the(new)mediaslut

From left, Third place, winner and second

This blogger was at the first Singapore Toy and Comic Convention on Sunday and managed to catch the finals of the cosplay:anime finals.

You have to pardon this blogger’s ignorance of the characters the top three winners were trying to portray. If you are knowledgeable of the anime characters, please drop a comment.

Cute wins another competition

Is it just me or Singaporeans prefer “cute” in general? Cutie-pie here won the hearts of the audience with a cute rendition of some Japanese anime tune. I thought the guy below with his extravagant cosplay costume would have won the competition straight on.

“Fallen angel” came in third

 Also seen at the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention:

Stormtroopers taking a break from hunting Jedis and playing a game of Wii Tennis

Magic: The Gathering enthusiasts

Comic artist demonstrating their fine arts on the spot

For more photos, click here.

Techgoondu via kwout

A group of tech journalists, mostly from SPH, have launch a tech blog at Techgoondu.wordpress.com

The bloggers include Oo Gin Lee who is with The Straits Times’ Digital Life, Ong Boon Kiat is with The Business Times BizIT team and Alfrew Siew is the technology correspondent for The Straits Times.

Aaron Tan was with ZDNET Asia and is currently pursing his Master of Library and Information Science at Syracuse University.

It seems the Malaysian ruling government just cannot trust the media, traditional and new.

In the last elections, they blame new media for the votes lost. Now they are banning the Press from entering Parliament.

Wrote politician-blogger Jeff Ooi,

I saw and I heard from my vantage point as a Member of Parliament on HOW the Press Corp was treated as potential triggers for security issues in the country’s supreme building for law-making. Whoever that ordered the sanction against the Press Corp citing security as a rationale is plain stupid.

Malaysiakini quoted the Speaker of Malaysia parliament to say, ”

“Since when Bagan (Guan Eng) and Batu Gajah (Fong) are interested to become the editors?” he asked. “How do we know whether those showing the press tag are indeed journalists?”

Lack of trust with the Press? Again, how do Malaysians know if the politicians entering parliament are the real politicians?

Rocky’s bru has highlighted that the Malaysia Press Corp boycotted today’s parliament in protest over the new ruling.

What do you call a super-sized Big Mac?

A Mega Mac meal, of course.

It is available in Malaysia for a limited time only.

Four beef patties in a normal Big Mac burger going for RM13.50 for a medium sized meal.

Had to share the other two beef patties with friends to watch the waist..

The blog post started as a cry for help. Now it has turn into a media circus.

It might have taken Jean of Jean.sg lots of guts to blog a post her post re-accounting her unfortunate incident where her modesty was deemed to have been outraged, however, was she aware of the reactions she would be getting from netizens?

They varied from support to insults.

Interestingly, the blog post has been picked up by the Singapore media and it seems like John (the alleged aggressor) has turn into from villain to the unfortunate victim.

This blogger have been asking her girlfriends if they would blog about such an incident and to get their opinion about the blog post.

Not surprisingly, many of them replied that they would not blog about it because it was something too personal.

What surprise me was their reaction to the blog. Most of them highlighted that they felt Jean was just trying to get attention.

Maybe that’s the problem. Has social media turn bloggers into anti-social animals where the blog is the only avenue to attract attentions to one call for help?

Or is it the medium that is starting to be the place for a person to let out her/his soul?

Or maybe, just maybe, bloggers need to have their own PR person to help them communicate to the press?

So what should Jean do now? or John?

From left: Alice Sabrina Priscilla Fidelis Esther Peggy Qiaoyun

1. The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs
   AP decides to set the rules…
2. AP, hole, dig
   … But Buzzmachine says “protection is no strategy for the future”… Hmmm… something for our local publications to consider?
   
   
3. Here’s Our New Policy On A.P. stories: They’re banned
   Michael Arrington sets Techcrunch’s policy on A.P.

“Dispicable, insulting to the King, selling his motherland, traitor - get out.”

