I’ve always admired Anderson Cooper. While Katie Couric has some journalistic chops, I think she’s gone to the corporate dark side. Anderson Cooper has the classic hard-hitting journalist attitude, but as his appearances on shows like Regis and Kelly have proven, has some angst and biting sarcasm that the people of my generation thrive upon.

There’s a video of Anderson on YouTube covering the Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans where, in the middle of his interview with a government official, he cuts her off and begins chastising her for taking the advantage of the air time to make herself look good and place the blame on other people. While the media strive to be unbiased, in the face of events like Katrina, and now, Haiti, you have to take a side.

From Anderson Cooper’s blog:

As things got really out of control, I saw a looter on the roof of the store they’d broken into throw what I think was part of a concrete block into the crowd. It hit a small boy in the head.

I saw him collapse. More chunks of concrete were being thrown at the looters on the roof. The injured boy couldn’t get up. He’d try and then collapse again. Blood was pouring from his head. He was conscious but had no control over his body. I was afraid someone on the roof would see him lying there and throw another cinder block piece onto him. I was afraid he’d get killed. No one seemed to be helping him.

I ran to where he was struggling, and picked him up off the ground. I brought him to a spot about a hundred feet away. I could feel his warm blood on my arms. I stood him up, but he was clearly unable to walk. He wiped his bloody face, and I tried to reassure him.

I haven’t been paying attention to the news lately because–and this excuse is true–I haven’t found the time. For someone working in the media, this is unacceptable. I understand that a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I’ve seen the web reports on the lack of international aid, the rampant looting, the damaged buildings, but most of all, the dead, the dying, and the survivors. Local news hasn’t been that thorough as the focus has been on Filipinos working in the area, occasionally touching on the plight of the Haitians.

Perhaps being a third-world country ourselves prevents us from acting too altruistic, or at least feeling altruistic towards the people of Haiti. But that’s no excuse. I’m a visual person. It’s hard to imagine that on the other side of the world, this is going on. But it is.

Haitians survey the damage to a building that collapsed onto a road in downtown Port-au-Prince , Haiti (REUTERS/Hans Deryk)

A mob of Haitians reach out as goods are thrown from a nearby shop in the downtown business district on January 17, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Georges Boutin of Fort Lauderdale, Florida (with hacksaw) and daughter (right) Pier Boutin of Lenox, Massachussets use a hacksaw to amputate a woman’s leg in Port Au Prince General Hospital. It was the first surgery at the country’s largest hospital since the earthquake. (Globe staff photo/Bill Greene)

A Haitian mass grave receives unclaimed, unidentified bodies in the suburbs of Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

Men stand near a burning body left in the street in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. U.N. peacekeepers patrolling the capital said popular anger is rising and warned authorities and aid organizations to increase security to guard against looting after Tuesday’s earthquake. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Looters steal a bag of another looter who lies dead, shot by the police on January 17, 2010 near the Hypolite Market in Port-au-Prince. (Olivier Laban Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

A man pulls the body of an earthquake victim from a coffin in order to steal the coffin at the cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People walk on a debris-covered street in Port-au-Prince January 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar)

PHOTO/CAPTION CREDIT
Boston.com

According to The Guardian, 2009 was the year of Facebook. Time Magazine echoed this in their annual top ten of everything where they called Facebook “the site that ate everything.”

Personally, my vote goes to Twitter. It was from Twitter that Michael Jackson’s death rippled around the world, and let’s not forget the Iran elections, the woman they called Neda, and the tweets of protest, help, and indignation. It would suffice to say that 2009 was the year of social media–a term that barely existed a decade ago.

Still, I can understand why Farmville and Mafia Wars addicts genuflect in the presence of Facebook. Started by 25-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg, the social network started the year with 150 million members. By April, that number rose to 200 million, and by September it had amassed 300 million — an average growth rate this year of about 550,000 new members a day. Facebook’s current net worth has been estimated by analysts to be at $15 billion

There is little doubt that 2009 was the moment that the site truly exploded. In January, Zuckerberg announced the “milestone” of 150 million users worldwide. Less than a year later, the social network has more than doubled and now boasts that more than 350 million people log on each month.

