The purpose of an alternative media is to provide non-mainstream information, which was the reason for the rise of blogging and citizen journalism. The mainstream media being seen as “Government’s voice” was also one of the reason why many people turn to alternative media. But alternative media in Singapore is slowly losing its war.
In the recent AWARE saga, many’s perception of our main stream media, specifically, Straits Times, changed. In the past Straits Times was heavily criticized over almost everything; its integrity, quality of articles, biasness and lack of freedom. It was seen as a “government’s newspaper”, pushing “THEIR” agendas into our face.
During the AWARE saga (and perhaps also during the NKF incident), many have rallied behind Straits Times. Straits Times brought conspiracy into light and represented the voice of the people. The bulk of Singaporeans share Straits Times’ view. Only a small group criticized. And they happen to be the antagonist in this saga.
After the saga, the effect is obvious. Remember how the news of Mas Selamat’s arrest broke? It seems as if Straits Times ran the story without a go ahead from the government. It indirectly hinted at the freedom of press that Straits Times seemed to have. In forums, people normally refer to Straits Times as the “147th” after its freedom index ranking. Now you seldom see people calling Straits Times that.
In just a few week Straits Times has transformed from being the “Government’s voice” to the “People’s voice”, which was traditionally the role of non-mainstream media. Then where is the role of alternative media? The trend is that alternatively media increasingly mirrors content of mainstream media, and this makes the alternative media similar to the mainstream media. This is not altogether the fault of bloggers and other online voices. I create my own content, but it is not an easy task.
Another reason for this erosion is the abuse of blogging. While the word blogging comes from the phrase, “Web Log”, many naïve Singaporean youngster, for the promise of quick and easy cash from well-run semi-scam sites like Nuffang and Advertlets, degraded into “Dump sites” where sensationalized content, generally about sex and sexy babes, are dumped onto the blog to draw traffic. One Singaporean, who claimed to have made it big online and retired at the age of 25, who in fact is doing odd jobs driving a delivery van, took the concept of a “Dump site” even further by using RSS/ATOM feeds to automatically suck content from other “Dump sites”. Heck. It is a blog that don’t require any blogging.
So what does all that take us? Alternative media is losing its soul and its reason for existence due to the erosion of its very core purpose of providing an alternative voice, while main stream media are catching up to play and take over the roles of the alternative media.
If Singaporean bloggers wake up too late, just be prepared for the future when your son asks you, “Dad, what happened to alternative media in Singapore?
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I disagree. Alternative media is not being eroded. Your post only took into consideration the increase in “signal to noise” ratio of the media. When more folks start to do blog, the noise level goes up naturally. It is easy to maintain a high signal to noise ration when there is only 1 signal…
As for alternative media, the secret is to weed out the noise… The good alternative sites for news remain viable and relied upon for news. So, instead of focusing on the noise, concentrate on the signal…
I am an overseas Singaporean and I rely 100% on alternative media for news about Singapore and believe I’m kept very informed of what is happening in the country. So believe me, you don’t need the main stream media for news…
If the US is any indication, be prepared for a future where the son asks you, “Dad, what is the Straits Times?”
Thank you for writing.
Btw, “usa.net”… cool!