CNA Debate: Social Media can do more harm than good (featuring PAP’s Vikram Nair)

>TOC Going to the Doghouse

>Doggone it! Ever since The Online Gay Citizen showed unwavering support for the Gay Community, I noticed that TOC has gone to the dogs. TOC has hit at out Reform Party, creating a split within the opposition. But then, TOC is also SDP’s proxy. So what do you expect?

Being SDP’s proxy means putting up gay agenda on a regular basis. Somehow, TOC lost focus ever since the Aware Saga. Then in came Temasek Review which was in direct competition to TOC. The friction between TOC and TR was clear for all to see. Somehow, at one stage, there appeared to be a truce. However, that doesn’t seem to last long. Just a day or two ago, TOC puts up an article (see below) from a third party criticizing TR.

Looks like TOC is going the way of SDP – sliming others instead of serving the public. Why I don’t read The Tema-suck Review anymore

Why the need for TOC to put up that article? Rivalry between TOC and TR openly displayed in public? Not that I am impressed with TR though. My term for TR is “TemaSlut Review” – in view of the fact that it up played up Jack Neo’s stories almost everyday when the topic was hot.

We all know that TR has overtaken TOC in readership. So, to stay relevant, TOC tries to re-invent itself. It has a new logo. But wait, TOC has also taken a step in TR’s direction – that is to post stories outside politics (it gets boring after some time if there’s no Elections, haha). And what better way than to post a topic the people are interested in? Yes, Sex, the all time proven readership puller! Vaginismus – When a woman’s body says: ‘No entry’

Well, for the moment, that article isn’t a sleazy one, unlike TR’s approach. It is about medical facts pertaining to physiology of the body. However, I believe TOC is testing ground to see what attracts readership.

So there you have it. Now we have 3 main New Media alternative websites using sex to sell. They are:

1. The SingaporeDaily – “If the stories sux, at least my girls don’t. No pun intended.”

2. The Temasek Review – “Come on, admit it. You came for the juicy gossip and not the political news because politics sux, no?”

3. The Online Citizen – “You see, if you want to talk sex, let’s do it the professional way. We have class, SGDaily and TR don’t.”

Looks like these three are more interested in pulling up readership stats than to serve as alternative media. What a shame. What a sham!

Just in case my critics ask why I visit those sites myself, let me tell you that I am an amateur political observer. That’s my hobby. (Actually, I don’t really visit those sites. I have RSS feeders.) Unfortunately, these 3 political news (and sex news) aggregators are the most comprehensive in Singapore. So what choice do you have?

Hey, come to think of it, this isn’t much different from the MSM, where you only can depend on ST or other SPH related companies for major news in Singapore, huh?

It sure sux that both MSM and major New Media sites give you only crap.

>Egoism in New Media

>When The Online Citizen (TOC) and Temasek Review (TR, formely known as Wayangparty), first set up, it was meant as an alternative media to publish news that the Mainstream Media (MSM) censors. However, of late, these two online “tabloids” have sunk to the same low as other media, publishing news about anything under the sun – as long as it attracts hits.

I feel that the admin guys in the New Media are egoists and are more concerned about how many hits they can garner, rather than truly publishing and feeding news that has been censored from the public.

As an example, here is TOC’s report on Xiaxue’s article about a Romanian Diplomat’s car involved in the Bukit Panjang accident.

My god! How low can TOC stoop? Xiaxue’s blog? It appears that TOC is trying to ride out Xiaxue’s popularity here. Xiaxue is a full time blogger who depends her livelihood on blogging. Surely one can tell that she needs to ramp up her blog hits with sensational stories.

I will later tell you why her theory is not detailed enough for it to be newsworthy to be quoted by the New Media. For now, let us look at how low TOC has stooped, trying to piggyback ride on Xiaxue.

This is TOC’s link quoting Xiaxue’s words:
Hit-and-run incident angers blogger Xiaxue

Monday, 28 December 2009, 12:24 am

I don’t care if a drunk driver hits a pedestrian. Fine, everyone makes mistakes. But what sort of person would witness his grave error, and decide to turn tail and run instead of giving aid to the people he hit??

May the Singapore government, which I have always had utmost respect for, give justice to the its citizens, the victims, and not yearn to political sensitivities. That would be horrifically unfair to the 3 of them who are still lying on hospital beds as I type.

Xiaxue, on the hit-and-run incident involving a Romanian diplomat

Here is Xiaxue’s full article: Wah, being a diplomat is so shiok!
Note Xiaxue’s innuendo and implication against the Romanian Diplomat.

The case is under investigation and it is not right for Xiaxue to make such comments. Furthermore, her argument is just a theory and not proof of anything.

Here is the part I promised that I will tell you why her “investigation” is not thorough enough. She left a very obvious fact out. There is a reliable witness the police can depend on, and Xiaxue totally missed this one. Here he is:

Driver shouted & gestured angrily

HE HAD seen the car hit two men and move on.

Determined to do something, the 38-year-old part-time bartender ran onto the road, pointed at the driver and waved at him to stop.

When it looked like the black Audi wasn’t going to, David got angry and frustrated.

He grabbed a stone from the ground and was going to throw it at the car, hoping to smash the windscreen and make the driver stop.

Said David (not his real name): “Maybe he (the driver) saw my actions. Before I could throw, the car came close towards me and looked like it was going to knock me down too.”

Sensing danger, he dropped the stone and jumped over the railings on the central divider, and fell on the other side of the road.

He looked up, and saw the driver of the Audi pulling up beside him.

Said David: “The driver rolled down the window and scolded me. I could not make out what he was saying.

But he looked angry, shouting and gesturing, as if I was blocking his way.”

The driver then drove off.

The witness, “David”, had a good look at the driver’s face. Surely he is a key witness and would be able to tell if the driver was the Romanian Diplomat or his chauffeur. Why did Xiaxue not mention this fact? Simple. Xiaxue’s blog needs news to ramp up her site, because she is a full time blogger. That is understandable.

What I don’t understand is that TOC appears to be trying to get links from her blog when it is obvious Xiaxue did not do a good investigative job.

Yet, TOC quotes her. A case of riding her popularity to up the number of hits on their own site?

Could it be because Temasek Review has of late been scoring more hits than TOC? Not that TR is faring any better as far as juicy news is concerned either.

Here is TR’s juicy bit to ramp up its own site:
Singapore’s “Edison Chen” Gary Ng on why he films himself having sex with girls

In a desperate bid to boost its flagging readership and to distract Singaporeans from important national issues, the state media has resorted to giving extensive publicity to an online sex predator using the moniker “Gary Ng” to attract readers to its site.

Note the irony. TR claims that MSM uses sex stories to sell (who doesn’t know that?), yet it looks like it is using this story itself, to sell its site!

This is the real problem. When TOC, TR were minnows, they stayed focused and concentrated on their core objective – furnishing people with news the MSM censors. Now that they have got the hits they want, ego takes over, and they will do about anything to compete, fight and even stoop as low as MSM, just to keep up their readership.

Pity the readers. You will NEVER get unbiased news from the media. All you will get is just crap – be it Mainstream or New Media.