Wikileaks Breathing New Life To The Relevance Of Blogs Debate...

Noam Chomsky's rise to fame as a champion against neo-liberal or indeed neo-conservative hegemony by the Western dominated 'Superclass' included the writing of a very weighty book, Manufacturing Consent, in the late 80's. In this book, he posits that the profit motive of mass-media already drives the news content of the news media business, i.e. what is mainstream media today, away from necessarily reporting with the public interest at heart.

Since the writing of the book and various updates - such as the shift in dogma from anti-communism to the 'War on Terror', mainstream media globally, but especially in the West, has undergone significant consolidation, such that 'media giants', now dominate not just the newspages, but television and even the silver screen. The various parts of these global media entities try to depict independence from any central controlling influence, conveying messages subtly.

The examples of this are various, such as the clear on-going propogation of the necessity of a 'War on Terror', finely laced with the acceptance of 'good Muslims', which vary from the religiously observant to the secular, but all wholeheartedly accepting the offerings of Western civilisation. However, 2009 also saw what I believed was the beginning of a subtle multi-media war against the new forms of independent journalisms; i.e. blogs.

One can now note on an occassional basis, blogs and other online news platforms being subtly maligned in TV shows and movies. The put-downs are subtle, such as the character Booth in the series Bones declaring the phrase 'important blogger' to be an oxymoron, or indeed Russel Crowe's character's derision of blogs as not carrying news but opinions in the film State of Play when mentoring a journo-blogger from his newspaper's online department.

These subtle putdowns are in this blogger's view, the beginnings of propaganda, designed as an attempt to plant seeds of doubt over the relevance of blogs as a form of citizen-journalism in the new media. No, not being overly dramatic nor thinking self is an over-important blogger. Simply noting that for the first time since 'pamphletering' became vogue as an instrument of propaganda, the now corporatised Fourth Estate has found a rival they can hardly cope with, blogs.

Such actions are not the first by traditional or 'old' media to curtail the influence of new media but merely the latest. Earlier attempts included corporate moves to dominate online companies, such as the AOL-TimeWarner deal. This was followed by the 'can't beat 'em, join 'em' strategy, with traditional Western newsmedia going online, complete with journo-bloggers. Whilst online penetration of 'old' media has been impressive, independent blogs continue to flourish...

And so the threat of independent citizen journalism against 'Manufactured Consent' persists... as so dramatically demonstrated recently by WikiLeaks!

Is this blogger overemphasising the significance of WikiLeaks' recent revelations? I do not think so. Of late, there has not been much triumph felt by citizen journalism as a global force. Sure, in countries like Malaysia, some difference may still be felt, but even here, where there is improving prosperity and when the government seems to getting its act together somewhat, citizen journalism may seem a tad pointless... but really it isn't!

WikiLeaks is an international sensation, but there was a time when the local sensation of our blogs have brought hope and addressed wrongs untouched by our traditional media, for we have our own home-grown 'Manufatured Content' of various hues. And as long as such traditional media does not give the public good its due priority, there will always be room for citizen journalism, for blogs, in the hearts, thoughts and actions of the people...

Blog Akar Umbi Di Bagan Pinang

Saya jarang-jarang mengangkat nama blog orang, walaupun kawan-kawan, di sini. Namun, saya cukup berminat dengan blog mata-pena yang baru timbul baru-baru ini bersabit PRK Bagan Pinang.

Menariknya bukan apa, tetapi penggeraknya adalah seorang guru sekolah dan penyokong politik akar-umbi! Namun, terlihat blog beliau cukup kemas serta canggih, melihatkan bagaimana dengan sedikit kegigihan, internet merentas jurang bagi sesiapa pun yang mahu berhubung suara atau pendapat.

Diharap teman-teman juga sudi melawat blog beliau.

New Supression Of The Cyber-Rakyat... As I Recover From My Fed Up State...

Apologies to the regulars of this site for yet another absence, but this time it wasn't due to work or life, but I sort of got a little fed up with the silliness of it all when the first Bala SD came out, much as many of my fellow bloggers.

Ironically, my recovery from being fed up is being assisted by some on-going silliness by the government, i.e. Pak Lah and the 4th Floor, which is now clearly much assisted by their new puppet Anwar Ibrahim, who is being controlled by the threat of his sodomy case being taken to court! (Of course, this is not up to the 4th Floor, but I suppose Anwar started believing his own propaganda about how the PM controlled everything in Malaysia a long time ago!)

