Tea Time Musings #6: Are you ready for the blogging revolution?

Dear readers,

I’ve talked about the advent of the blogging phenomenon earlier. Nevertheless, various issues regarding this current obsession have yet to be tackled.

Today’s post is based on an interview by ABC anchor, Antony Eunnell with journalist and author of “The Blogging Revolution”, Antony Loewenstein. Loewenstein (cited in ABC News 2008) evaluates the blogging phenomenon in six nations, namely, Iran, Cuba, China, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt.

While nations like Iran utilize blogs as a platform for greater political democracy, others like China are more or less satisfied with their political ruling: a one-party state (Loewenstein cited in ABC News 2008).

Meanwhile, Loewenstein (cited in ABC News 2008) highlights the key factors that debilitate a majority of the population, primarily, in Cuba, from blogging such as its strict political regime free speech besides limited internet access.

How about the blogging revolution in Malaysia?

Source: Getty images n.d.

It’s a whirlwind! Through the utilization of blogs, Malaysian bloggers have revolutionized the political composition in the 8 March 2008 election (Freedom House 2009).

However, this is achieved at the expense of bloggers themselves, notably, Raja Petra Kamaruddin who scrutinized government discrepancies in his blog, Malaysia Today, only to be imprisoned under the Internal Security Act 1960 (BBC 2008).

Malaysian cyberspace law

As such, free speech among the Malaysian blogosphere has been stifled through cyberspace laws like the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 enacted “to supervise and monitor communications and multimedia activities.” (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission n.d.)

Journalistic principles foregone?

The blogging revolution has blurred the existence of traditional journalistic principles. Baggini (2003) postulates that principles such as objectivity are fundamental in news reporting. Furthermore, Conley and Lamble (2006) uphold the importance of principles that determine newsworthiness such as proximity and prominence among others. Unfortunately, most bloggers forego journalistic principles, as purported by Kapica (cited in Hogg 2009), stating that “I see (citizen journalists) freely mixing opinion with factual reporting in obvious ignorance of how this is a conflict of ambition.”

How about web design principles?

Walsh (2006) supports the need for interactivity in which web designs must allow users the freedom to navigate through different pathways by clicking on links. Likewise, bloggers must incorporate design principles to ensure this freedom. Unfortunately, bloggers without prior web design exposure may find it challenging to ensure its implementation. Nevertheless, most blog service providers include web design templates to overcome this. However, bloggers must still demonstrate some degree of web design knowledge to ensure easy access and readability.

To conclude, in my opinion, those who raise controversial issues through this blogging revolution must be aware of laws that prohibit the proclamation of sensitive issues and be prepared to face opposition, whether imprisonment or verbal persecution. In addition, journalistic and web design principles must remain to some extent even in the ever-changing blogging phenomenon.


References

ABC News 2008, The blogging revolution, viewed 16 June 2009, <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/mediareport/stories/2008/2351985.htm>.

Baggini, J 2003, The philosophy of journalism, openDemocracy.net, viewed 16 June 2009, <http://www.opendemocracy.net/media-journalismwar/article_1218.jsp>.

BBC 2008, Malaysia blogger’s joy at release, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7714696.stm>.

Conlay, D & Lamble, S 2006, The daily miracle: an introduction to journalism, 3rd edn, Oxford University Press, New York.

Freedom House 2009, Freedom on the net 2009 – Malaysia, UNHCR, viewed 16 June 2009, <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,,,MYS,4562d8cf2,49d47593c,0.html>.

Hogg, C 2009, Is there credibility in citizen journalism?, Digital Journal, viewed 15 June 2009, <http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/271657>.

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission n.d., About us: power and functions, viewed 16 June 2009, <http://www.skmm.gov.my/mcmc/about_us/power.asp>.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘The ‘textual shift’: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37.