We are witnessing a new phenomenon - again, where power is passed down to the common people. We are part of the "future of news". And why is that so? These days, anyone armed with a handphone equipped with a good camera and videocamcorder can report on what they see around them. You no longer need to be a professional journalist to report the news. According to Gillmore (2004), "[t]his time, the first draft of history was being written, in part, by the former audience. It was possible—it was inevitable—because of new publishing tools available on the Internet."
STOMP is a relatively new outlet for Singaporeans to connect and communicate with other fellow Singapore netizens. According to STOMP, this website offers an avenue which "integrates content and activities in the three platforms of print, online and mobile." (STOMP, 2007, About us). I commend SPH's efforts in promoting citizen journalism and encouraging their readers to be part of the news collection process. However, I do not believe that STOMP is an ideal form of citizen journalism for Singapore.
Firstly, when surfing around STOMP, I find myself asking, so which are the advertisements and which are the links I am supposed to click if I want to get information? The layout of the site is a little too cluttered to be considered a serious avenue for citizen journalism in Singapore. Instead, it strikes me as a platform for the local media to connect to the Singaporean on the streets.
On STOMP, you have podcasts, foodies club for your inner foodie, digital club for the tech whiz, EPL stomping ground for the soccer lovers, and of course forums to cater to various needs of the average Singaporean out there. There are many categories, some creatively named "the gym" for the gym rats out there, "vain pots" for... the vain pots, "let's play play" for the avid gamers etc. They also have their star bloggers, where they get local celebrities to blog about topics like, "Why can't we get along with our neighbouts" and "Take out your crystal ball. What kind of world would you envisage in the year 2050". Granted, it does make for occasional entertainment and interesting insights on how your average Singaporean thinks. It is a platform for Singaporeans to express themselves and to allow themselves to be heard, but citizen journalism is not promoted well enough to allow STOMP to be considered an ideal form of citizen journalism for Singapore.
There is not much to improve really, as STOMP does seem to be popular with a certain demographic of Singaporeans. However, if STOMP wants to be considered an ideal form of citizen journalism in the local blogosphere, some work is needed. Firstly, if STOMP ever wants to be considered a serious citizen journalism platform, that should be their main focal point, instead of branching out to forums, star blogs.. etc. Perhaps, the moderators of STOMP could consider allowing the voice of your average Singaporean be heard, like allowing your everdayman's insight on local issues to be published on the site more frequently. More can be done, but that is only if STOMP wants itself to be taken seriously as an avenue for citizen journalism. To me, that is not their focus.
References
"About Us". (2007). The Straits Times, STOMP. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://www.stomp.com.sg/about/about.html
Gillmor, D. (2004).“We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People”. Retrieved March 29, 2007 from http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html
Wikipedia. “Citizen journalism”. (2007). Retrieved March 29, 2007 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism
No comments:
Post a Comment