Technology has always played an important part in the news gathering and production process, and one of the "products" of technology is the internet. Apparently, the internet is a new communication tool to disseminate information through online information service.
The success of Ohmynews, a South Korean online newspaper with the motto 'Every Citizen is a Reporter" which was founded by Oh Yeon Ho on February 22, 2000, lent credence to this notion.
The Ohmynews promotes citizen journalism whereby it accepts, edits and publishes articles from the readers, and its concept as far as journalism is concerned is worth exploring.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -- citizen journalism, as known as "participatory journalism", is the act of citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysizing and disseminating news and information.
In my view, the Ohmynews' policy of giving public access to open and free dialogue is a good move towards the media freedom. However, we must bear in mind that although "citizen journalist" is a good source of information, his or her inputs might be tainted with worthless or intentional misleading information.
As such, it is essential that editors of online newspapers (that promote citizen journalism) critically evaluate the information they obtain online. To me, it is also important to verify online information from off-line sources and never to rely exclusively on online information for a story, just as one should avoid relying on a single source for a story.
Unlike public journalism which is practised by professional journalists, citizen
journalists may be activists within the communities they write about. They may have "personal agenda" to pursue in the name of citizen journalism.
As for Ohmynews, article contributors always subscribe to a code of ethics and eschew racism or ponography. By doing so, Ohmynews maintains its credibility and based on record in last four years, Ohmynews has had to publish only four retractions and has never had any significant legal issues.
No wonder, Ohmynews has become one of the most influential news and information sites in Korea. Another contributing factor to the success of Ohmynews that I can think of is the good penetration of Internet access in South Korea, and its decision to launch Ohmynews International in English is a plus point for the online newspaper.
What is important here is that Ohmynews promotes democracy not only in South Korea but also in other parts of the world. By giving the chance to people around the globe to speak up freely, Ohmynews is indirectly promoting one of the principes of democracy, that is -- the right to freedom of expression.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
STORY 3: RADIO SCRIPT ON BAGANG
CUE READER: Youngsters in Indrasabah, East Malaysia are beginning to shun the Bagangs (Baa-gang). Newmond Tibin reports.
VOT - Script
Youngsters in Indrasabah, East Malaysia are beginning to shun the Bagangs - a traditional fishing platform that offer a good income to local fishermen.
Most of them favour working elsewhere in the mainland, while seasoned fishermen carry on the practice.
However, young fisherman from Indrasabah in Tawau, Sukri Mohd Noor said there were still youngsters determined to continue the Bagang fishing.
Sukri said about 2,000 residents in the village were involved in traditional Bagang fishing. They earned between RM300 and RM1,000 per month.
He added at present, there were more than 500 Bagang in Indrasabah -- the biggest producer of anchovy in Sabah.
Sukri said, he decided to emulate his father's footsteps to become a fulltime fisherman, despite the negative perception of some people towards this traditional profession.
end.
VOT - Script
Youngsters in Indrasabah, East Malaysia are beginning to shun the Bagangs - a traditional fishing platform that offer a good income to local fishermen.
Most of them favour working elsewhere in the mainland, while seasoned fishermen carry on the practice.
However, young fisherman from Indrasabah in Tawau, Sukri Mohd Noor said there were still youngsters determined to continue the Bagang fishing.
Sukri said about 2,000 residents in the village were involved in traditional Bagang fishing. They earned between RM300 and RM1,000 per month.
He added at present, there were more than 500 Bagang in Indrasabah -- the biggest producer of anchovy in Sabah.
Sukri said, he decided to emulate his father's footsteps to become a fulltime fisherman, despite the negative perception of some people towards this traditional profession.
end.
STORY 2: YOUNGSTERS BEGIN TO SHUN THE BAGANGS IN EAST MALAYSIA
By Newmond Tibin
SABAH (Malaysia) : As dusk sets in the scenic fishing village of Indrasabah in Tawau, Sukri Mohd Noor and five other young fishermen carrying fishing gear and a few kerosene lamps hop onto a moored boat at a makeshift jetty before heading off to a nearby off-shore Bagang (a fishing platform).
After slogging for hours on a chilly night to catch fish using the lift net method, the youngsters sail back to shore with their catches, mostly anchovies in the wee hours, and later sell them to the nearest wet market or make them dried anchovies. For ages, they depended heavily on this traditional fishing activity for a livelihood.
From a mere 10 Bagangs in the early 1970s, the number has skyrocketed over the years. Now there are more than 500 Bagangs along the Indrasabah coast, making it the biggest anchovy producer in Sabah, where almost all of its more than 2,000 residents are involved in traditional fishing, particularly Bagang fishing.