Remember Friendster? They’re still doing fine at close to 110 million members worldwide. But early this month news circulated that the newly-lay-outed social networking site (it’s green now) is looking to be sold to an Asian company for more than $100 million.

As a side note, in late 2008, Facebook approached Twitter about a potential merger. Zuckerberg offered company stock worth about $500 million but Twitter turned down the offer. Still, if there’s something we’ve learned from the internet, it’s that things, no matter how big or great, don’t last.

However unassailable Facebook’s position may appear today, history suggests that even the largest websites can fall spectacularly from grace in just a few years. A decade ago AOL was one of the most powerful companies in the world, worth so much money that it was able to force a $162bn merger with media giant Time Warner – the biggest ever seen

I think it was Conan O’Brien who said that in the event Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube merge, a gigantic new social media tool would emerge. It would be called You TwitFace.

Happy new year everyone. Make new friends.

At lunch time today a black Honda Civic with plate number TNM-865 exploded at the driveway of Fully Booked, Serendra 2 at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig City. Speculations about a bomb has been ruled out by the police. According to ABS-CBN News, one person, the car’s driver, was killed.

The first images from the scene were taken by one Judd Sta. Maria, a blogger who also works in the area. Even before the news truck arrived and the real journalists began interviewing the policemen, Sta. Maria’s exclusive shots were already being spread through the web. It’s times like this that make me think, “Damn, citizen journalism is awesome.”

Posting this just minutes after we heard a loud explosion from our office at Bonifacio High Street; within seconds, sirens we sounding off and security guards downstairs were rushing towards Serendra. We were curious, but were a little afraid, too; I quickly grabbed my camera and sprinted to that direction and behold, a car entering the Serendra basement parking was there up in smoke.

Read his full account and view other photos here.

According to Sheila Coronel, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism founder, there is great potential for alternative or small media (like citizen journalism) to challenge those which are corporate controlled, like popular radio and TV stations. She sees these channels are much more democratic than those of corporate media because information is disseminated without the benefit from media gatekeepers (editors, station managers, etc.) and free from the pressure of media owners and the government. In addition, there is also the important role that alternative media plays in shaping public opinion.

While traditional or mainstream journalism has been regarded as the fourth estate, citizen journalism is touted as the fifth estate. As British Journalist John Pilger says, “The answer (to corporate media) is simple: we have to create a new estate, a Fifth Estate, that will let us put a civic force against this new coalition of (media) rulers.” It’s like saying, “Up yours, big media networks with your over-the-top OBBs and dramatic John Williams music. I’m my own reporter.”

It’s perhaps important to note that local TV stations GMA-7 and ABS-CBN ran Sta. Maria’s photos and even interviewed him. What reporter?

The house has been without cable for the past month. Mom has been planing to switch cable providers but is too busy to take care of it. Dad just wants to watch Federer and Nadal. Younger brother wants to watch basketball.  Youngest sister needs her Gossip Girl. And I need my current events and pop culture. Live streaming for the win.

In what has since become a perfect example of how citizen journalism trumps mainstream media, the political crisis  in Iran has been exploding with images, texts, and, of late, videos from people who just happened to be at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time armed not with guns or placards, but with a camera or a mobile phone.

Censorship in the Islam nation has lead to the government cutting mobile telephone networks, blocking  popular Internet websites like  Facebook and YouTube, and even expelling foreign journalists or placing them under house arrest. With professional journalists  gone and people lamenting the utter lack of coverage of CNN, Fox News, and other news networks, the people on the scene have taken over.

