With the advent of new media and citizen journalists, newsmakers and institutions are finding it more difficult to keep secrets, said new media expert Dan Gillmor at an international forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

“I never underestimate the desire of governments to restrain speech that it doesn’t like and this is not a new issue, this is going to be a bigger and bigger one,” he told reporters after the forum which was part of the three-day Third Global Knowledge Conference.

Other panelists at the forum ‘Pushing the envelope: New media, citizens journalism, human rights and development’ were Kenya Pundit blogger Ory Okolloh, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan and Young Asia Television chief editor Sharmini Boyle.

While the Internet is a powerful tool for spreading the truth against the interests of the powerful, it is also a powerful too for surveillance, Gillmor warned.

He acknowledged that, while more work is needed to develop new citizen media, he nevertheless would prefer this compared to concentrated traditional media.

“If the choice is between monolithic traditional media that control ... news in very limited number of hands, companies and governments versus widespread information availability and production ... with (a) more detailed and nuance view of the world, I will pick the messier but I think in the end, valuable one,” said Gillmor, author of influential book We the Media: Grassroots journalism for the People By the People .

He doubts that new media will replace traditional forms, preferring to view it as complementary, symbiotic frameworks instead.

With advanced and more accessible media and communications technology, he believes “consumers (of media have) become creators, creators become collaborators and that’s a wonderful change”.

Good journalism

Gillmor, a former journalist, believes that while not all bloggers need to be journalists, those who are engaged in journalistic acts need to understand the fundamental principles of good journalism.

He emphasised principles such as thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, independence and transparency to be applied not only to professional journalists but also citizen journalists and advocate journalists.

Gillmor also urged advocates and non-governmental organisations to practise good journalism when sending their messages. He believes that such practices would make their messages more persuasive and effective in promoting their causes.

Malaysia has seen a surge in citizen journalism and the role of new media in providing news with the recent demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur, particularly the Bersih and Hindraf rallies.

In his 10-minute speech, Gillmor suggested that audiences be taught new media literacy and to be skeptical of information in distinguishing what is reliable amongst all available information.

“Even as an audience we have an obligation to look further...” he told some 50 people who attended the forum.

He reminded that while new media enhances expression, it also provides avenues for people to listen to each other.

“I think the consumers of news should demand quality work and in general, we need more media criticism from people in the media as well as people who are ... talking with the media.”

Financial viability

Meanwhile, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan explained that the news portal is exploiting a loophole to avoid government control in the form of annual printing licences but is still subject to other laws.

According to Gan, the internet is the only democratic space left because the government has pledged not to censor the internet as an enticement to foreign investors to the Multimedia Super Corridor.

The two challenges to new media are credibility and financial viability, said Gan.

Echoing Gillmor’s points on good journalism, he further explained that Malaysiakini ’s main challenge is to remain financially afloat.

“Independent media need independent funding,” said the co-founder of Malaysiakini , one of the few subscription-based news websites in the world.