However, in what is seen as a change of tide engulfing the traditional culture of fishing, youngsters are beginning to shun the Bagangs in favour of working elsewhere in the mainland or towns, leaving the seasonesd fishermen or old guards to carry on the deep-rooted practice.
"The number of young people interested in Bagang fishing has dwindled of late. The youngsters, especially those who are unemployed would rather go out to look for a job like in shopping centres than go to the sea.
"In fact, the income is quite good, ranging from RM300 to RM1,000 (US$1 = RM3.7) depending on the fish haul or season. But still, it does't seem to appeal to the majority of the unemployed young generation," said the soft-spoken Sukri.
The 21-old lad said he decided to stay put in the village to follow in the footsteps of his father to be a fulltime fisherman, despite the negative perception of some people towards this traditional profession.
"I have no regrets looking after our Bagang. I am happy I have a job...I can even adjust my time and go out to town during my free time," he said of his experience as a traditional fishermen for a decade.
Indeed, Sukri's position represents the uncertainty future of a handful of young people in the village left stuck with the lure of the Bagang. Most of the die-hard fishermen in the village would not predict Bagang fishing's fate in the future, saying it's a question for the younger generation to ponder.
SABAH (Malaysia) : As dusk sets in the scenic fishing village of Indrasabah in Tawau, Sukri Mohd Noor and five other young fishermen carrying fishing gear and a few kerosene lamps hop onto a moored boat at a makeshift jetty before heading off to a nearby off-shore Bagang (a fishing platform).
After slogging for hours on a chilly night to catch fish using the lift net method, the youngsters sail back to shore with their catches, mostly anchovies in the wee hours, and later sell them to the nearest wet market or make them dried anchovies. For ages, they depended heavily on this traditional fishing activity for a livelihood.
From a mere 10 Bagangs in the early 1970s, the number has skyrocketed over the years. Now there are more than 500 Bagangs along the Indrasabah coast, making it the biggest anchovy producer in Sabah, where almost all of its more than 2,000 residents are involved in traditional fishing, particularly Bagang fishing.
However, in what is seen as a change of tide engulfing the traditional culture of fishing, youngsters are beginning to shun the Bagangs in favour of working elsewhere in the mainland or towns, leaving the seasonesd fishermen or old guards to carry on the deep-rooted practice.
"The number of young people interested in Bagang fishing has dwindled of late. The youngsters, especially those who are unemployed would rather go out to look for a job like in shopping centres than go to the sea.
"In fact, the income is quite good, ranging from RM300 to RM1,000 (US$1 = RM3.7) depending on the fish haul or season. But still, it does't seem to appeal to the majority of the unemployed young generation," said the soft-spoken Sukri.
The 21-old lad said he decided to stay put in the village to follow in the footsteps of his father to be a fulltime fisherman, despite the negative perception of some people towards this traditional profession.
"I have no regrets looking after our Bagang. I am happy I have a job...I can even adjust my time and go out to town during my free time," he said of his experience as a traditional fishermen for a decade.
Indeed, Sukri's position represents the uncertainty future of a handful of young people in the village left stuck with the lure of the Bagang. Most of the die-hard fishermen in the village would not predict Bagang fishing's fate in the future, saying it's a question for the younger generation to ponder.
STORY 1: SABAH WEIGHTLIFTER TO MAKE A COMEBACK
By Newmond Tibin
SABAH (MALAYSIA) : Melton Henry has several times been disappointed with life but what he regrets most is his two year suspension by the National Sports Council (NSC) for using prohibited drugs during the 2002 Malaysian Games (Sukma), here.
"I do not consider it as a failure but see myself as a victim of circumstances," said Melton, the former Sabah weightlifting champion in the 77kg category.
But everything has not ended. For the son of Mensiang, Menggatal, near here, who had two bronze medals for Sabah at Sukma 2002 withdrawn, life goes on. Although he was suspended from taking part in any competition effective April 2003, his spirit remains high and he has continued with training under the supervision of his mentor, Bell Yasoi, to strengthen his capability in the sport.
His suspension ended in April last year and now, he is a "freeman" to pursue his dreams to represent Malaysia at the next Commonwealth Games.
"It is pointless to look back. I regret over what has happened. Now, I want to turn into a new leaf and train hard and try to bring glory to Sabah and the country in the weighlifting area," he told Bernama, here.
Melton, 24, said the sport is in his blood, "I really love it and since I am still young, nothing is impossible if there is a will, followed by efforts to achieve the goal.
"This is my goal and I feel this is the way to redeem myself for the mistake during Sukma 2002. I can still remember the moment when I received the suspension letter from the NSC...I was very frustrated and began to lose hope.
