03 June 2008
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
A discussion of free speech as an agent of change in the 21st century
Welcome to Freedom of Expression, where we explore the evolving relationship among citizens, the news media and government. Do you have a question about how information reaches the U.S. public? Which recent events in your own country show the good (or harm) being done by mainstream media or bloggers? Is there a free speech issue in your country you think we should explore? Please send us your comments and questions.
CNN Solicits Citizen Journalism
In 2007 CNN began inviting its viewers to send in their reports for possible broadcast; the response was overwhelming. The network’s iReport.com Web site, launched February 2008, now makes every submission – more than 100,000 so far – available for view or comment.
Unless the material will be broadcast on CNN or CNN.com, the network completely absolves itself of responsibility for the online collection of "unedited, unfiltered news." Basically, the network trusts its iReport.com audience to decide for itself what is accurate.
"Don't kid yourselves. This content is not pre-vetted or pre-read by CNN. This is your platform. In some journalistic circles, this is considered disruptive, even controversial! But we know the news universe is changing. We know that even here, at CNN, we can't be everywhere, all the time following all the stories you care about. So, we give you iReport.com. You will program it, you will police it; you will decide what's important, what's interesting, what's news," says the site moderator, adding her hope that the site will raise the bar on user-generated material beyond the "dancing monkeys and cute cats and dogs" found elsewhere.
However, the site does have its share of pet tricks, weddings and school reports, and observers may very well wonder what the real value is, and what separates iReport from, say, YouTube.
That’s why the “Need Help?” section on the lower left column is interesting. Its advice on what makes a good story or how to take a good photograph or video is very basic, not intimidating and seems perfect for a younger person who is just testing the journalism waters.
So there is a special value to iReport.com when you consider that amateur reporters, who are producing material to get it distributed on one of the world’s largest networks, are learning about and paying closer attention to journalism standards – thorough, accurate and original reporting – than they otherwise might have.
Have you submitted any “citizen journalism” reports? If so, why?
May 20, 2008
Did Micro-Blog Service Scoop Mainstream Media on China Earthquake?
That depends on what you mean by “scoop.”
On May 15, at 14:28 local time on May 12 the Sichuan, China, earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, was felt in Beijing, some 1,500 kilometers from the epicenter. The first report on the Twitter micro-blogging service (https://twitter.com/) came at 14:35:33, according to an analysis by Martyn Williams of the IDG News Service. A user, probably on a cell phone and limited to 140 characters, typed out the message “earthquake. not sure how big. maybe 4.5.” The message went out immediately to Twitter subscribers.
Twenty-three seconds later, at 14:35:55, Bloomberg News ran a bulletin "Earthquake Shakes Beijing Office," and followed 22 seconds later with "Earthquake Felt In Central Beijing." The Dow Jones Newswire ran with "Earthquake Rocks Beijing; Still Underway" at 14:36 and Reuters reported "Beijing Shaken By Earthquake, Office Buildings Sway," at 14:37, Williams reports. At 14:39, Reuters announced "Earthquake Magnitude 7.8 Hits Eastern Sichuan Province" with information it obtained from the U.S. Geological Service, which measures seismic activity worldwide.
Twitter had beaten the newswires with the fact of the quake, but offered no substantive information. It wasn’t until 14:41 that Twitter subscribers got news on the magnitude and location of the quake.
Individual Twitter users can’t match a professional, well-connected newsroom when it comes to substantive news reporting, but a single user with firsthand knowledge of the disaster and a battery-powered cellular phone can send a news bulletin ahead of the technologically superior media wires. With the steady expansion of global cell phone distribution, sites like Twitter are emerging as an information hub for breaking news – especially that simple “i’m safe” message that gives subscribers their most important news of the day. (See “How Connected Is the World?”)
Do you use Twitter or send out broadcast SMS messages in emergencies? Send us your experiences and we will share them with your fellow readers.
May 12, 2008
Another reason for Americans to learn Spanish?
Proponents of “infotainment” might want to start giving television news audiences a little less fluff and a little more credit for thinking.
A media watcher from Irvine, California, has been comparing English- and Spanish-language evening television news broadcasts in the Los Angeles area and found that not only are Spanish programs more popular, but they also are much more informative.
Joe Mathews, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, found that on a typical half-hour evening broadcast, the three English channels might lead with news such as weather or a brief roundup of local events, but then switch to what he called “trivia,” such as stories about celebrities, fashion, entertainment and other “soft features.” The two Spanish channels provided fewer short features, but offered more in-depth reports on news topics, providing context and a wide perspective.
Mathews found, based solely on those broadcasts, the Spanish language audiences would have a far better understanding of issues important to the average American, such as economic issues brought by the mortgage crisis and rising fuel costs, and local and national political news, including the U.S. presidential campaign.
He writes that news organizations, in their desperation to stop declines in revenues and audiences, have cut time and resources for traditional news-gathering in favor of “entertainment, celebrities, pets and crime (or, best of all, stories that combine all four).” Their Spanish-language counterparts, who serve well-defined and growing audiences thanks to immigration, have more flexibility to offer in-depth coverage of weightier issues. The Spanish-language audience is “engaged more as citizens than consumers,” Mathews says.
The English-language channels might want to note the data collected for February showed Spanish KMEX had the highest average number of nightly news viewers (331,000) in the Los Angeles market. English-language KABC, its closest competitor, lagged behind by more than 70,000 viewers.
