Maybe citizen journalism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Ask Singapore Press Holdings, publisher of the Straits Times, which in 2006 founded the Straits Times Online Mobile Print, or STOMP, to give ordinary citizens the chance to have a voice in the island republic’s daily affairs.
Now they want a voice in shutting down the website. More than 23,000 angry Singaporeans have signed an online petition demanding that the website be taken down because of inaccurate, biased, often malicious reporting, seemingly aimed at inflaming sentiment.
The island’s mainstream media is notoriously hobbled by a government determined to make sure the only negative reporting on the country is what the government wants negatively reported, such as campaigns for cleaner toilets or against public rudeness.
As with citizen journalism in other parts of the world, STOMP was designed to serve the theory that democracy is better served without news being filtered by autocratic mainstream editors, and that common citizens, given a platform, will deliver unvarnished truth.
There have been plenty of incidents reported by STOMP that got authorities’ attention. In 2011, the website published a hilarious picture of a Singapore army soldier on his way to maneuvers with his Filipina domestic helper toting his army pack while he walked ahead, appearing to text on his phone. The entry kicked off a huge fuss and an army investigation. Full story...
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Now they want a voice in shutting down the website. More than 23,000 angry Singaporeans have signed an online petition demanding that the website be taken down because of inaccurate, biased, often malicious reporting, seemingly aimed at inflaming sentiment.
The island’s mainstream media is notoriously hobbled by a government determined to make sure the only negative reporting on the country is what the government wants negatively reported, such as campaigns for cleaner toilets or against public rudeness.
As with citizen journalism in other parts of the world, STOMP was designed to serve the theory that democracy is better served without news being filtered by autocratic mainstream editors, and that common citizens, given a platform, will deliver unvarnished truth.
There have been plenty of incidents reported by STOMP that got authorities’ attention. In 2011, the website published a hilarious picture of a Singapore army soldier on his way to maneuvers with his Filipina domestic helper toting his army pack while he walked ahead, appearing to text on his phone. The entry kicked off a huge fuss and an army investigation. Full story...
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