Ohmynews: Ohmychallanges

The Founder of OhmyNews: Mr.Oh

   Bruns, the author of the article “Gatewatching, Gatecrashing” claims that citizen journalism is the true second-tiered form of media than alternative or tactical media: ” [citizen journalism] provides a pathway for off-mainstream news sites as they progress beyond a purely tactical stance, avoid the simplistic oppositional posturing of alternative media, and develop in to a fully formed second tier of news media,” (257). Thus, citizen journalism allows the participants to become a hybrid produser where they not only consume but produce media at the same time; this ultimately causes the news to have omni-perspectives rather than dictated by the journalists.

   OhmyNews is the South Korean model of citizen journalism. Its motto is “every citizen can be a reporter,” according to the founder Oh Yeon Ho; the site is unique because it provides opportunities for anyone to actually become a “paid” reporter if he/she decides to register with the website. This website initially was an attention-grabber, for providing an innovative public platform to the users but now, it is constantly confronted with various challenges.

   OhmyNews publishes about 150 stories daily, where a third of them are written by professionals and rest are contributed by citizens. Another third of citizen’s works is rejected due to having unverifiable facts or not appropriate topics. However, there is a catch: if they decide to attend the writing workshop and learn how to “re-polish” their stories, they get a second shot on republishing their stories. But... how many of them would actually spend their own time taking classes as if they have become high school students again? Also, this whole phenomenon itself provides good reasons for journalists to reaffirm the fact that ordinary citizens aren’t simply capable of participating in digital media without any formal trainings or degrees.

   Economic depression plays the “bad guy” role as well. The subscribers are allowed to pay “tips” to the articles they like (or formally known as “donations”) and this is a big motivation to some. AndrewGruen, an OhmyNews journalist, claims that the biggest payment he ever received from the public was an amount of $20,000 in US dollars. Now, people have become stingier and want to freeload. Less money equals less motivation and less motivation leads to less participation.

   Despite the fact that there are alternative competing citizen media platforms, OhmyNews is still thriving. It strives to employ democratic measures to ensure that every citizen has a voice. In 2002, for instance, the President Roh of South Korea won a tight presidential race and even though it’s not the only reason for his victory, his OhmyNews citizen “supporting” journalists’ articles (whose stories inevitably expressed favorable opinions to him) changed many of voters’ perceptions toward him. This demonstrates that the citizen journalism is no longer a joke, where a person can just blog or write about anything he desires; his voice can shake the whole entire nation, just as Wendy Chun covered the story on Mad Cow disease.