// 03.19.2009 at 5:41 pm //

‘Let traditional media step down from the mounted frame’

With 64 countries facing elections in the year 2009, and with the US elections in late 2008 having set a precedent in the use of digital and online media in reaching out to the voter, the question that crops up is, to what extent will the politicians across the world explore the power of new media to make their point to the voter on the one hand, and how successfully can the voter make use of these tools to understand what a politician stands for. Also, how will media deploy these tools to understand the political currents? The panel discussion during the IIJ-FAZ conclave in Berlin saw mediapersons discuss these, and other related questions.

Pondering on politics and online media

Mr Dele Olojede, a Pulitzer Prize winner and CEO of Timbuktu Media, Nigeria, argued that it is a given that new media can empower citizens but in the case of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, there is a need to educate the people first.

He pointed out that unlike in the US, where new media was used extensively in the 2008 elections, the situation in the developing world is certainly different in that, the impact is not that high since traditional or conventional media still holds sway. He gave the example of India where in 2006 alone 6,000 new papers were launched. He contrasted this trend to that in North America, where printed newspapers were folding at an alarming rate.

Hydra syndrome

The panel discussed how different tools of the new media are being applied in the different parts of the world to bring about change. Prof Jan Faizullah gave an example of Pakistan during the political crisis last year, when the judiciary found itself on the wrong side of the government when the Chief Justice was “removed” and citizens resorted to blogs, sms, Facebook and YouTube to get information and watch videos of what was happening in their own country. Here new media managed to dodge the typical government strategies of shutting down mainstream media. He said it was at this point that E-papers were also quickly set up to bypass government censorship. Here new media filled the vacuum.

Prof Faizulla emphasised, “The media can be hydra-headed in critical times, in a way that when it is killed in one place, it springs up in another.” The case of Pakistan is typical of this.

All ears to the new media voices

And it is not just in the case of the printed word that new media worked almost miraculously. Prof Faizulla said the broadcast laws were clearly rendered useless when an Opposition politician, apparently under house arrest, addressed his followers by giving a speech through his mobile phone, the receiving cellphone was plugged into a megaphone and the message was broadcast to listening crowds!

Canvassing@convenience

Premesh Chandran, CEO of Malaysiakini, provided more examples to demonstrate how new media has opened up the democratic space. He said in Malaysia, political videos were put into VCDs and distributed to supporters, to be watched at their convenience, cutting out the need for politicians to seek out supporters. He argued that to date, political careers are made on the Internet, in that, although only with limited following, those considered to be Internet-savvy are regarded highly by the opinion shapers and the movers and shakers of society. And it is this group that influences the politics in the country.

Is Deutsche democracy digital?

But the panel also had to answer the question as to why Germany, decades ahead in terms of technology, has not seen much use of this new media phenomenon in political sphere.

Prof Werner D’Inka, Member of the Board of Editors-in-Chief of Franfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, thought the reason basically lies in the structure of the politics. Since the German Chancellor is not directly elected by the people, the country’s elections take on a different tone. Also, that Germany’s politics is still dependent on TV. He said the current Chancellor’s party has only 500 facebook “friends,” a far cry from the Obama facebook army.

Nevertheless, he said new media is popular with individuals but has not caught on in the political arena.

Nancy Scola supported this argument and said the Obama success story should also be seen from the personality point of view and that Obama was, before becoming a politician, a grassroot mobiliser. He knew how to work with and organise communities and this helped him a great deal when it came to working with Online communities.

She said, “Every new media chooses a person who suits it and the Internet and blogging chose Obama.”

Citizen vs credible journalism

One of the most debated issues about new media has been the use of citizen journalists. Here panel members Prof D’Inka and  Mr Olojede disagreed. While the latter said he believed in citizen journalism, especially the use of bloggers, other panelists said incumbent journalism will always be in demand, so citizen journalism will never take over as perceived by those who believe passionately in the power of the new media.

Prof Dugmore said, “Just because technology is new does not mean it is necessarily positive.”

In conclusion, the panelists agreed that traditional journalism has a substantial role to play if “It adopts speed and credibility and pays attention to new traditions of mobile reporting and citizen journalism,”(according to Mr Chandran); if, “it manages to understand the platform of new media model”, (according to Mr Olojede); If, “it continues to ask sceptic questions,” (according to Prof Faizullah) ; and if, ” it steps down from the mounted frame they have perched themselves” (according to Ms Scola).

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