Finding the time to write quality postings is tough for a mid-level exec. in an Oil & Gas multinational with 5 kids and rising political activity outside of cyberspace, but how can you stand aside when you see this sort of excessive supression of our freedoms in the guise of 'protecting our children'? Be honest la Mr. Gomen, are you protecting kids from cyber-naughtiness or Pak Lah with his phobia of the rakyat's political activism in cyberspace when you impose restrictions like this!

Recent Loss Of Gerakan Leader Wasn't The First

This trend of losing BN leaders, key opinion makers and contributors is not new. Tun Dr M's views in the following link highlights a problem that BN has been facing for some 4 years.
http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/2008/04/29/an-unhealthy-trend-developing/

Who have we lost you may ask? Even with the exception of those the parties cast off, such as Ibrahim Ali and Zaharin Yassin, BN and UMNO stalwarts both, there are too many to count. Let us just consider the previously solid pro-BN guys on the web:

Jeff Ooi lost from Gerakan to DAP
Rocky, lost from being a BN paper editor to 'rogue' blogger
The above 2 was even sued when still being quite loyal to BN!

Kickthefella was lost to PAS... many have forgotten he was a grassroots BN leader once!

We have lost far too many over the last 4 years, and due to a loss of direction and a crisis in leadership, not stemming from a leadership crisis like in previous times. In fact, I suspect we have had a higher net loss of significant individuals from BN in the last 4 years than we have over the previous 22!

Pathetic... I have some hope still... just a little more than barely... which will be tremedously boosted if a certain someone leaves...

Eh... I glamer la!

Terkejut kangkung rasanya apabila ada kawan yang bagi peluang tumpang glamer dengan blogger-blogger lain di kaca TV Astro Awani... perisian selepas foto...



Ini saya masih dalam keadaan terkejut kangkung... tapi nak cakap juga! Saya difahamkan siaran ulangan terakhir "Perspektif Kita" ialah pada 1 Mei (3.30 petang)... kalau ada yang sudi la...


Perisian sedikit tentang apa saya sendiri pelajari:

1. Kredibiliti blog akan lebih teransang sekiranya penulisnya 'berwajah'. Dalam masa terdekat ini mungkin perisian yang bagus sudah cukup, tapi wajah penuis akan semakin dituntut pembaca.


2. Ruangan komentar atau kebolehan link penting untuk memberi kepuasan kepada pembaca. Tentu lebih memuaskan dari auto-messaging.


3. Ada ahli politik sekarang yang menggunakan 'penulis hantu' untuk memblog. Yang luar-biasa ligat menjawab komen kot!


4. Blog ini sebahagian turutan evolusi media yang menggoncang sejarah... dan terus menggoncang.


5. Pengikut-pengikut setia DAP masih dok jual cerita kerajaan BN mengongkong kebebasan depa!


6. Ramai anak muda gemar blog kerana bahasanya yang bersahaja.

Buat perhatian semua, glamer saya insya'Allah belum putus lagi minggu ini. Sudilah datang ke acara tersebut:

Sekretariat Melayu Muda, satu gagasan yang dipeloporioleh
profesional Melayu muda, akan menganjurkan satuperbincangan bertajuk: "Malaysia Baru: Senario PolitikMasakini"

Ianya akan diadakan pada tarikh dan tempat
sepertiberikut:

Masa: Rabu, 30 April 2008, 7.45 pm (ada surau di tempat acara) Tempat: Aras 2, Anjung Wisma Sejarah, 230, Jalan Tun Razak,
50400, Kuala Lumpur

Tetamu jemputan adalah:

1. YB Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, Ahli Parlimen Jerlun, EXCO Pemuda UMNO Malaysia

2. Sdr Akhramsyah M. U. Sanusi, Pemimpin Pro-Tem Alumni Melayu UK & Eire (AMUKE), Blogger

Senario politik negara sudah berubah. samada kita suka ataupun tidak, samada kita sedar ataupun tidak, ianya akan mempengaruhi kehidupan kita. Bersamalah kita menentukan halatuju bangsa Melayu.