"But, every time I see national weightlifting champion Martin Guntali, who won silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games, I recall his inspirational advice, "don't lose hope," said Melton, who looked cheerful and eager to follow Martin's footsteps.
Dwayne Salem, 30, who became national weightlifting champion twice in 1997 and 1998 in the 83kg category, welcomed Melton's readiness and eagerness to continue to be active in the sports.
"Everyone sometimes makes mistake. May be he lacked confidence the last time and had taken the "wrong" vitamins...I feel he can move forward but he must have confidence and get sufficent training...then, he can be a champion," he said.
Dwayne said: "There is not need to take prohibited vitamins or drugs as it is not only a waste and can affect the health of the athletes, but can tarnish the good name of the state and country, we all want to avoid," he said.
SABAH (MALAYSIA) : Melton Henry has several times been disappointed with life but what he regrets most is his two year suspension by the National Sports Council (NSC) for using prohibited drugs during the 2002 Malaysian Games (Sukma), here.
"I do not consider it as a failure but see myself as a victim of circumstances," said Melton, the former Sabah weightlifting champion in the 77kg category.
But everything has not ended. For the son of Mensiang, Menggatal, near here, who had two bronze medals for Sabah at Sukma 2002 withdrawn, life goes on. Although he was suspended from taking part in any competition effective April 2003, his spirit remains high and he has continued with training under the supervision of his mentor, Bell Yasoi, to strengthen his capability in the sport.
His suspension ended in April last year and now, he is a "freeman" to pursue his dreams to represent Malaysia at the next Commonwealth Games.
"It is pointless to look back. I regret over what has happened. Now, I want to turn into a new leaf and train hard and try to bring glory to Sabah and the country in the weighlifting area," he told Bernama, here.
Melton, 24, said the sport is in his blood, "I really love it and since I am still young, nothing is impossible if there is a will, followed by efforts to achieve the goal.
"This is my goal and I feel this is the way to redeem myself for the mistake during Sukma 2002. I can still remember the moment when I received the suspension letter from the NSC...I was very frustrated and began to lose hope.
"But, every time I see national weightlifting champion Martin Guntali, who won silver and bronze in the Commonwealth Games, I recall his inspirational advice, "don't lose hope," said Melton, who looked cheerful and eager to follow Martin's footsteps.
Dwayne Salem, 30, who became national weightlifting champion twice in 1997 and 1998 in the 83kg category, welcomed Melton's readiness and eagerness to continue to be active in the sports.
"Everyone sometimes makes mistake. May be he lacked confidence the last time and had taken the "wrong" vitamins...I feel he can move forward but he must have confidence and get sufficent training...then, he can be a champion," he said.
Dwayne said: "There is not need to take prohibited vitamins or drugs as it is not only a waste and can affect the health of the athletes, but can tarnish the good name of the state and country, we all want to avoid," he said.
Multimedia Journalism
First, I would like to define the meaning of multimedia journalism. In fact, there are two ways of defining multimedia journalism. Firstly, the presentation of a news story package on a website using two or more media format and secondly, the intergated presentation of a news story package through different media such as radio, television, SMS, print newspapers and magazines.
In other words, media practitioners or journalists can use the strengths of multimedia journalism through the medium of image, sound and text to produce stories.
But, of course, multimedia journalists should know how to use a variety of digitial tools to disseminate information to the target audience.
For example, news briefs or summaries written by the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) journalists to cater to the needs of print newspapers, broadcast and online news service are used for SMS news alerts.
Bernama SMS news alerts carries breaking business news based on content from Bernama Economic News and the Bernama General News service.
This was made possible through the cooperation of Bernama and Celcom, one of the established private telecommunication firms in Malaysia. Consumers can get the latest news and updates, and so far, the response from them is quite encouraging.
Apart from that, Bernama journalists also use their website - http://www.bernama.com/ to present stories. As convergence develops, I believe that multimedia journalism in Malaysia will change for the better in future.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Television
Since I work for a news agency, I decided to explore the strengths and weaknesses of broadcast journalism, particularly television.
Television plays an important role in everyday life. It carries the latest and most popular programs including news from the world over. In addition, television carries documentaries of world cultures and international artists.
It makes people feel like "they witness the news when they can see and hear it" (see Quinn and Filak - Convergent Journalism, Page 26).
I certainly agree with it. For example, in Sabah, Malaysia, television has done wonders to the world of broadcasting. Before 1999, we were only banking on RTM, a government TV station and a private TV station - TV3 to deliver the goods.
At that time, only 70 per cent of the area in the state of Sabah (East Malaysia) could access or receive RTM or TV3 programs or signals whereas there was none at all on NTV7 -- another private TV station in Malaysia.