Smartbrain was at Si Ayutthaya to witness thousands of Thais demanding that Noppadol Pattama, Foreign Minister for Thailand, be trialled for treason which carries the capital punishment in the land of the smiles. The demonstration was held this morning in front of the Foreign Ministry.

The Thai mob has accused the minister of giving up the The Preah Vihear temple to the Cambodians.

While the International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, the issue was raised recently as Cambodia made an application to UNESCO for it to be a World Heritage Site.

A map is required for the submission and this has raised the issue of Thai sovereignty again.

Wrote The Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said he is prepared to clarify the government’s position in a coming non-confidence debate, when the opposition Democrat Party may challenge the Preah Vihear stance.

The Opposition earlier cast doubts regarding the new map of the historic temple, suggesting that the foreign minister might have compromised Thailand’s national interests over the issue.

The minister also emphasised that all details in the new map would be released after the World Heritage Committee meets in July to consider the matter.

Mr Noppadon explained that he could not reveal what he described as “official secret information” now under joint consideration among the Royal Thai Survey Department, the Foreign Ministry and state agencies concerned.

But he said the disputed and undemarcated 4.6-square kilometre area surrounding and adjacent to the temple complex itself is not included on the map.

For more photos, click here.

The Associate Press (AP) came under fire from last week for serving a take down notice against the Drudge Retort for copyright violations.

It seemed AP wants quotes from 33 to 79 words from the site.

Jeff Jarvis for Buzz Machine posted that AP’s action was calling the pot black.

Wrote Jeff,

This complaint comes from an organization that leaches off original reporting and kills links and credit to the source of that journalism. Yes, it has a right to reproduce reporting from member news organizations. But as I point out here, the AP is hurting original reporting by not crediting and linking to the journalism at its source. We should be operating under an ethic of the link to original reporting; this is an ethic that the AP systematically violates.

Jeff, a few days later, suggested that AP should has proposed a link ethics.

Whenever this blogger cuts a quote from another blog post or online media outlets, this blogger will try her best to link it to the site.

This blogger also limits herself to cutting a paragraph or two, three max, from the source.

However, some Singapore bloggers looked to cut and paste the entire article, citing the source but do not link it back to the source.

Blog.Simplyjean.com is one such blog that has been cutting and pasting the entire article from the straitstimes.com without linking it back to their site.

Simply Jean via kwout

Jean’s argument would most likely be that the link to the article will disappear after two weeks in straitstimes.com.

But should simplyjean .com also follow Jeff’s link ethics and link the article back to straitstimes.com?

(Update: This blogger was highlighted that the hotness rating was determined by the contestants themselves.)




Contestants of Siloso HotBod 2008 @ Sentosa

The audience voted for twenty-two year-old Jessica Lim to be Miss Siloso HotBod 2008 on Saturday and it seems they have a penchant for cutie pies instead of hotbods.

Last year’s winner also had that cutie pie look too.

(See Update above and comments below) Favourite Peggy Heng who had perfect hotness rating of 10 at the Siloso HotBod page went home disappointed, losing out on the crown and other secondary awards.

During the second walk out, B4 Joreen Kok and B2 Vanessa Hee was one of this blogger’s choice to win the Miss Siloso HotBod contest.

More photos below:

Female contestants trying to string the word Siloso while their male counterparts rushed to provide them with the letters.

Some could only string two letters.

More photos can be found here.

There was a recent debate in the blog-o-sphere about differentiating blog posts from editorials and advertorials. However, that is minute to what Singapore’s Viscion Media Group is introducing to the traditional media space.

Welcome the sales journalist!

Wrote Jamie Lee for Journalism.sg,

The sacred wall between journalism and sales has been torn down by the newest media company on the block, much to the dismay of media practitioners who fear that editorial content will increasingly pander towards advertisers’ needs.

Viscion Media Group – a firm set up about one and a half years ago that publishes magazines such as Lexean and Playeur – has merged these two roles into a new job position known as the sales journalist.

