Citizen Journalism in Singapore

Singapore Angle on June 26 2006 discussed the phenomenon of citizen journalism following the upwards trend of blogging activity of political content during the 2006 General Elections.

Bernard Leong, writer of the article, states that two dimensions of blogging concerns freedom of speech and credibility of the bloggers, both of which are ‘intrinsically related’. And as I have expressed earlier in previous posts regarding the seditious bloggers, Leong (2006) states:

‘The establishment viewed the freedom of speech available in the internet as a threat. Rules and regulations are continuously reviewed and created even today… The central reason they cite for notion that bloggers are credible is that these writers hide behind the mask of anonymity.

The association of anonymity with the lack of credibility is a non-sequitur. If someone writes a trashy article, his credibility will be lowered as compared to someone who writes an articulate and well reasoned article — whether or not either writer is anonymous. Think about it this way: are you willing to trust someone who spouts vulgarities over every paragraph on his or her piece or someone who writes professionally or with social etiquette? The establishment forgets that there is a mechanism of self-correction involved in the very nature of the internet’.

Leong makes a very persuasive case about how a blog can be used in the context of citizen journalism in Singapore. This is how a blogger can attain credibility through his postings, utilising the freedom of speech through blogging as a media.

I find Leong’s notion that credibility is attached directly to the logic and reasoning of the author, his anonymity notwithstanding, very interesting. We have seen several anonymous bloggers such as Mr Wang and Mollymeek being popular and highly credible within the Singapore blogosphere, despite never having fully disclosed their identities. This speaks of maturity and discernment within the community.

Leong ends his article with an optimistic view of the future of blogging: ‘My hope is that the new media of blogging will help to raise awareness about issues and help to construct an acceptable social identity for those who want to engage in social and political debate’.

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Blogging Activity Up During GE Campaigning

Channel NewsAsia reported on the heightened blog activity in the run-up to the General Elections (GE) 2006.

According to the report:

One indication was that before Parliament was dissolved, the number of blog articles on the election numbered about 20 a day.

This number doubled to more than 40 after Parliament was dissolved in the run-up to Nomination Day, and it averaged over 190 during the nine-day election campaign.

The interest has not waned even after the results, with 195 blog articles posted daily since Polling Day.
One blog received about 5,000 to 6,000 hits, double the usual number.

With Singapore providing such easy Internet accessibility, it is no wonder that we seeing this trend of blogging activity happening here.

Perhaps it is not that Singaporeans are apathetic in regard to local politics, but rather finding a suitable avenue for them to express their opinions without fear of reprisal. With almost no barrier of entry to set up a blog, a blog author can begin publishing their opinions online, inviting feedback from readers, hence creating healthy and lively political discourse.

As Goh Kheng Wee, managing director of NexLabs, said in the report:

“I think it’s the first time citizen journalism is really taking its form in the Singapore election. Of course in the last election in 2001, blogging did not exist. Citizen journalism — probably the best expression is in blogs and it was very prevalent in this election here. A lot of people took it upon themselves, felt empowered by technology to report what they see, feel, hear from each election, giving detailed accounts online with the hope of sharing that account as accurately as possible.”

We are witnessing a ’subtle transformation’ of our political culture, as the Internet begins opening up as an alternative media for the public to discuss and to inform opinions as they would have probably not done so in the past.

I am certain that we will see this kind of blogging activity the next time the GE comes around.

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Podcasting Not Allowed in Elections

Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts Dr Balaji Sadasivan announced on 3rd April 2006 that podcasting of political content would not be allowed in the 2006 General Elections (GE).

Dr Balaji said: ‘The streaming of explicit political content by individuals during the election period is prohibited under the Election Advertising Regulations. A similar prohibition would apply to the videocasting or video streaming of explicitly political content’.

There are no plans to change the law on campaigning online during an election. Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General for the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, issued a media release in response.

Despite the advent of new media technologies such as podcasting and video streaming in recent years, it has failed to take on with the Singapore government. It was reasoned that this was to ‘ensure responsible use of the internet during campaigning as the free-for-all environment of the internet is open to abuse’.

However, with the increasing accessibility of the Internet, and how it has become a primary mode of communication for many people and how they read news, surely the Singapore government must realise the untapped potential in this media for reaching voters in future.

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