Muslims on his blog. The daughter of a politician was made to do community service for discriminating against the poor and making elitist comments on her blog. Closer to heart, a student in my high school was disqualified from running for the student council elections after badmouthing the election committee on her blog.

However, free speech does not mean irresponsible speech. We self-censor because we are afraid of the consequences. Given that the blogosphere serves as a feedback system, the government, in my opinion, can take a back seat in surveilling the Internet.

Questions:
1) How does the blog insurance work and what are the costs and benefits of having one?
2) What do you think are the guidelines that should govern what a blogger should and should not write?

Seattlepi scores in decision to not publish photos of two men who looked Middle Eastern

The blogosphere was criticized for the recent FBI blooper:

The FBI called off a global manhunt for two men who looked Middle Eastern and were on board the Washington State Ferry last summer. These men were found to be innocent tourists on a business trip snapping photos, and not displaying “an inordinate interest in the operation of the shipboard systems”.

But before this came to light, the newspapers faced a dilemma of publishing the photos of these men as this violated civil rights and infringed on one’s privacy. Yet in the blogosphere, freedom of speech reigned.

Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights and advocacy group, criticized the blogosphere’s response to the situation:

“Anti-Muslim Internet hate sites; the bloggers; the ones that routinely say ’round up the usual Muslim suspects’; the extremist commentators that would be willing give up the rights of others to create a false sense of security for themselves.”

But here’s a blogger who is against the Seattlepi’s decision not to publish it.

The blogger, Michelle Malkin, criticized the P-I’s decision by saying:

“Ignoring the very real threat of ferry-based terrorism, the Seattle P-I refused to run the FBI photos in a politically correct pique and instead made light of the matter by holding an idiotic haiku contest about the alert”

This debate about whether or not to publish the pictures really boils down to journalism ethics and the potter box guidelines. If the P-I’s loyalty is to the public safety, the editor will share the same sentiments as Malkin. But if their loyalty is to the individual’s rights, then the editor would not publish the photos to protect the suspects’ privacy and give them the benefit of the doubt that they are innocent till proven guilty.

In the new age where the world is shrouded in fear against terrorism, journalists would have to rethink their loyalties and make ethical decisions that are complex. It makes it harder when we often come under scrutiny by the public, whose fear for their safety is not unfounded. It is a decision we all have to juggle with in future.

The rules only apply in America argh?

Ever wondered what the world thinks of America?

Sami Al-Hadj, a Sudanese cameraman for Al-Jazeera, was detained six years ago in the gulag at Guantanamo by the  United States on  grounds of suspicion to make a case against Al-Jazeera.  He is said to be innocent, and is “now nearly an old man as a result of the business of systemic destruction imposed in the name of a disfigured civilization and in utter defiance of the central principles of democracy”. The reporter  adopts a very anti-US tone,  claiming that U.S. practices double standards in the advocation of free press and democracy:

“The United States is indeed a democracy: Within its own borders, the rule of law is enshrined. But beyond its walls, only the law of the jungle prevails.”

Obama’s latest advertisement takes a hit at Clinton “Same old Washington politics”

Obama’s new campaign advertisement, released just hours after Clinton’s advertisement, hits back at her “same old Washington politics that won’t fix our problem”. Instead, Obama is said to be “the president we can trust”.

Thanks Ezra Klein!

Week 7: While blogs are good advocacy tools, they may be also abused to further controversial causes

