“I love Hitler” – heard across the world from a bar.

Reading about how the lauded Dior designer creatively self-destruct, it gets me thinking about free speech.  There is free speech, and then there is free speech, otherwise, why would John  Galliano be looking at 6 months jail (sure his “I love Hitler” rant is anti-Semitic) while the likes of Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen continue to be invited to talk-shows and continue to stay in the spot light of media?

I guess we live in different parts of the world, and our different politics and laws either protect or expose us.  But the emergence of social media is leveling the playing field, at least in exposing those who have traditionally been shielded and protected by subservient media, for better or worse.

In a private conversation in a Parisian bar, Galliano said three words that reverberated loudly across the world.  “I love Hitler” would have been politically incorrect but not illegal if uttered in the US, or any other part of the world. But in a Europe still wearing raw scares of its contemporary history, those three words are the ultimate anti-Semitic stabs of a yet-to-heal soul.  Hate speech about the Holocaust cuts to the deepest level of anti-Semitism, and Galliano, however bizarre, should have know better.  Sure Galliano was drunk, but in this new media world, he lost his job and his reputation (from all sources, I understand he is extremely talented).  Even though he has aplogoised and promised to seek help, he will be on trial for racial hatred.

With social media, what is private can very easily be public, national international.  Welcome to the new global “media community”.  If you are a public figure, even a liquored-up rant will cost you dearly in the age of smart phones and other mobile devices.  But really it can happen to anyone.  Even YOU.

I know of many friends who are practically in denial. They see themselves as “nobodies” and there is no chance of them ever being “caught” in any kind of media exposure.  They snap shots and upload them onto their Facebook with abandon.  In their communities, no one gives a hoot what they do.  They say they are not in “the media”.

Well, if you have a mobile device, use the internet or have family members or friends who are in Facebook (at last count there are more than 2 million active Facebook users in Singapore, that’s almost half the population) – sorry, you are part of the global media community.

In Singapore, some of you may be familiar with the YouTube video of a housewife caning a puppy.  The puppy had chewed on the sofa and in the video she is seen caning her pup while family members’ voices are heard in the background trying to restrain her.  The video caused a wave of anger among denizens of cyberspace and animal lovers demanding the puppy to be rescued and its owner punished.  AVA investigated and she was given a stern warning.  If convicted of animal cruelty, the unsuspecting housewife could have been fined $10,000 and imprisoned for 12 months.

Who videotaped her?  And how did it get uploaded onto YouTube?  It turned out a family member did.  This is one of many examples where so-called “nobodies” are exposed in the media in the most public way.  The family member probably didn’t think much of uploading the video that caused serious consequences for the mother. That was because he or she didn’t understand the changed media landscape and how powerful video with shock value can be.  The same way the hate-speech was spread and circulated in the Web in Galliano’s case.

I used the term “media community” because new or social media and traditional media are now so integrated you cannot separate them anymore.  The case of the housewife caning the pup caused waves in the online communities and it was reported in both the print and broadcast media.  Galliano’s case circulated in social media and was quickly crowned in prime time European TV and made it to covers of European papers.  Within the day, it was global news.

Being in the media for more than 25 years, witnessing the almost cancerous growth of platforms, the one constant I know that has not changed, or have become even more crucial is CONTENT.  Content has always been king and now more so than ever.  New and old platforms feed on each others’ content.

Yes, create content for these hungry platforms.  But know you are part of this global media community.  We may live in different parts of the world, some of us are protected by, others bear the brunt of, laws and rules of our countries.  Some of us enjoy more freedom of speech than others.  But even in the intimacy of a bar in France, the country that cradled freedom and liberty, an utterance that goes against “correctness” can ripple across the global media.

So enjoy being part of the global media community.  But celebrate and revel with caution.  Know the flip side of joy is pain.  You can be an overnight sensation like Susan Boyle or walk out like Galliano.

Welcome to my first blog the content taken from a much longer speech I gave about media.  If you are interested in issues of the media, drop in now and then.  I like comments.  I am also an art writer, so if you want tips or trends of the art world, especially Asian art, visit my blogs.  I write on emerging and established artists, trends and big art events of the exploding contemporary art scene in Asia.