Datang. Dengar. Bersuara. hebahkan kepada rakan-rakan. tempat adalah terhad.sekiranya berminat, sila email nama dan pekerjaan andakepada: sekretariat.melayu.muda@ gmail.com Terima kasih. Semoga berjumpa pada 30 April 2008.

Blogging Is Global In Nature, Hence Is Its Litigation Global In Nature?

They say a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, so as I have no real formal knowledge of the law, any views I espouse probably would be ...

It's getting to be a little too much fun taking Tangents of the NST vs. Blogger (Jeff and Rocky) civil action. My earlier post pondered the risks of Pak Lah being partisan on this case. I now wonder if maybe Uncle Kali and co may have begun something that isn't quite within the realm of their 'control'.

Consider this. Blogging is global by nature. The audience is global, as witnessed by the global outpouring of support in addition to the international reporting of this case, cited even as a 'landmark' case by the over-exuberant. However, there are legalistically global implications also to the suing of Rocky and Jeff, in that:

1. Their blogs, whilst by and large Malaysian by content, are hosted in servers abroad, potentially making them 'resident' within a foreign legal jurisdiction.
2. Any income they derive from the blogs, either directly through advertising, or indirectly by incidentals, opportunities, etc, would also not only be from Malaysian sources, but from an international base and would typically be via off-shore facilitation (adsense, etc).
3. The reputation held by these blogs are also international in nature, evident from the global awareness and commentary of the case, hence the owners risk critical cross-border defamation and all that that entails, whatever the outcome of this case.

So, is it too far a Tangent to imagine that whatever the outcome of this battle in the Malaysian courts, Jeff and Rocky may be able to seek legal recourse of some sort from a foreign court of law, almost of their choice?

So, could Jeff and Rocky even from now on lay a counter-claim of libel, defamation and loss of income through restriction in blogging activity in a US court due to their blogs being hosted and the income from advertising being facilitated by US entities?

And lets assume say a link is made between the case and happenings in Turkey, just an example mind you, could they take action in a Turkish court specific to the element of the case being cited?

Wow... this is great kung fu for us wee bloggers if it proves to be true...

Can Pak Lah Afford To Be Partisan Against Us Wee Bloggers?

I'm taking a Tangent here of course on the matter of the bloggers (Jeff and Rocky) vs NSTP case which is running rabid on the Malaysian blogosphere and apparently infecting much of the world's on-line and traditional media.

The Tangent I'm taking is actually on this:

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/24/nation/16663444&sec=nation

Am I reading this right? Is Pak Lah really taking sides here, against Jeff and Rocky, in what is really a civil suit? I mean I know-lah that NST is an UMNO paper and that Kalimullah is Pak Lah's chum (due to Pak Lah mistakenly thinking that Kalimullah helped him secure the DPM-ship - uncle Kali you sly old manipulator you...) as well as his son-in-law Khairy's boss and once(?) business partner, but isn't this going a little too far?

It would be far fairer of Pak Lah if he also added a comment in the lines of,"Traditional media also should take responsibility of their reporting, and responsible blogs then do have a role to play to check the excesses of such media, especially those with links to the establishment like the NST. Indeed traditional media like NSTP's publications that are linked to the ruling party must set the standard in responsible reporting ahead of blogs as any poor reporting risks embarassing the government."

The above line is not just more creditable for a leader gagging for world recognition (since local recognition is tough in the days of floods, boats, inflation and toll hikes), it is also good politics as:

1. Bloggers are voters too


2. Uncle Kali and gang are not really the most popular people in Malaysia at the moment


3. In Acheh recently, the winner of the race for Govenor was a surprise dark-horse ex-rebel/freedom fighter ex-con. The reason he and his block of the Acheh Liberation Movement (GAM) won? They printed out and distrubuted the 'best off' news about their block that was published in the net and blogs!

By the way, there may also be legal reasons why Pak Lah should refrain from commenting on this matter as the recent thorn in Dato' Rafidah's side, Michael Backman (http://www.michaelbackman.com/) once commented in his book...

...that (in his view) Malaysian courts are actually quite independent (contrary to popular opinion), but have this annoying habit of typically passing judgement in favour of or in line with what they percieve are the government's desires; the flip-flop on Anwar Ibrahim's conviction and subsequent release on appeal being the case in point.

Could Pak Lah be setting up grounds for an appeal for this case should the NST-fellows win? Pak Lah... I thought uncle Kali was your friend?