However, the advent of broadcast satellite and cable programming like CNN and Astro in 1999 which cover a wider area compared to terrestrial system, improved tremendously TV receptions including RTM and TV3.
And now all RTM, TV3 and NTV7 programs are offered as a package by Astro, a cable TV provider. That means more viewers can watch -- the round the clock news.
They can even watch live news coverage on Iraq war, World Cup soccer and the Miss Universe program parading beautiful ladies in the world including sweet smiling Down Under contestant on TV in their respective villages in the middle of the jungle.
In other words, the people are more knowledgeable of what is happening around the globe, thus helping them become an informed society.
However, there are also weaknesses of television, especially news program. Television journalists usually do not have as much "space" to present information in their reports as print journalists.
In my own observation, more than 50 per cent of RTM news items feature the activities of the government, leaving little space for other news items or stories such as sports and business.
Television plays an important role in everyday life. It carries the latest and most popular programs including news from the world over. In addition, television carries documentaries of world cultures and international artists.
It makes people feel like "they witness the news when they can see and hear it" (see Quinn and Filak - Convergent Journalism, Page 26).
I certainly agree with it. For example, in Sabah, Malaysia, television has done wonders to the world of broadcasting. Before 1999, we were only banking on RTM, a government TV station and a private TV station - TV3 to deliver the goods.
At that time, only 70 per cent of the area in the state of Sabah (East Malaysia) could access or receive RTM or TV3 programs or signals whereas there was none at all on NTV7 -- another private TV station in Malaysia.
However, the advent of broadcast satellite and cable programming like CNN and Astro in 1999 which cover a wider area compared to terrestrial system, improved tremendously TV receptions including RTM and TV3.
And now all RTM, TV3 and NTV7 programs are offered as a package by Astro, a cable TV provider. That means more viewers can watch -- the round the clock news.
They can even watch live news coverage on Iraq war, World Cup soccer and the Miss Universe program parading beautiful ladies in the world including sweet smiling Down Under contestant on TV in their respective villages in the middle of the jungle.
In other words, the people are more knowledgeable of what is happening around the globe, thus helping them become an informed society.
However, there are also weaknesses of television, especially news program. Television journalists usually do not have as much "space" to present information in their reports as print journalists.
In my own observation, more than 50 per cent of RTM news items feature the activities of the government, leaving little space for other news items or stories such as sports and business.
Convergent Journalism
Convergent journalism is a new media trend that combines multimedia resources such as print, television, radio and the internet. In what is seen as a paradigm shift, convergent journalism plays an important role as a new and effective news provider by bringing print, broadcast and online staffers under one roof or news centre.
Undeniably, the needs of news consumers are changing with times and therefore, the newsroom of the future needs to change accordingly – in order to better meet the expectations of the news consumers.
I think one of the advantages of convergent journalism is the emergence of versatile journalists who can handle different positions in a converged newsroom. For example, in my own organization - Malaysia News Agency (Bernama) is moving towards this direction.
In fact, journalists from editorial desk and audio-visual (AV) sections (TV news for Astro, one of the satellite cable networks in Malaysia ) came together to share content as part of Bernama’s convergence efforts. Being a government news agency, Bernama has editorial, photography and AV section, and its website is accessible at this address: www.bernama.com.
Bernama is also planning to set up its own radio station airing mainly current issues and news soon.
I believe that convergent journalism gives the chance to journalists to familiarize themselves with multiple media platforms, particularly in creating news stories for print, audio, video, and online media platforms.
In my own view, journalists should prepare themselves for a changing media world and familiar across all three mediums – audio, visual and text, and this is where the theory of convergence journalism comes into play.
Undeniably, the needs of news consumers are changing with times and therefore, the newsroom of the future needs to change accordingly – in order to better meet the expectations of the news consumers.
I think one of the advantages of convergent journalism is the emergence of versatile journalists who can handle different positions in a converged newsroom. For example, in my own organization - Malaysia News Agency (Bernama) is moving towards this direction.
In fact, journalists from editorial desk and audio-visual (AV) sections (TV news for Astro, one of the satellite cable networks in Malaysia ) came together to share content as part of Bernama’s convergence efforts. Being a government news agency, Bernama has editorial, photography and AV section, and its website is accessible at this address: www.bernama.com.
Bernama is also planning to set up its own radio station airing mainly current issues and news soon.
I believe that convergent journalism gives the chance to journalists to familiarize themselves with multiple media platforms, particularly in creating news stories for print, audio, video, and online media platforms.
In my own view, journalists should prepare themselves for a changing media world and familiar across all three mediums – audio, visual and text, and this is where the theory of convergence journalism comes into play.
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