nnimus3

The significance of the internet for ‘alternative media’ is that it provides a platform for organizations whose opinions and goals do not conform to those expressed by the mainstream media industry to publish perspectives in a format transmissible to a mass audience without the support of a government or commercial entity. The internet facilitates independence for alternative media sources, making it possible to report a position on a mass scale without having to generate vast amounts of revenue in order to support the medium, as the cost of maintaining a website is so minimal that it does not require the support of a corporation. The internet is also significant for alternative media because of its interactive nature; media published online is not limited to the format of a ‘source’, it can be formatted to allow its consumers to respond and interact in accordance with the democratic ideals of decentralization and equality to which many alternative organizations subscribe.

The internet has become a tool for resource-poor civil activists to communicate with a mass audience. The two-way nature of internet communication encourages the public to participate and interact with these sources in a ‘democratization of information flow’ (Song, 2007: 72). Song argues that mainstream new media ‘actively create and construct the meanings of… issues’ (2007: 74), and that ‘most news sites on the internet are no more than electronic replications of traditional media contents’ (2007: 72), but insists that the internet, which can be utilized as a news medium with minimal cost, can allow alternative viewpoints to be shared and promoted vigorously enough to compete with commercial news organizations (2007: 90). She does, however, admit that the effectiveness of independent online news resources in her native Korea must be attributed in part to the nation’s well-developed internet infrastructure. Owens and Palmer support this disclaimer, asserting that even though the web assists alternative groups in overcoming the loss of control they face over their representation in the mass media (2003: 335), the web doesn’t quite live up to its potential as a mass medium as there is “significantly less access in practice than in theory” (2003: 336).

The South Korean online newspaper “OhMyNews” supports about 60,000 citizen-reporters, the guiding principle of the organization is the ‘every citizen is a reporter” (Quiggin and Hunter, 2008: 9). Articles are fact-checked using the Korean National Identification Number system, and the citizen-reporters are paid a token renumeration for their contributions (http://www.wired.com/). Critics of mainstream media suggest that citizen-journalism removes the problem of ‘conflict of interest between media owners and the news they report’ (Quiggin and Hunter, 2008: 9) and this viewpoint is supported by Owens and Palmer who question the likelihood of radical movements to receive fair and accurate coverage in the mainstream media as their stories must overcome both selection and description bias (2003: 339). Conversely it is argued that as the regulations and restrictions applied to journalists working in a professional capacity are absent from citizen-journalism, ‘poor and unethical’ reporting may ensue (Quiggin and Hunter, 2008: 9). In a story published on wired.com, Leander Kahney agreed that “stories [from OhMyNews] are often subjective, oozing with emotion and odd personal tidbits. But they can also be passionate, detailed and knowledgeably written” (2003). The freedom afforded to consumers of internet-based media product, one could assume, extends to the freedom to interpret news analytically and read between the lines. It is worth noting that OhMyNews was developed in a society where the three leading newspapers are characterized by an extremely conservative editorial orientation (Song, 2007: 91) and the ready availability of a news medium that allows civilians to report on the goings-on around them, framing these events as they see fit, is a novelty in South Korea (Song, 2007). The founder of OhMyNews, Oh Yeon Ho, aims to one day ‘create a culture where the readers pay for good articles”, warning that without creating a consumer-funding culture around alternative media “independent news organizations will not survive” (http://www.wired.com/).

Regardless of whether alternative media sources such as OhMyNews are a positive or negative evolution, the fact remains that without the internet they could not exist. In the absence of the internet, alternative media circulation is limited by access, distribution and the cost of printing (Owens and Palmer, 2003: 338). The internet allows individuals and groups to project material into the public consciousness without having to go through mainstream media channels, thereby facilitating reportage which does not have to conform to the interests of a media giant.

List of cited works

Owens, Lynn and Palmer, Kendall L. “Making the News: Anarchist Counter-Public Relations on the World Wide Web” in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol. 20, No. 4, (2003) pp. 335-361.

Quiggin, John and Hunter, Dan. “Money Ruins Everything” in Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal Vol. 30, No. 203, (2008) pp 1-57.

Song, Yonghoi. “Internet news media and issue development: a case study on the roles of independent online news services as agenda-builders for anti-US protests in South Korea” in New Media Society, Vol. 9, No. 71, (2007) pp. 71-92.

Kahney, Leander. “Citizen Reporter Make The News”. WIRED, 17 May 2003. http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2003/05/58856 (accessed 16 October 2008).

Bibliography

http://www.ohmynews.com/
http://english.ohmynews.com/