What do you think? Are you satisfied with the topics you see on your local news stations? Read Mathews’ full May 11 article at the Washington Post.com (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/09/AR2008050902540.html?hpid=opinionsbox1).
May 7, 2008
Film censorship in Indonesia out of focus
It’s rare that a court’s verdict pleases both sides.
A lawsuit aimed at ending Indonesia’s Film Censorship Board was defeated April 30. But the filmmakers who opposed the suit could still celebrate because the court ruled a new assessment system is "needed urgently" to encourage more creativity in the country’s cinema.
The censorship board, as Indonesia’s editorial authority, cuts scenes it finds violent or overly sexual from movies and television shows. Board supporters see the ruling as a victory for Islamic religious values.
A close reading of the ruling doesn’t quite match up with that interpretation. The court found the law authorizing the censorship board is "not in line with modern times” but said it cannot do away with the board until a new system of assessing films is in place.
Opponents of the board argued it should be replaced with another film board that would use a standard rating system and let people decide for themselves whether to see a film.
Filmmaker Rivai Riza told Agence France Press the court’s ruling gave hope to Indonesia's film industry. He pointed to a dissenting judge’s opinion that censorship violates Indonesian constitutional rights of communicating and acquiring information.
"The decision was clear that our request was rejected but we are happy that there is at least a rational dissenting opinion. This means that the democratic process worked," he said.
Does your country use a censorship board or ratings system to alert viewers to potentially offensive material? How’s that working for you?
April 28
This revolution brought to you by Facebook
Did Facebook’s U.S. creators realize their social networking site where friends shared jokes, photos and personal messages would become a powerful organizational tool for political groups worldwide?
Web sites like Facebook can be edited by anyone anywhere – one of its 69 million users worldwide can create a group to meet fans of a favorite film and invite people to a house party, while another can set up a group with a political agenda to raise funds from thousands of donors and organize mass demonstrations.
Early on a January afternoon, a young Colombian civil engineer frustrated over the violence in his country created a Facebook group to protest the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). By the time he got home that evening 1,500 people had joined his group.
Discussions in that Facebook group during the next few weeks led to the February 4 “One Million Voices Against the FARC” march that drew thousands of participants and made international headlines.
This kind of social activism is happening on every continent, and on other social networking sites. Russia’s two most popular networks, Odnoklassniki.ru and Vkontakte.ru, have a combined 26 million registered users.
On May 4, a Facebook-organized “day of civil disobedience” is scheduled in Egypt to coincide with President Hosni Mubarak’s 80th birthday. Demonstrators are urging the public to wear black to mourn victims of a government’s crackdown at a protest (also organized via Facebook) at Mahalla el Kubra on April 6, and what the group calls “the death of Egyptian and Arab media.”
Some Jordanian activists also are using Facebook to plan May 4 protests. But their neighbors in Syria will have to find another way to organize: The Syrian government banned Facebook from its servers in November 2007 and reportedly has arrested some of its online activists.
Are social networking sites an incubator for political reform in your country? Share your experiences with our readers.
April 14
Do new Arab satellite-broadcast principles foretell a media crackdown?
Arab League information ministers approved the "Principles for Organizing Satellite Radio and TV Broadcasting in the Arab Region" at February meeting. The charter forbids satellite television from offending Arab leaders, and national and religious symbols. Many media rights activists and advocacy groups say the charter is an attempt to censor one of the Arab world’s main nonstate media sources.
The International Press Institute’s David Dadge said the charter “represents a step backwards for press freedom in the entire region, and threatens to undermine the significant strides recently made in some of the Arab world’s individual countries.”
On April 1, Egypt’s state-controlled satellite television operator Nilesat cut its transmission of London-based Al-Hiwar, believed to have ties to Egypt’s main opposition, the Muslim Brotherhood. It also cut transmissions of Al Baraka and Al Hikma.
A statement from Reporters Without Borders said “Nilesat’s decision confirms the fears we expressed” over the charter and the organization worried of “a wave of censorship measures against satellite television stations that criticize Arab governments.”
Nilesat president Amin Bassiouni denied the new charter triggered the measures, and international communications expert Marwan Kraidy told journalist Magda Abu-Fadil that having some kind of regulatory framework to cover the more than 400 satellite channels “is not in itself a bad idea.”
However, Kraidy also said it is unclear whether the charter is a symbolic gesture or a concrete step by Arab governments to inhibit broadcasters, adding the governments’ collective track record in repressing the media “is legend.”
What do you think? Is the charter responsible regulation, suppression of press freedom or something in between?
April 7
Blogs self-regulate to stay credible
One important lesson politicians can learn from Malaysia’s March 8 election is that candidates can’t rely on just traditional media like television, newspapers and radio to deliver their messages to voters. As more people get access to the Internet, often privately and conveniently in their own homes, they are using a lot of different news sources.
The Internet also is changing journalism. Anyone can start a blog, and posting items online – easily and anonymously – allows free expression without risking punishment or unwanted government attention. But anonymity can open the door to false or misleading postings by bloggers who don’t have to worry about personal repercussions when the truth comes out.
However, as a blog’s readership increases, so will the level of scrutiny. Inaccuracies are more likely to get noticed and called out. Much of a blog’s popularity relies not just on topics and political viewpoint but also on credibility, so a blogger has a vested interest in building and maintaining a credible platform for discussion. That interest keeps most bloggers honest with their readers.
Find out more about blogs and elections in “Malaysia’s Alternative Media Become Decisive Political Factor.”
Do you have any questions or comments about the growing importance of blogs in politics? Send them here.
