Endoh’s Dungeon

I didn’t had the intention to blog about this at all, after the press had lifted contents from my blog for publication. I felt… unofficial chats with my good old blogging mates should be sufficient. As long as we got our points across and knew where each other was coming from, I think we have learnt something. The temptation proved too much to resist, but I thought I will just share openly what were discussed with some other bloggers who were aware of the whole commotion.

If you are visiting my blog for the first time, I had two posts (a quote in Straits Times on F1 and another full post reproduced in Today) which caught the attention of the press within a week. I am fine with not being identified but I guess at this point, no harm coming out into the open. Yea, the person Xizor referred to was probably me. Reasonably, any blogger would be overjoyed. Hundreds of people wrote in to the press, what are the chances of their letter being published? The fact, it’s as good as finding a needle in the haysack. And here I am, two posts within a week.

What were my reactions? Or how did I feel?

I was glad that there was someone out there who felt that my contents were fit for consumption by the mass. Particularly, the entire Singapore.

I was grateful, in my pursue to inspire others to think, that the press had given me a hand at it.

It felt good to be recognized, in some ways.

Friends have been sending words of encouragement, some of which in-awe, or even praises for a couple of days. Yet, I wasn’t totally happy. Not 100% at least. That was when questions came fast and furious if permission had been sought from me prior to the publication. There were even suggestions that I had submitted my own stories to be used. To set the record straight, no, I was never interested in sending letters to the press. The only time I did, was drafting a letter when one of our ministers indirectly “referred” Singaporeans who migrated to other countries as “quitters”. Still, I tore the letter and never quite sent it.

I can understand the outrage of bloggers when contents were lifted and reproduced without permission. To make matter worst, even a face-to-face interview does not guarantee that your words will be published as they’re said. Ask fellow blogger Rachel, who had to go through this terrible experience. I wonder, will she not be more wary the next time the press contacts her for another interview? Imagine being misquoted and ended up as public Enemy Number 1 in Singapore… even though chances are rather slim with Steven Lim around.

Coming back to the usage of my contents, many were anticipating my anger. Well, I wasn’t angry. Neither was I unhappy. I was merely disappointed that my permission wasn’t sought for prior to the usage. Following which, no notice of usage was ever sent to me. What is my Contact page for? I wondered. In fact, I tried to defend the press since I am well aware of time constraints to publish a story at the earliest time possible.

Better still, I had to find out from a third party who left a comment in my blog. Otherwise, I would have been kept in the dark. What can journalists do then?

Ask for permission, if you not in a rush to publish a blog post in entirety. Ideally, you should already be asking for permission even for quoting but I guess this is a trivial one that all of us can overlook. For me, at least.

If you’re in such a rush to publish my content for whatever reasons, I am sure most bloggers, if not all, wouldn’t mind. Except that, it would be really nice if someone could just send a mail to notify the blog author and if any journalist is kind enough to include the article URL. That way, bloggers know how our content are being used.

If the above two are not possible, the least you could do is to leave a comment in the respective post.

In an environment where the voices of bloggers are getting louder each day, the collaboration and exchange of contents is inevitable. Bloggers become the new sources of stories, and the press also provided stories that bloggers can further discuss in their blogs. Another ideal setting, isn’t it? Especially when the press are also moving gradually into the cyber arena.

Now, why is the press unable to live up to the same commandments that they behold in their industry? I am sure if the press can uphold their rules when tapping into the cyber-world, they will not only earn more credibility but also help the blogosphere become a better one. Simply, leading by example. I always felt this is a very important progress since we are aware that bloggers are not binded by any such rules.

To be fair to the press, I must say that blogs that quoted full press articles disgust me equally. What we’re looking at now, reminded me of the saying “What goes around, comes around”. Frequently, I see a small handful of bloggers who pasted the entire press article in their blog. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a short paragraph of commentary. Otherwise, it’s outright cut-and-paste. Did any of these bloggers sought permission from the press? Obviously not. Therefore, these bloggers should be thankful that they are not being sued for copyright infringement. Just do a search for Associated Press vs Blogger saga on Google. We’ve not taken it that far yet.

All it takes, is a small handful of black sheeps in the blogosphere to taint the reputation of other bloggers. That’s, directly or indirectly. For the longest time, bloggers are always known to be lacking in credibility and integrity. Well, I am sure I don’t need to go into specific reasons why it had been so. We know the games all too well. I could even be attacked in Malique’s blog for what I wrote in About Me, which I subsequently removed. Just ask him!

As I had shared with some bloggers months ago, Singapore bloggers are still not trained to take responsibilities for their contents. If you were to pinpoint any blogger and what they wrote, chances are they will take it personally even if you didn’t intend it to be. All they wanted to hear are good words about them. Negativism due to their own actions, keep it to yourself.

As bloggers, what can we do then? Now, that’s a controversial thing to be discussed.

Should bloggers be whistle-blowers when we see another blogger reproducing news articles in their full entirety without permission? Take it as self-policing, much like foreign workers in Singapore.

Should a blogger be warned or sued when copyright infringement is proven? My take is that, it will send a clear message to those who are practising plagiarism with the press.

Tough call, isn’t it? If we are to uphold the journalists to their professional practices, then I feel bloggers can be equally lousy in this aspect. One may argue, that bloggers are not subjected to the “laws of journalism”. By saying that, I supposed it’s time for the law enforcement or media agencies to step in? Is that really what bloggers hope for? When that happen, I will just say whatever CSM would say to their soldiers who are told to sign extras. YOU ASK FOR IT. It’s all fair.

Bottomline, the press will need to do their part. Likewise, for bloggers. At least for now, it’s hard for me to say anything more when both are equally guilty of the very same crime.