Video: Straits Times STOMP editor, Jennifer Lewis @ COM125

Published on 4/9/2007 in Academia, Blogging, Design, Media, Singapore, Social and Videos. View Comments Tags: .

Last Wednesday, Straits Times STOMP editor, Ms. Jennifer Lewis, shared with the COM125 Internet class on what STOMP is about. In chronological sequence of her presentation and discussion, we learned about:

  1. How STOMP came into existence (the name, the purpose) [0:00]
  2. The type of users (tech savvy, 15 to 35 yrs) [3:00]
  3. Significance to the newspaper business (hybrid of mediums) [3:26]
  4. How the news submission process works (oral > text) [5:00]
  5. How STOMP is committed to putting everything up [8:00]
  6. How STOMP editors moderate news / discussions [8:30]
  7. How online discussions & comments tend to go astray (cultural?) [9:00]
  8. How veteran users help to moderate discussions [12:00]
  9. Types of Singaporeans: Cosmopolitans vs. Heartlanders [16:38]
  10. How Singapore Govt agencies react to STOMP [19:00]
  11. Singapore’s tremors: STOMP = Citizen Rallying Point [22:00]
  12. Q&A: Why does STOMP have so many categories? [28:16]
  13. The Strange LTA Road Sign Story (on fact checking) [31:46]
  14. Q&A: Govt vs. TODAY vs. MrBrown (STOMP’s stand?) [36:55]
  15. Q&A: LKY’s view that media shouldn’t be govt watchdogs [38:00]
  16. Education for discerning credible online news (Media Literacy) [40:00]
  17. Q&A: How about sorting news by user / popularity? [40:47]
  18. STOMP as media experiment (e.g. MMSing contest) [42:00]
  19. Q&A: STOMP evolving from news to public service? (e.g. LTA) [44:35]
  20. Political discourse on STOMP forums (e.g. ministers’ pay, P65 MPs) [50:40]
  21. Q&A: What’s with the Star Blogs and Tech Girls? (Non-citizen news) [53:00]

While seeing Ms. Jennifer off, I actually told her how I was initially skeptical about the survival of STOMP. Today I’m particularly intrigued by how it’s worked for Singapore. While many of us bloggers might not think twice about it, I do see it as a stepping stone for local mainstream media to involve more citizen participation (democracy) in its news production. Seeing how our neighboring nations are clamping down on social media (e.g. Thailand = no Youtube, Malaysia = Blogger Registration), I’m really glad that Singapore is light years ahead of the regional “online” pack.

Aside: I tried submitting news to STOMP to positive effect. The video we recorded has now been published on their news site and garnered a decent amount of conflicting responses.





  • Maureen Pollard
    Please e-mail me.

    Thanks

    Maureen Pollard
  • Maureen Pollard
    Hi there,

    I am an expatriot living in Melbourne, Australia. I have been living here for the past 30 years.

    I have a story that you might be interested in publishing. It is a story of migration, acculturation and realisation. Many Singaporeans have left the country for good, establish themselves elsewhere but who regularly return to Singapore to visit relatives and friends.

    Over the years, they arrive at various conclusions; that they have made the right decision to migrate or they regret this decision. There are also those who live quite happily in both camps, living elsewhere but visiting Singapore.

    Mine is a heartfelt and genuine story.

    May I send it to you for your consideration.

    Thank you.



    Maureen Pollard
    Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Walter: I agree, I think the public wasn't ready for it. I should do well today.
  • I believe that there are three reasons why STOMP has succeeded so well beyond belief.

    1) It is managed by a team of experienced journalists with an eye for what's newsworthy and catchy.

    2) It is easily accessible to all audiences, especially the man on the street.

    3) It is heavily promoted by SPH's bellwether paper The Straits Times. The daily cross-over publicity makes it a surer bet.

    I feel that if Project Eyeball had the same tie-up with ST that STOMP did, it would not have disappeared from the scene so soon. Then again, maybe it was a paper before its time.
  • BL
    Hi Kevin,

    Interesting lecture. One thing I thought that no one asked is about the lack of engagement between STOMP and the blogosphere. Other than the intersection of 2 pretty gals, the rest of the blogosphere seemed to seperate themselves out from them. :)

    In any case, it's a good video and I thought that it will help the people to study citizen journalism here.
  • nuMetal: Thanks. I like the idea that one man's effort saves the time of many (readers).
  • nuMetal
    I like the idea of time-tracking the segments of the video. very helpful.
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