WEEK 5 – OhMyNews
Many people would assume that America has a higher penetration of broadband than any other country. However, just over 50 per cent of Americans use broadband. According to the Listening Post, 89 per cent of South Koreans have broadband.
South Korea has 120 national and local newspapers throughout the country. This is an extraordinary amount considering that South Korea is the same size as New Zealand and Portugal. According to Wikipedia, New Zealand has 27 newspapers and Portugal has 23 newspapers.
OhMyNews was founded by Oh Yeon-ho. It’s a site created for citizens to become reporters without having to complete a journalism course. The idea that inspired Oh was that, “every citizen is a reporter”. He states in the Listening Post that he wants to, “take the citizen’s voice and make it an influence in making Korea’s public opinion.”
However, this doesn’t mean that citizen journalists have no boundaries. An ‘OhMyNews citizen reporter’s agreement’ has been created for its citizen journalists to abide by. Part of this contract includes taking legal responsibility for acts of plagiarism and defamation within any article a citizen journalist writes. Australian journalists also have to follow a similar set of rules. When writing articles every journalist must understand the law and what they can and can not write. OhMyNews also has Code of Ethics. Part of it includes gathering information using legitimate methods, and not using his/her position for personal profit. Australian journalists who are members of the MEAA (Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance) also follow similar rules.
REFERENCES
Quinn, S. (2008). Chapter 7: “OhmyNews in South Korea” in Asia’s Media Innovators, Konrad Adenaueur Foundation, Singapore
YouTube 2007, Listening Post: Rory O’Connor Reports from the OhmyNews Con, retrieved 22 August 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaVzMA8-pcI
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