If James Bond was a reporter...

I used to think our office issued phones were cool.

We were given xda-II's in 2004, and just recently it was upgraded to a Sony Ericsson P990i. I'm not tech savvy. But I love the way both phones have cameras we can use to shoot with in case our cameraman's denied entry, or the way it allows us to check our email and send scripts even while we're walking.

But then I saw Newsgear. Now that's really cool. If James Bond was a reporter, he'd have the stuff in Newsgear. Practical and useful.. but classy.Imagine a volvo for a complete mobile online newsroom. And all those little gadgets you need to have wi-fi and be able to stream live video and audio directly back to the net. It's impressive because its creative. Function wise speaking, it's the t-v network's OB (outside broadcast) VAN equivalent--only much cheaper. (or is it? maybe they shouldn't have used a Volvo..)

Anyway, it simply shows how new technology coupled with ingenuity can match the kind of equipment only big-time media companies could afford then. It makes a level playing field doable.

Here in the Philippines though, the concept of having Newsgear's stuff on the road strikes me as scary. Carjacking in the city. Undisciplined drivers on the road. Limited wi-fi zones. And bringing them to where news happens outside the city would probably mean a typhoon ravaged area or the jungles where the military's hunting down terrorist rebels. Now would you really bring a Volvo there?

On moblogging and Saddam's execution

A few days before New Year, Iraq's state television aired an official video of Saddam Hussein's execution. But in ended in the part where the noose was placed over his head and tightened around his neck. No audio was heard.

But thanks to the camera phone of one of those who witnessed Saddam's death by hanging, millions of people around the world saw the what exactly happened: from Saddam's refusal to wear the black hood, to the expression of fear on his face, and the chanting that followed his hanging.(see video of Saddam's hanging)

To say that camera phones are a powerful tool for journalism would be an understatement.

Here in the Philippines, even the biggest tv networks equip their reporters with camera phones so they can take video or pictures of events. Traditional news crews are sometimes prohibited access or they simply miss out on the event, that a reporter's cellphone becomes the next best thing.

For non-traditional journalists,or citizen journalists, it can even be as simple as being in the right place at the right time. Amateur video taken from the cellphone of the destruction brought by a typhoon or a crime scene before the police and the media arrive have all been used by the bigger media in their news.

But while instant video of world class breaking news beamed directly to the web has yet to occur, the road to get there has begun. The technology is here. And citizens in general are working on it.

Because journalism, as the reading suggests, is not just about having the right tools. It's also about discerning what makes for a great news story. It's about checking facts. And having contacts who can put everything in context.

Moblogging? It's a work in progress.

Whose blogs do we trust?

“Not all bloggers do journalism. Many in fact don’t. But when they do, they should be ethical.”

But who decides what’s ethical anyway? Traditional journalism, after long years of practice, still does not have a uniform code of ethics applied across all borders. There are still a lot of gray areas. Most of the time journalists are made to answer for any false information they spread through libel suits against them and the network/ publication they represent. Or the audience simply stops trusting them.

But how about bloggers who practice journalism?

It’s been said that the internet is full of unreliable information. And blogs provide everyone a chance to publish information- whether true or false, good or bad. And so it doesn’t come as a surprise why many are still wary of this new medium. Because who can tell whose blogs are to be trusted?

In fact, even journalists who do blogs are asked why they do so. Is it an extension of their work? Or do they post things their papers/networks do not allow them to? If journalists do commentaries on their post, doesn’t it go against their goal of being neutral on issues?

Another thing said is that blogging is a powerful tool of freedom of expression for ordinary people. Some might say it’s not as big in the Philippines as in countries where the press is censored; the Philippines being one of the freest press in Asia. But for those whose freedom to report in this democracy has been questioned, blogging has also been a welcome medium.

But how powerful can a tool for the ordinary people be when only 11 million out of the 86 million Filipinos are internet users? That’s not even half of the population.