Sales journalists from all its five publications will be tasked to meet advertising clients and design a marketing plan, which could include advertisements, editorial, advertorial, events and product placements, said general manager Holman Chin, who spoke to journalism students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) at a talk in February.

Mr Chin also highlighted that every $10,000 spend with Viscion, they will guarantee $30,000 worth of coverage. In doing so, “sales journalists would write the pitch so there’s more knowledge of how the editorial would look and hence more trust”.

Trust an editorial page that is disguised as an advertorial?

If a vendor is paying $10,000 in advertising with this sales journalist, wouldn’t the vendor want control over the editorial?

Why should the reader trust that editorial?

Mr Chin also argued that the editor at Viscion’s magazine will have final say over the content that the sales journalists produce as the editorial operates independently of the sales journalists.

So let’s say the advertiser is willing to spend $10,000 with the sales journalist to print an article, is the editor going to dish the story into the bin because it is a bias story?

That’s $10,000 down the drain. The editor has to be aware that the $10,000 will contribute to his next salary, would the editor dare to say no?

Maybe $10,000 isn’t a big figure. How about a $1 million dollar campaign? Would Mr Chin allow the editor to write a review about the product to tell the readers that the product is not up to scratch?

Why should the sales journalist be the only one benefit from the sales? Why not the editor? The editor is the one that decides if the story goes to print or otherwise.

Sumana Rajarethnam, editor of Playeur, supported Mr Chin to say “Of course there is a risk that journalistic integrity will be compromised, but the risk is no higher than with a journalist being sent on an all-expenses paid trip who is asked to write about it. Is there full integrity there?”

If Viscion is so worried that the all-expenses paid trip will affect the integrity of the article, why don’t Viscion offer to pay for the junket instead? Wouldn’t that remove any questions about integrity?

This blogger is aware of a broadcaster who has a strict rule that if one their broadcast team is send abroad for a junket which is deemed very very important, the broadcaster will pay for the whole trip instead.

Is this the reason why Dylan Tan left Playeur Journals only after two issues?

The light side is getting darker.

Viscion Media Group publishes magazines such as Lexean and Playeur Journal.

Update

It seems that the blog in question had all its pings taken apart from Ping.sg

Ping.sg/user/rapedapart - The Community Meta Blog for Singapore Bloggers via kwout

Original Entry

Ping.sg has recently ban blogs that are deemed commercial or critical of its creator.

Commercial blogs, deemed by Ping.sg, like Hypocol and Bak2u have been banned from the blog aggregation site.

This blog which was critical of Ping.sg’s action against Hypocol has been banned too. The irony was that this blog was also critical of Andrew’s reaction after his client’s blog was taken out.

Yet, blogs that even have NSFW (Not Safe For Work) titles are allowed to run free on the Singapore’s blog aggregation site.

Pro-sex but not Pro-business?

Is this a anti-Ping post?

Some of you might think it is and I won’t blame you.

This post, however, wants to highlight while you are the owner of the community and you set rules to police the community, the policing have to be fair and just to ensure that nobody is above the rules you have set.

Owner included.

1. The death of the homepage.
   They say print is dying. Now even hompages are dead!
2. What is media?
   How would you define media in 2008?
3. Friendfeed will change journalism, PR and Marketing
   The new newsfeed?

1. Online vs Offline Business
   Patricia Lin interns at her father’s offline business and finds out experience first hand why companies should go online.
2. Corporate blogging guidelines and transparency
   Better Business Blogging looks at the need for corporations to have guidelines for corporate bloggers and when transparency is needed.
3. Biggest drawing in the world
   The world was her canvas with a GPS and thanks to DHL.
4. The Internet, mobile media, and youth are not to blame
   Robert G. Picard highlights why the above is just an excuse for traditional media resisting change.
5. A visit to a very cool Web-savvy newspaper
   A look inside how the Shelby Star “fused the print edition with the paper’s Web version”.

Ten years ago when the Internet was just Web1.0, there was a prediction that that print will die.

Ten years on, the number of print may have shrunk, but it is still alive.

Steve Ballmer, chief executive for Microsoft, now predicts that print will die in 2018.

