This week I want to talk about citizen journalism through two case studies Stomp and OhmyNews.
First, let’s have a look at Stomp (Straits Times Online Mobile Print). This is a Singaporean citizen-journalism website with user-generated material. Mobile phones are used in producing news. Photos that are taken by mobile phone camera are sent to Stomp. Some are published on its website and those are newsworthy are sent to the SPH’s newspapers.
Through ‘Talk Back’, readers can contribute on news production via email, SMS and MMS by entering the short code 75557 into mobile phones. This is similar to 63000 service of the UK’s Sun newspaper.
However, there are many ethical issues relate to online content, especially these information are collected through email or SMS. Stomp checks the stories’ accuracy through interviewing the senders and informed them if the story is put online.
Secondly, let’s look at another citizen-journalism website, OhmyNews.
OhmyNews is a place where ordinary people can get a chance to say and share something. This aspect explains why all stories written in OhmyNews are subjective and based on personal thoughts.
With the rise of distinctive media tools such as mobile phones, camera phones and wireless broadband, OhmyNews will continue to growth.
The success of Stomp and OhmyNews leads to a question whether it is possible to create a audience generated content website on news in Australia. I think in the recent new media communication context, this is possible to be done. Along with the booming of new media technologies, Australian media is rapidly growing in diversity platforms such as radio, TV, printed media, and online. There are few news websites that provide opportunities for readers to provide their own viewpoints on Opinion section on Theage. However, we haven’t seen any news materials that created by citizens. This is what we should carefully consider for the future of media in Australia.
Minh's Adventure 