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IT’S only growing bigger, this controversy sparked by the website
http://delfindjmontano.blogspot.com of Brian Gorrell versus the
“Gucci Gang.” The rising popularity of websites exposing the
dirty laundry of high society like www.chikatime.com and
www.chuvachienes.com proves my assertion in my column entitled
“Against Gossip” last March 31—that the Gorrell issue is but
the first in a burgeoning media culture trend.
I confess: I take guilty pleasure in knowing
that duplicitous elitists have been exposed for what they truly are.
I absolutely have no sympathy for them and pay
little attention to their ilk, most especially since I am amidst a
population of valiant, industrious, talented and yet unsung people
deserving our undivided sympathy, attention and solidarity—the
vast majority of Filipinos.
But to see one cliqué of talentless columnists
and media gadflies brought down, only to have another gang of vapid
gossipy hacks take their place—that is not the kind of change I am
hoping for.
And for the Blogosphere to become as
self-serving, shallow and partisan, not to mention gossip-driven or
high society-obsessed as some segments of traditional media have
already become—that is not what I want the Internet to be.
What if it were the Gucci Gang instead that
first successfully blogged about the dirty laundry of Gorrell?
Perhaps the end does not justify the means.
What if the same Internet gossip hounds start
digging up dirt on your friends who do good work? No one is a saint
and no one should have to be.
Remember, the same technology that empowered
Brian Gorrell also spawned Bryan Boy. Conversely, the same
traditional media that begat Malu Fernandez also fosters a beacon of
journalistic standards such as Pete Lacaba.
I aspire for a society where truly the best
rises to the top. “The best” means not the rich or beautiful but
the selfless and talented. “The top” means not fame or fortune
but appreciation and support.
I aspire for a new media that empowers everyone
to be a citizen journalist (an example of Web 2.0 technology of
content coming from the users, such as Wikipedia and YouTube) and
that recognizes the standards for accountability, ethics and craft
long held by the centuries-old profession of journalism.
CNN encourages viewers to upload their own
reportage. Time magazine, The New York Times and Wired magazine have
long adopted bloggers, giving them access to presidential campaigns
and war zones.
But there are also worrying global Internet
trends: On April 8, it was reported that eight teens in Florida
filmed their assault on 16-year-old girl so that they could post it
on YouTube. (They accused the girl of insulting them in a video she
had posted on the same site.) On January 15, two websites violated a
media blackout agreed upon by the press establishment and revealed
the combat deployment to Afghanistan of Prince Harry of UK, thus
endangering him and his entire unit. And here in the Philippines, we
have these gossip sites.
In traditional media, professionals are
accountable to laws regarding plagiarism, slander, bigotry and
incitement to violence. A respectable publication will not allow
anonymous writers and sources, blind items, uncorroborated facts,
biased language, one-sided reportage, self-promotion or regurgitated
press releases. Editors ensure concise and compelling language.
However, in a borderless media like the
Internet, the laws of any single country are nearly unenforceable.
After all, the author could be anonymous, residing in a foreign
country and his website hosted in yet another. And with everyone
becoming his own publisher, editor and author on the Internet, the
democratization of media has also meant amateurism in content.
There’s simply a lot of badly written stuff out there.
Only a readership that exercises critical
thinking can discern between public relations and objective
reportage, between idiotic mudslinging and insightful journalism.
And now that citizens themselves are broadcasting the news, they
better make damn sure they know what they are doing. Read up before
you write.
E-mail Rome Jorge at rome.jorge@gmail.com or
visit http://blog.360.yahoo.com/hanepdesigns
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