Wrote Peter Whoriskey for The Washington Post,

Q: What is your outlook for the future of media?

A: In the next 10 years, the whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down — my opinion.

Here are the premises I have. Number one, there will be no media consumption left in 10 years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paper form. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.

Will print really die in ten years? This blogger still have her doubts.

But if print really dies in ten years, what strategies do PR agencies or corporate communications have in place to adapt to the change?

The biggest story from Democrat nomination to hit the front pages of the papers came from a 61 year-old “citizen journalist” by the name of Mayhill Fowler.

Matthew Ingram, technology writer for The Globe, described her “as lightning rod for critics of the practice, after not one but two somewhat embarrassing scoops from the U.S. campaign trail, the first of which involved Barack Obama and the second of which — just last week — involved former president Bill Clinton”.

Wrote the LA Times,

The latest incident cemented Fowler’s place as the unlikely face of the new-media revolution that is remaking presidential campaigns. Online videos can dominate the evening news. Or an unpublished novelist “with absolutely no journalism training” can alter the national debate.

The Columbia Journalism Review asked if Mayhill had “any reservations about publishing the piece” and her reply highlights a point why citizen journalists face the same issues as a journalist would.

Mayhill replied,

Oh, yes. I had already told my East Coast editor Amanda Michel that there was more on the tape besides what I wrote immediately after, online. I told her there might be one more piece about what Obama had to say about Pennsylvania, and that it was pretty damning. We had a long conversation and she was talking about how if you’re really going to be a journalist, you have to be willing to report on what you see, what you hear, regardless of your political opinions. Already ‘Off the Bus’ had too many bloggers who are pro-Obama and therefore present everything from an Obama slant. And I thought about that for a while and at some point I realized on Monday that she was right. And on Tuesday, the piece was just in my head suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about it but the entire piece was suddenly there and at that moment I knew I was going to do it, and I had a sense of peace about it.

• the(new)mediaslut is going back to basics… Its all about the media, mainstream and new media. #

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From Web1.0 to Web2.0, there has this talk about how mainstream media will be affected by it.

What we seldom talk about is how Web2.0 tools can help mainstream media to better their news reporting or story telling.

An ex-editor for the Washington Post, however, wrote how Twitter, another Web2.0 tool, has actually help him better his editing skills.

Wrote Craig Stoltz,

Fact is, it’s tough to convey any substance in 140 characters. You have to carefully weigh every word, letter and space. Even punctuation.

Here’s an example. I wanted to share a delicious, fantastically gross item of neighborhood gossip. But it’s not for this blog. So I Tweeted:

House that was site of mass murder 30 years ago–and where following owners’ dead body sat for 4 weeks in Dec–for sale in my ‘hood! Cheap!

…If I were teaching journalism (the academy shudders), I’d have students edit 500-word stories as Tweets. Not for the result, but the process.

I’ve edited miles of copy in my day. Nonetheless, I find that every time I sit down to write a meaningful Tweet I hone my craft a bit more.

As the Y Generation suffers from having focused attention, I know I do, should Twitter be the tool to help teach aspiring journalists and editors to make every word count?

Maybe PR can also learn on improving the pitch in 140 characters?

How about you as a sales person? Can learning how to make a sales pitch in 140 characters help you improve in your negotiation deals?
What do you think?

I came across this revolutionary newspaper format which Juan Antonio Giner calls it the 3030 newspaper.

3030, THE NEWSPAPER OF THE FUTURE at WHAT’S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS via kwout

This new size reminds of the menus you get at most restaurants.

If newspapers were to adopt this 3030 design, it might challenge the editorial team to get the point for most stories.

PR people would also have to advised clients to stop beating around the bush with their messaging.

This pint size newspaper will, however, solve the problem with some inconsiderate readers on the Singapore MRT who take up an arms length to read their daily papers.

Complaints like the one below will be a thing of the past.

10,000’s blog! via kwout

WHAT’S NEXT: INNOVATIONS IN NEWSPAPERS via kwout