Blogs are serving not just journalistic purposes, but also advocacy purposes. This is what I like about blogs, they provide an inexpensive yet expansive platform to publicly voice our opinions and garner support from the community, or engage in civic discourse with people who disagree with our stands. It is also an advertising platform to announce any fundraising events, protests and demonstrations. An advocacy blog is a good follow-up and prelude to a major event. It makes people talk and keeps them talking. I can’t stop singing praises of the function of blogs in the area of advocacy. However, imagine if a blog is used to advocate some controversial topics such as terrorism. A blog can be manipulated for people’s own selfish agenda. But how can the content and functions of a blog be controlled such that only the good blogs are allowed? Is that even ethical since the Internet is free for all. If we screen blogs, then the pornography websites should be the first to go. I believe that authorities are working on how to prevent people from setting up blogs with controversial content. God forbid one day that we will have to go to the Department of Online Communication to register for a license to own a blog, and we are all unified under one blog host, www.unclesamspeaks.com. The result will be blogs that support the government, the big corporations and good citizenship. And when there is heavy government censorship, alternative voices will be driven to alternative mediums. Like in the case of Russia, with strong censorship, many take to blogging to advocate their beliefs. Perhaps in the future, there will be other forms of alternative medium that allows dissidents to go underground.

Coming back to the present, Cascio said that traditional journalists should be willing to cite their sources, which is in some sense, a form of insult to their pride. Journalists often view bloggers as amateurs. How can they provide me with any accurate information? Why can’t I find them myself? After all, who has the most credentials? A professional or an amateur? This answer is obvious if we are talking about a doctor and a pundit. However, the root of journalism is people. Without people, there will not be any story. Journalism is about reporting daily events that involve ordinary people. We are the producers while the people are the actors on the stage called daily publication. We work with amateurs to add flavor to our news. Hence, it should never be a loss of pride to cite the bloggers as our source. In fact, it shows the journalist’s acknowledgement of the increasing collaboration between traditional and the alternative. And citing, is after all, a professional thing to do.

1) What are the argument for and against screening of blogs and only allowing blogs that advocate a good cause?
2) What are the ways in which we can push for social changes that reduce the threat arising from disclosure of personal information?

All you need is a Mac and MediaStorm to be the most professional citizen journalist

P.S.: MediaStorm is not owned by Apple, was what was suggested in my previous entry. Thanks Kathy!

MediaStorm will soon be the way to go for an online news package story. The multimedia company that creates software for Mac has made video, audio, visual editing so efficient and user-friendly and even now offers an online publication wing. And since Mac is increasingly popular among computer users, almost anyone who buys MediaStorm can become a professional citizen journalist and a mojo (mobile journalist).

“The old saying is, ‘The power of the press belongs to those who own one,’” says Storm. “Well, now we can all own a press, and publish on the Internet. MediaStorm is a perfect example of that. We’re an independent publishing company that can publish exactly what we want to.”                               –Brian Storm, MediaStorm’s founder and president

Week 6 Reading: We need to strike a balance on objectivity and accuracy on the blogosphere

Based on my previous post on how the Internet can become a good source of tip-offs for a reporter, this week’s reading on “Troll, Spin and Boundaries of Trust”, gives me the flip side of it. What if they are fabricated news? What if they are merely unethical marketing tools of a company or a slander? Hence, it reminds me once again that a journalist has to do her homework before falling into the trap of getting a scoop.

However, this is tough work for me alone. I would be stretched just verifying every single information that I get, especially if I have to go through tight gatekeepers in organizations (i.e. secretaries, PROs). Hence, using the online community to fact check each other is a self-correcting way of the Internet. Open conversation allows for collaborative scrutinizing of information on the community. I just read a post on UC Berkeley’s Crisis in News on the future of investigative reporting. Would it be more collaborative, with grassroots helping the team of reporters in their information search? This is so much easier and efficient with the Internet now as whistle blowers can provide insider information and yet maintain anonymity on the Internet. However, while the Internet is good in protecting one’s identity, how can the reporters trust the information if there is no solid identity backing it up? Once again, a balance needs to be stuck and conditions set on how collaborative investigative journalism in future should work. Perhaps have everyone registered under the investigative citizen journalism network, but allowed to use a nickname that cannot be changed. All registered information will be kept confidential. This way, information can be easily verified and credibility maintained.

