STOMP = "Straits Times Ownself Manufacture Photos" according to Mr Brown

[Confuseous]

My faith in the journalistic integrity of STOMP, nay, all of Singapore Press Holdings, has been shaken to the core since STOMPgate. How will I ever trust local mainstream media or mainstream-media-backed citizen journalism EVER AGAIN? How will I ever know if the photo of an open MRT door or the blurry photo of an unidentified object with blinky liSTOMPizens should be aware that the nation expects them to maintain and uphold the highest levels of journalistic ethics, and any transgression will undermine the very trust that our people have developed for the mainstream media here.

STOMPizens are to be the beacons of truth and light, standing shoulder to shoulder with the organization that gave birth to the site that made it all possible. Yes, STOMPizens, you are a reflection of SPH, your mother ship
ghts flying over Bukit Batok is really the truth?

You don't want people to call STOMP, "Straits Times Ownself Manufacture Photos", do you?

http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2012/06...ium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+mrbrown+(mrbrown)

 

[Confuseous]

TOC Editorial: STOMP in the dumps

But the apologies by Mr Daniel and Mr Azhar leave many important questions unanswered.

First and foremost, why did the original article (which has since been deleted by STOMP, but is still accessible via Google) state that the photo had been submitted by “STOMPer wasabi”? This misleadingly suggests that it was a member of the public, and not a STOMP staff, who had submitted the photo, especially since STOMP claims to be “the leader in citizen journalism”.

Just like how newspapers distinguish articles by their journalists from external contributors (such as forum letters by the public and syndicated content), STOMP should clearly identify content from STOMP employees as such, instead of misleading readers as to the source of the material....

The apologies by Mr Daniel and Mr Azhar do not address these questions at all. What happened in STOMP is not representative at all of genuine citizen journalism. Genuine citizen journalism does not rely on paid staff masquerading as “members of the public”.

If SPH wants to restore any modicum of credibility to STOMP, they must clear the air on how STOMP operates and state measures SPH will implement in response to this fiasco....

SPH and STOMP have a lot more explaining to do, to clear the air over what appears to be deceptive practices that Singaporeans would not expect at a site operated by the country’s monopoly newspaper publisher.

The New Paper should also take a long hard look at itself, for not independently verifying the story before running it...

- http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/toc-editorial-stomp-in-the-dumps/

 

[red amoeba]

SPH is a media company, and it thrives on news. Its akin to actors / actress creating news to increase their popularity & exposure rate.