How I felt in the recent course of events in the Singapore blogosphere:
Bloggers facing Sedition for racial descrimination = an Itch
Bloggers facing Libel from many angry school teachers = a Rash
Bloggers being prejudiced in the Press by someone who clearly has no idea what blogs are about = a bloody Chickenpox Outbreak
Just because I live outside Singapore doesn’t mean I don’t feel the pain… sure I only got to hear about it after reading everyone else’s blogs so consider this a delayed but pissed reaction. The Op-Ed piece which Carl Skadian wrote in the Straits Times really takes the cake. For a good idea of what he wrote about, read what these three local blogosphere superheroes said: Jeff Yen’s “I Love Op-Eds II (The One About pr0n)“, a massive “local press bashing blogs” overview by Huichieh Loy entitled “It’s official now: blogs are worse than porn” and a really smooth “Open Letter to Carl Skadian” by Elia Diodati.
What’s with the press bashing blogs? While the blogosphere is still fairly new in Singapore compared to the U.S., there’s still no reason for traditional media, especially the press, to feel threatened enough to publish this piece of crap which completely lacks fundamental understanding that blogs tend to go beyond the self-serving needs of individuals. It’s the closest thing to e-democracy today and it’s some local bloggers who are able to demonstrate the equalizing powers blogs have over mass media.
It’s ironic that the Straits Times editors can publish articles that are obviously biased and lacking in proper research to be justified for print. Definitely “Not News Fit For Print”!
