Hi my name is Ria, and this is my first blog. Please feel free to share any comments on my posts based on citizen journalism and censorship. I hope you enjoy browsing my blog.
Ten years ago John Perry Barlow created the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace. He did this in order to stop governments from having full control over the Internet. The Internet opened up the opportunity for free speech and sharing new ideas.
John Perry Barlow expresses his strong opinions and devotion to the Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace when he stated, “ I declare the global social space we are building to be naturally independent of the tyrannies you seek to impose on us. You have no moral rights to rule us nor do you possess any methods of enforcement we have true reasons to fear.” Barlow believes it is important to create a world where anyone has the opportunity to express his or her beliefs without fear of suppression of speech.
However the question we face now is, has the Internet become a battlefield, or a place to express free speech?
Internet censorship has affected places such as, Iran where women’s rights sites have been banned and other places such as Libya, Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, Vietnam and China.
China suffers from suppression of speech, as 30,000 people known as ‘Internet police’ have been employed as Internet censors. They have the authority to block any unauthorized website including personal comments on Internet forums and blogs. Censorship in China is so restricted, 60 online journalist and bloggers have been sentenced to jail.
Please share your ideas on the censorship in China. Do you agree Internet censorship it is a major issue?
Citizen journalism has become a increasingly popular within the general public. This because they have the opportunity to become involved in the process of informing and analyzing their personal thoughts, ideas and providing information and arguments on world wide news. Citizen journalism has become a world wide movement, which allows citizens from different countries to collaborate and argue with others. Citizen journalism is often viewed as a global conversation growing in power.
I believe citizen journalism is a FANTASTIC opportunity for people without any professional journalism training to express their opinions and arguments on any topic varying from personal thoughts to debating world issues, with the tools of modern technology. Over recent years the access and technologies have lowered the barriers to entry, allowing anyone to easily use the internet and mobile phones. News Corporations now encourages and relies on citizens to provide video images and sound files on news stories,which they may not contain.
For example,during the London terrorist bombing in July 2005, a victim of this tragic day had taken a picture with their mobile phone camera, capturing a man escaping the train and another man covering his mouth with a cloth to help him breath. This particular image was published on the front pages of newspapers around the world.
