Reporter Reporting Reports

WEEK 11.

Journalism and the Internet

The Gist.

hi there! this week, Mr Abel "Tom Cruise" Choy takes us on a tour of online journalism. how the internet is shaping up when it comes to newscasting, how the online community can participate in news reporting and, just how much can we benefit from extracting these sources.

So What Else.

newscasting has undergone a new facelift. we don't just see newspapers, news on television and the radio. we see, and even hear news online. what's more interesting is that it's no longer the presenters and journalists that are hogging the headlines. it is the online community that has taken the globe by STOMP, er storm. over the past few years, we have seen the sprouting of rogue sites, and random news reporting from all over the net, much faster than you can say bean sprout. armed with jus a camcorder or a simple digital camera, one can report an incident or newsworthy event at the push of a button. of course, it would boost your credibility if you have steady hands, a nosey (kaypoh) personality, peter parker's spider sense and last but not least a credible website where you can post your findings.

Why Should We Care?

in the wake of the september 11 attacks, people become more aware of the term terrorism. after we witness such a monstrosity, i'm positively sure that no one wants a repeat of such heinous acts. it is up to people like you and i, and not the usual suspects the government and police to handle it. we can play a part by flipping our handphones to catch any misdemeanours and post it on STOMP. i'm half-kidding. online journalism can improve one's reporting skills, writing perhaps, as more and more people jump on the online journalism bandwagon, we could even put timothy goh out of job.

"there is always someone stronger, better than you"

Googlitics

WEEK 10.

Politics and the Internet

The Gist.

welcome to week 10! just a few more weeks and the sem's over! my group presented on the internet and politics, and it seems that both are more related than ever as the years go by. besides that, the class also learnt about political advertising and campaigns, and also touched on countries which restrict internet access for various reasons.

So What Else.

it seems that not every country has internet access. it is not because the country is poor, or don't own a nuclear powerstation. it's is because of how the country is shaped, the political shape of the country. it appears that countries that aim to protect their citizens are more wary of the internet than the disease a rodent could bring. you see, the internet is more than a disease. just like fire, one could be a master of it or else become a burnt matchstick. the wonders of the internet are for all to see; the abundance of information, as well as junk is quite apparent. the internet is a tool where one can set a forestfire, or create applications like Cooking Mama (a cooking game).

Why Should We Care?

however, certain countries know of the backlash if they unleash the restriction. the internet can be used to fan the flames against the governing body, and thus create instability amongst the already unhappy people. statistics have shown that a mere relaxation of rules, then restricting them again can cause a serious backlash against the government. because i'm not qualified to speak out or speak against the political agenda of such countries, it is perhaps better to put ourselves in their shoes and ask why they chose to resrict in the first place.

"to understand one's feet, one should wear their shoes first"

WEEK 9.

-OUT FOR MIDTERM-

BRB.

I TUNE IN, I LIKE...

WEEK 8.

Entertainment and Multimedia on the Internet

The Gist.

wow. what can i say. my favorite topic of the module. in the world full of electronics, it seems that the world of the internet knows that in each human there is a child within them. the plethora of games and other entertainment is almost infinite online. as such, the class sstes out on a conquest to find out more about internet gaming and entertainment.

So What Else.

online gaming is too big to ignore. generating billions of dollars yearly, gaming companies are gradually directing its resource into the virtual world. i meant creating a virtual world. and generating real cash from it. online gaming, downloadable music and animation works are the cash cows of today. becoming bored is virtually a thing of the past. now we have the iPhone, iMac, iRack (pun to america's pronounciation of Iraq) and its ever-growing number of applications (mostly gaming). we've facebook games, we even have advertisments that lets you play a mini game. of course, games can't do without their developers. animation companies like PIXAR and SquareEnix help produce our Nemos and Final Fantasys. wheareas itunes are the powerhouses in terms of storage, platform, medium, and downloads music-wise. throw away the CDs and DVDs, we just need a hard disk drive to store our downloaded stuff (not porn). do away with radio and donate it to the museum, now we have podcasts!

Why Should We Care?

we should care because there's a high chance that we'll be working in the "infotainment" industry (the rest just work at the IRs). everyone, from young to the elderly, play games. if we transmute the pick-up-sticks and chinese chess into the virtual world, soon we would have the entire world connected like how the Avatars do with their pigtails. games bring people together. but of course, some may argue that such online games may bring about addiction, and an over reliance to technology. barring some A.I. takeover ala the Matrix, we should know when to unhook such people when gaming becomes actual life and death.

"which will you take, the red, or blue pill?"