Yet, in the age of the demise of the newspapers, many news organizations are fighting to attract readers on the newsstands. “We need breaking news story before the rival news companies get it!” If there is a tip-off from a source, would reporters share this information on the Internet and allow the whole world to see it? Not only are they risking getting their story stolen by rival newspapers, but also alerting the parties being investigated. How inclusive and exclusive can this network of investigative citizen journalism get?

And will groupthink make matters worse? What if everyone listens to an opinion leader and come up with information that points to the parties involved being guilty? I have always thought of groupthink as a double-edged sword to an online community, but after reading Coolican’s article, I realized that can happen among the journalism profession too. Hence, we need more of the online community to give us diverse opinions. Yet, how diverse are their opinions?

Questions:
1) How can we resolve groupthink in the journalism profession?
2) How exclusive and inclusive can collaborative investigative journalism go?

UC Berkeley conference panelists talks about the potential of crowdsourcing in journalism

UC Berkeley’s “Crisis in Journalism” conference brings together panelists from established news organizations like NY Times, Washington Post and PBS Frontline/World to discuss their plans to integrate print with the online medium and whether it will make money.

“Things are going well online. There are lots of opportunities and places I’d like to see us go. We need to go beyond getting tips from people online. We can do it in a more focused way, get networks of people who know something about a subject. it mimics the way a beat reporter gets sources.”–Jonathan Landman, NY Times

Thanks Jonathan!

Week 5 reading: Stir a revolution at your own desk

As Gilmor mentioned in this week’s reading that blogging is an act of civic engagement and showed us examples of how blogging has given those that are oppressed a voice, I am more and more convinced that blogging thrives in a society that lacks a free press.

When there isn’t freedom of speech and when the press acts as a mouthpiece of the government, people will look for an alternative medium to get the right information. (If not, they are simply too brainwashed and the government’s propaganda has worked.) Hence, blogging provides a relatively safe environment for people to post information and voice their dissentients against the status quo. The web provides a safety net for bloggers with open source softwares such as anonymity proxies software that can be downloaded on the Internet or by emailing counterparts from democratic countries to publish it online for them. Bit by bit, I believe, a community with the same spirit against the oppression will emerge and possibly bring about a revolution.

However, this may be too optimistic on my part. Gilmore mentioned that blogging and democracy belongs to the class of the elites. How can these online voices be heard if most of the population cannot even read or write, much less own a computer? Hence, more help should be rendered to the developing countries to help them advance their technology. Yet one must remember that the West cannot enforce its technological practice onto the developing countries but do what the Romans do.

Also, since the blogosphere belongs to the class of the elites, the content likewise will be tailored to them. No doubt there are diversity in the blogosphere, with blogs on any topic you can think of, from sewing to cupcakes to politics. You name it, you have it.
However, they have variety but no diversity. Variety means that there are many blogs under the domain of politics, but under this umbrella, are there a variety of diverse voices? Are they merely blogs echoing each other’s opinions?

Nevertheless, blogs in a specific domain are getting specialized too. And this is what I am excited about. This means that you can write about anything or find information you are passionate about and form a community. Better still turn it into a profitable business model! Probably I shall do that when I retire. Easy money.

Questions:
1) How do we ensure diversity of content in the blogosphere, given the fact that blogging belongs to the class of the elites?
2) How can blogging help the developing countries?

Ten things journalists should know about surviving in a high-tech industry

As new technology springs up faster than we can blink our eyes these days, it is therefore important for us as journalists to know how to use the new technology to our advantage rather than let it bulldoze over us. Here are 10 tips that will ensure our survival in future

Though it makes sense that the content on the web should be free, but it irks a journalist to have to deal with that.

“Make it free. Traditionally, the news industry has taken stuff that’s free – public information, for example – and made it worth money by adding editorial value. On the web, the most successful companies don’t build, they collapse. They take something that used to cost money and make it free. What costs money in your region that you can make free? Craigslist isn’t the only one that can play that game.”

Thanks Publishing 2.0!