Unpaid yet invaluable?

After an extremely interesting, thought provoking seminar given by two Singapore students in my journalism class, I felt compelled to do some of my own research. The seminar focused on Singapore's media industry and highlighted many aspects I was unaware of for example, censorship of internet sites. Having been to Singapore myself, I could relate to the issue of maintaining a 'postive media' where journalists are expected to avoid reporting on negative issues concerning Singapore. From my own experience, it was obvious how hesitant the media industry is in providing coverage on crime, war, poverty, human error and disasters.

After class discussions a few weeks ago on citizen journalism in the 21st century, I couldn't help but research Singapore's situation and provide a comparison with Australia. Interestingly, Singapore has a website specifically dedicated to the citizen journalist (CJ) - http://theonlinecitizen.com/. I particularly enjoy reading the stories on the 'Press Muse' page, where the CJ's keep a watchful eye on the media industry, much like our Media Watch program or Four Corners.

Ben Bland, a blogger on the 'Asia File' http://asiancorrespondent.com/the-asia-file/bloggers-strike-a-blow-for-investigative-journalism-in-singapore makes some valid points on citizen journalism in Singapore and argues that it's not all negative. He says he, "wants to pay tribute to The Online Citizen, one of Singapore's most popular citizen journalism websites, for demonstrating both the importance of investigative journalism and its positive benefits for society." He further discusses such benefits explaining how the government continues to insist that homelessness does not exist in Singapore, however the CJ's seem to be constantly reporting on the increase of peope living on the streets?

"Last week, TOC published a story on the plight of homeless Singaporeans camping out in Sembawang Park, on the northern coast of the island state. It was well known among a number of social workers that there were Singaporeans living under canvas on a semi-permanent basis (I mentioned the issue in a story about loan sharks I wrote for Asia Sentinel in August). But TOC went down to Sembawang and told the story of these people, whose predicament gives the lie to the government's (at best ) arrogant and (at worst) dishonest insistence that there are no homeless in Singapore."


This example of course supports the idea of the CJ carrying out investigations on current issues in society. The story also provides proof that without CJ's, the 'real' stories may never be told, never reported, never heard of, never dealt with...

Like Australia's situation, I think the Singaporean 'Online Citizen' is a much needed news resource. It allows the important truths and honest, acuurate stories to be told by "unpaid reporters who provide a valuable service to the nation!"