STOMP (Straits Times Online Mobile Print) is an online portal set up by the Singapore Press Holdings. Here, the online portal makes use of the three platforms consisting of online, mobile and print, to involve the public in the updates of Singapore (Stomp, 2006).
Citizen jounrlaism is also commonly known as 'participatory journalism'(Citizen Journalism,2007). Ordianry people are now able to capture images and videos on thier handheld devices with ease. This technological advancement has given society many more eyes and ears.
STOMP is a platform where people who have news to share, can publish thier stuff online. This was possible before this platform was created, via blogs. However, STOMP is an example of organization and efficiency. Instaead of going to multiple blogs to read about different things, STOMP organizes forums and chatrooms, where people can go and share interests and news. this feeling of involvment is very productive for society and can give rise to Jurger Habermas's concept of the public sphere. STOMP has the resources, and the process of debate would be open for everyone to see and judge. Sites such as STOMP are also a good way of cultivating democracy within Singaporean society.
STOMP has restrictions on what can be published on their site. This can be seen as a hinderence and can also be seen as a neccesity. While, real eye cathing stuff would be great for attracting crowds on the site, alot of people misuse the internet, and would probably post vulgar or become abusive on the forums. While there are restrictions to it, ordianry citizens have a better chance of gettins omething useful posted on STOMP rather than getting it published in Newspapers or Magazines.
The concept behind STOMP is new and very benficial. However, the site tends to deal with very soft and light hearted material. The concept behind citizen journlaism, is to get ordinay people's views on current affairs. An anchorman on CNN telling us somethign about Singapore would not be as interesting as hearing it from a Singaporeans mouth. STOMP should try and keep its lively feel to get people comfortable with the site, but i believe it should center around hard hitting news, so people can get actively involved in what is happening around them .
Refernces:
STOMP (2006) From Singapore Press Holdings Retrieved March 30, 2007 from http://www.stomp.com.sg/
Citizen Journalism. (2007, March 28). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 30, 2007, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_journalism
Gillmor, D. (2004). We the People: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from http://download.nowis.com/index.cfm?phile=WeTheMedia.html&tipe=text/html#chap3
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