The role of Twitter in the unrest following the recent Iranian elections was a phenomenal demonstration the infinite potential of digital media and the web for populations without an alternative voice, and was widely discussed in the Western world. Yet this moment was a small part of a much longer and wide-reaching story about new media providing voice and access to otherwise under-scrutinised situations.
In the last 20 years, new media outlets have not only changed the nature of journalism in their countries, but also provided vigour for democratic processes and influenced political outcomes along the way – a phenomenon repeatedly demonstrated in South East Asia.
Last year the South East Asia Centre for E-Media held their annual conference for new media practitioners in the region. The conference was attended by participants from Burma, Timor-Leste, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Aceh among others – this list of countries encapsulating a range of media environments all of which involve a level of censorship, and varying levels of political stability.
The Centre was started by the publishers of Malaysiakini, the only independent media outlet in Malaysia and an important example of the influence of new media in Asia in recent years. It was launched during the 1999 Malaysian general election, taking a gamble on a loophole in Malaysian censorship law which did not cover online media.
During the 2008 election, which saw the ruling coalition win but suffer the worst losses in recent history, Malaysiakini overtook all other news outlets in popularity as it reported minute-by-minute results and provided much-needed coverage of opposition news as well as that of the incumbents. The outlet’s popularity at this time not only reflected voter sentiment across the country but most likely affected the choices people made about the ruling party which had never faced such scrutiny.
Similarly, the importance of Burmese news media outlets in exile were highlighted by a specific crisis – in this case Cyclone Nargis – yet this was only one part of a longer history of reporting on otherwise unseen events in Burma. Mizzima News (based in India) and The Irrawaddy (based in Thailand) often rely on images smuggled out of Burma to maintain a gaze on the ruling junta in their country. Their Burmese readership is largely outside of Burma (less than 1% of people in the country have internet access) and their coverage not only provides essential news for those living away from home, but is also a comprehensive source for events that aren’t accessible for mainstream outlets, including those in the West.
The conference was all about supporting online news outlets of all sizes in their work because the hosts know better than most how important free media is in encouraging truly democratic processes. From risking their lives to overcome repression, to simply enriching a country’s political discussion, these outlets produce fairly phenomenal journalism considering the budget and conditions under which they operate.
This is the revolution which theorists have been talking about since the creation of the internet and continue to herald when a crisis occurs, yet let’s not forget that it is quietly happening all the time.
Some independent South East Asian new media outlets:
Burma: Mizzima, The Irrawaddy
Thailand: Prachathai, Amana News Online (I volunteered at Amana for a year which is how I came to be at the conference)
Singapore: The Online Citizen
Malaysia: Malaysiakini
East Timor: Timor-Leste Media Development Centre
Cambodia: Ka-Set
Philippines: Bulatlat
Update: I also found this video about Free Speech Online from MediaShift. It talks about censorship and the importance of the web for free speech in Iran, China and the USA.
Posted by bowerbirdblue 