Popular author Paulo Coelho  blogged about the video currently circulating around the internet of  a woman who was  shot, then dies on the same street where rallies are being held in protest of the results of the elections last June 12, saying:

“My best friend in Iran, a doctor who showed me its beautiful culture when I visited Teheran in 2000, who fought a war in the name of the Islamic Republic (against Iraq), who took care of wounded soldiers in the frontline, who always stood by real human values, is seen here trying to resuscitate Neda – hit in her heart.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjBKHkoDgCM&w=330&h=270&rel=0]

CNN Report on  Neda

He (Coelho) has since been exchanging e-mails with the doctor in the video trying to make sure Iran officials don’t hunt him and his family down.  He has left Iran and is now in London. Meanwhile, here’s the amateur video that made everyone stop, think, blog, and Twitter. There are two versions available online. This is the longer one, and just as graphic and chilling.

Iran Amateur Video: Neda

Accompanied by the description:

“Basij shots [sic] to death a young woman in Tehran’s Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim’s chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers [sic] away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass [sic] used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.”

One of the many arguments against citizen journalism is how to verify if the information published is indeed true. Professional journalists are bound by their responsibility to fact-check every piece of information, name, date, place, quote. Otherwise, anything published or aired, if proven to be inaccurate, will greatly affect the public’s sense of trust with the media. Ordinary citizens aren’t privy to such a responsibility. Therein lies the rub. But in tense situations like these, with no other choice but to let the witnesses become the reporters, is verification really important? Or do we need all the information we can get?

UPDATE (06.25.09): The videos were taken down yesterday from Vimeo for “violating the Upload Rules of Vimeo.com: Vimeo does not allow TV shows, movie trailers, or stuff you found on the web.” I argue fair use and insert a false allegation of censorship just to make it interesting. I’ve uploaded them again.

There are several things I loved and hated at the same time while I was in college. Aside from my daily three to four hours breaks, there’s my senior thesis. Others–correction–most utterly hated theirs. They abhor the whole experience with their whole being, curse it to the depths of the universe, and refuse to acknowledge that it ever happened and the people they worked with never existed.

I keep a bound copy of my thesis on my bedroom shelf. In the times I receive a hard assignment, I look up and remind myself how I wrote 100+ plus pages, got an A, and didn’t end-up killing myself or my partner. How could you not have feelings towards the title, PinoyNewsPortal.com: An Analysis of The Gatekeeping Phenomenon in Online Citizen Journalism Initiatives in Asia To Produce a Model for Future Implementation in the Philippines? I meant every word.

This thing called citizen journalism is so simple and easy that you may have already done it, or are currently doing it. It goes by many names: citizen media, we media, grassroots journalism, open-source journalism, hyperlocal journalism, participatory journalism, and many others. However, the basic idea for all is similar: that ordinary people with no professional journalism training can use the tools of modern technology such as computers, camera phones, mobile phones, and digital recorders, and the reach of the internet to make media on their own or with others.

With the internet and emerging new technologies, mainstream media reporters are not the exclusive source of information anymore, but the citizens–ordinary people–who collectively know more: the office secretary in Makati  who went to the rally and took pictures, the student who blogs about his classmate with A(H1N1), the congressmen who updated their Facebook statuses in the middle of the House voting on Resolution 1109. And with the power of social networking and other web tools or applications, you’ve got a pretty strong base that’s easy to maintain, cheap, and far-reaching. People are starting to find their own voice, no matter how annoying (and sometimes stupid)  it may be, and, in some cases, authoritarian governments are scrambling to take control.

China just banned Twitter last month. They just couldn’t screen it like they usually do so they banned it altogether. If you’ve been watching CNN, Twitter has been playing an important role in the crisis currently broiling in Iran. Twitter isn’t popular in the Philippines, but Friendster ranks second in popularity to Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho. Don’t quote me on that.

Clay Shirky: How Twitter can make history

However, I don’t think it counts when all you Twitter is what you’re currently stuffing down your throat, wearing, watching, or listening to. That’s just mindless egotistical  crap.