The first session was on participatory media, with three speakers, none of whom, I suspect are bloggers. The main things that they raised about participatory media was the one to many side of things – that people can talk. They seemed to be completely ignorant of what Marina Mahathir said was the most important thing about blogging – that people can talk back. It's true of blogs, of YouTube... And of course none of the speakers mentioned community radio.
The first speaker, Haroon Siddiqi raised supposed problems with participatory media, failing to mention the digital divide, he concentrated on the usual problems of credibility, and the use of the Internet to encourage terrorism. It reminded me of Bruce Sterling's book 'The Hacker Conspiracy' – that hackers were going to bring down the modern world, according to the FBI etc. The same sources, incidentally, that he quoted as evidence for the use of the Internet by terrorism. He did also mention that those making most money from blogs are probably those monitoring them. Cause, effect, anybody?
I think it is scary at a forum such as this when a renowned academic and thinker such as Dr Siddiqi can stand up and say that terrorists are among the biggest beneficiaries of the Internet.
The second speaker Erik Betterman from Deutsche Welle did mention the digital divide, but mention it was all. He also made a point about users wanting tailor-made information and that if broadcasters want to retain their pre-eminent role, there needs to be a focus on the key functions of journalists – ethics, professionalism etc. Which is good.
The last speaker, from NHK Japan saw the blogs, wikis etc as one-way forms of communication – or at least that was the main aspect he talked about. Oh, and how blogs can 'make people irrational'. He was talking in the context of blogs helping to stoke racist sentiment. I think again, problems of confusing cause and effect. There are racists (anti-Chinese and -Korean) in Japan. Their views are not reflected in the mass media – it doesn't mean they aren't there. The blogs aren't causing these views, they are reflections of them – and a sensible Government will look at these opinions and react to them. Obviously, we can hope that they'll react by engaging in education etc, rather than pandering to racist sentiments. But that is a question of policy.
The Q&A was more interesting. The most interesting questions came from Palestine. An academic from the occupied territories spoke about how participatory media are vital for human survival in Palestine – the equipment of local radio stations has been confiscated by the Israeli forces, so the only means they have of telling their stories is through YouTube etc. Then there was the formidable Alison Weir (go to her talk! Thurs evening, at Sin Chew!). She asked the speakers about the biases for Israel in the news organisations, which only DW answered convincingly. Haroon Siddiqi claimed that the pro-Israel bias in papers etc reflected the pro-Israel bias of viewers etc. And I'm thinking, hello, so why is the Malaysian media so pro-America – right down to the foreign news in RTM. The top story on Traxx FM this morning – memorial services in the US, and Bush talking about fallen heroes. Doesn't RTM have any inkling of how the average Malaysian feels about the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq? If so, how do they justify leading the foreign news with this story, and if not, how do they justify their own existence? But anyway – it indicates how the Western biases permeate not just the Western media, but the entire world.
What would I have liked to have heard?
First, from bloggers themselves – bring them together with public broadcasters. The old men on stage obviously had no idea of what blogging and participatory media consists of. Second, of course, from community radio practitioners (ie not me) – people who are actively using participatory media to promote MDGs and overcome digital divide. And perhaps more on the role of public broadcasters in a digitised world.
La la.
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