New Forms of Media Publishing

With the advanced technology available these days, it is true to say that our communication environment is slowly changing. According to Naughton (2006), all “old” media” were “new” media once. New forms of media emerge every now and then. From social networking sites such as Myspace, Friendster, Facebook and Bebo, to photoblogs such as Flickr, vlogs like Youtube, to newer forms of media such as Twitter and Tumblr.

Twitter

Source: http://shiftingcareers.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/technology/

Tumblr

Source: www.tumblr.com

Question like this were always asked – Does the new media alter the role of communication? There is no doubt that the emergence of new media does affect the role in one way or another. However at the end of the day, it brings benefits to both new and old media.

Most online publishing does not need to go through gatekeepers. Thus people are free to post whatever that is in their mind to the public. An example of video blogging gone wrong in Malaysia is the issue involving Namewee, a Malaysian student who studied in Taiwan.

Source: http://sean-the-man.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html

Namewee created a highly controversial remix video depicting the national anthem of Malaysia and posted it on Youtube (Lee 2007). The video contains some seditious lyrics making fun on some of the issues involving Malaysian civil servants, Malay prayers and corrupt policemen.

When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became the Prime Minister, he invited fellow Malaysians to speak up and tell the truth, no matter how unpleasant it is (Lim 2007). However, as we can see, the video has got Namewee into trouble. By speaking the truth, he was criticized and criminalize by the Malaysian government. Although he did not have any bad intention, the video has caused him trouble.

Without gatekeepers, problem like this would happen in the new media. No doubt the new media has given a lot of benefit to the users, but if it is being misuse, it will definitely bring trouble to the users.

References

Lee, MK 2007, ‘Artistic Expression and Negaraku’, Infernal Ramblings: A Malaysian Perspective on Politics, Society and Economics, viewed on 18 November 2009,

<http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Society/601/>

Lim, KS 2007, ‘Negarakuku rap – end the persecution mania and listen attentively to the legitimate grievances sung by Wee’, Lim Kit Siang for Malaysia, viewed 18 November 2009, < http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2007/08/20/negarakuku-rap-end-the-persecution-mania-and-listen-attentively-to-the-legitimate-grievances-sung-by-wee/>

Naughton, J 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, Reuters Institute, viewed on 18 November 2009,