Jo Twist, BBC & SVH Forewords

The entire home Page
www.arugam.info
Presents one very remarkable success one year ago.

The German webmaster realised in those early days the power of such up-to-date reporting, right from the spot, and changed the layout, included fotos, issued lists of missing persons. It also managed to do what NONE of the Organisation achieved in one full year since:
www.arugam.info
Was highly successful to establish a donation fund, which raised nearly 30,000$ which was immediately (Usually on the SAME day it was credited in Europe!)
used locally to assist the ones mostly in need.
100% of the cash went 100% to the needy; no corruption, no administration fees, no transfer or transport costs.

This even more remarkable because there was no actual communication link with the cut-off Bay right until April 2005.

Further, the Bay has seen many, many journalists later in the year. Many of which came with pre-conceived ideas in search of confirmation hereof.
As a result many highly inaccurate, ill informed or badly researched “News” was published in many Countries.
A lot of such coverage actullay is in fact nothing but a PR excercise for a variety of reasons…..

This Forum, and this web site offers a totally new way to receive information right from the place were it happens. It is democratic, interactive and critical.

We are confident that this place -here- is a great, a very early example on how the world will be informed of unbiased, actual news as it happens in future.
Who cares about:
“What the press says”
or, better:
“What the press wants you to know and to believe”
In years to come?
As soon as we have our permanent Video Web Cam link attached to our systems you canA?a??E?t only see the surf conditions.
You will also have live coverage of the next Tsunami!
DonA?a??E?t ask us what it looks or feels like!
DonA?a??E?t wait for the TV crews to arrive weeks after the event.
DonA?a??E?t worry! You will be watching it in real time, next time.
The SVH Early warning system, all the back-up supplies, communications links as well as the new Live Camera are installed well above last yearA?a??E?s watermark. And it will not fail, we think a little ahead.
_____________________________________________________

Here is what the BBC thinks:
following the Tsunami and the coverage of local events at the time, when there were NO reporters, media or eben a communication link

BBC NEWS
The year of the digital citizen
By Jo Twist

2005 was arguably the year citizens really started to do it for themselves. Raising mobiles aloft, they did not just talk and text, they snapped, shared and reported the world around them.

Twelve months ago, it was clear the mass consumer was going to have at his or her disposal many more gadgets with greater capacity to record, store and share content.

It was going to be a year in which people started to challenge those who traditionally provide us with content, be it news, music, or movies.

Crucially, what 2005 proved was that far from these techno tools being purely dumb funnels for the same paid-for content from mainstream media, they had the chance to become powerful tools for political expression and reportage.

The consumer was turning into the citizen with a meaningful role to play. Media started to look more participatory and inclusive.

The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 starkly showed the potential of these tools. Most of the memories of that day have been graphically captured, replayed and played again, making the event much more immediate and personal.

Later in the year, the 7 July London bombings and the hurricanes in the US forced home the fact that citizens had a much larger role in the production of news than ever before.

These collages of eyewitness accounts showed the immediate aftermath of the events long before any press camera could.

More recently, the BBC received 6,500 e-mailed mobile images and video clips showing the fires at the Buncefield oil depot, thousands more than the number received after the London bombings.

Shifting sands

With this explosion of citizen reporting, the relationship between producer and consumer has to realign itself.

Start-ups, such as Scoopt and Spy Media, have started to capitalise on the shifting sands by becoming intermediaries for citizen journalists to negotiate rights to their content.

The changing nature of news offers a diversity of voices, sources, and choice… and lets anyone join in global and local conversations
Podcasting exploded into the media landscape in 2005, puncturing it for good early in the year. It secured its place in media history when Apple incorporated podcast directories into its iTunes jukebox.

As a result, the challenge to content industries and mainstream media has been to think about how to ensure everyone has access to quality and trusted sources of news and information.

They also have to grapple with sticky questions such as who owns what, and who has the right to share content and re-create something with it in this converging world.

But there is no doubt that, coupled with a high-speed network, these media tools could do much to enhance participation in community and political life.

Vlog vote

US video blogger, or vlogger, Steve Garfield is already showing how politicians themselves can harness these tools to engage with voters.

He “produces” his local Boston city councillor, John TobinA?a??E?s, video blog, or vlog.

Regularly, Councillor Tobin reports and shows his voters the positive and negative about their community. He shows them the new mural or neighbourhood graffiti problems. He returns to areas for updates where action has been taken to make something better.

Councillor Tobin is convinced that by the 2008 presidential elections, most politicians in the US will vlog or die in the public eye.

“ItA?a??E?s going to be mandatory. People are going to have to do it. Voters wonA?a??E?t accept that they donA?a??E?t have it,” he recently told the Boston Phoenix.

It is a cheap, accessible and locally relevant way in which to engage with and be visible to the very people who voted you in.

Just like blogs and podcasts, vlogs can be subscribed to so that each show is automatically pushed to the viewer.

Podnosh, set up by Nick Booth, calls itself the Grassroots Channel and is another example of how new channels for media can give local communities a voice.

It is a podcast inspired and sponsored by b:cen, the Birmingham Community Empowerment Network.

Local residents share experiences, short stories, local campaign news and resources, as well as support each other as “active citizens”.

Mixed up media

And as we said goodbye to 2005, 65.9% or 16.5 million UK households were watching digital TV.

Broadband is within reach of nearly 99% of the country, and now makes up 57.4% of all net connections compared with 42.6% for dial-up.

The UK has long worried about the relationship between government, media and the public
That still leaves swathes of the nation digitally excluded, though.

This year will see much more convergence around traditional media such as TV, and broadband which could serve to plug this hole.

But regulation needs to be clear about what its role is in this landscape, and that will be a long and intense process.

Government and local government also need to know what role they should play to support these changes as well as how to make the most of the potential therein.

The UK has long worried about the relationship between government, media and the public. The erosion of trust and democracy is feared above all.

The question is what happens to social cohesion in this quickly evolving landscape and how can the government negotiate consumer-led media.

Some might argue that the remaining ties binding government, media and the public will be eroded further by the decentralisation of media.

A?a??E?Appetite to be involvedA?a??E?

Greater choice of what to watch, what news means and who produces it, as well as the shift from broadcast to on-demand media, could increase peopleA?a??E?s ability to opt out of public and democratic debates if they want to.

Alternatively, the changing nature of news offers a diversity of voices, sources, and choice to enhance democratic potentials and lets anyone join in global and local conversations.

We need what big institutions do so well, but we also need the bottom-up… knowledge and ideas
Dan Gillmor
Center for Citizen Media
Clearly there is an appetite to be involved with the production of news – the capturing of moments that have left their indelible watermark on history, big or small.

This needs support and nurturing. It also needs to be inspiring and relevant.

To that end, it will be interesting to see what former journalist Dan GillmorA?a??E?s newly announced non-profit Center for Citizen Media achieves in the coming year.

“We need a thriving media and journalism ecosystem,” Mr Gillmor says on his blog.

“We need what big institutions do so well, but we also need the bottom-up – or, more accurately, edge-in – knowledge and ideas of what IA?a??E?ve called the A?a??E?former audienceA?a??E? that has become a vital part of the system.

“IA?a??E?m also anxious to see that itA?a??E?s done honourably and in a way that helps foster a truly informed citizenry.”

The next 12 months should make an interesting year.

Dr Jo Twist is a Senior Research Fellow leading the Digital Society & Media team at the think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2006/01/02 00:05:59 GMT