Careful, you are in a media community

If I have to guess, I don’t think Tiger Woods likes texting on mobile devices very much any more.  He has had to learn about the new media landscape the hard way.  Actually hard doesn’t even begin to describe his drastically changed lifestyle – writing a cheque that severely deleted his reserves to his now ex-wife, and a body so confused he hasn’t been able to swing and land his balls into small holes he used to do once practically with his eyes closed.  A Tiger’s roar has never been silenced so publicly.

Yes we are not Tiger Woods.  But what happened to him can and has happened to people like you and I.

To navigate this media community well, you need to understand how things have changed in the media world.
Today with social media, people get their “own news”, that is, news relevant to them, news they are interested in, rather than general news “out there”. When Singapore’s Orchard Road was flooding, most Singaporeans got the news of the unusual occurrence from a post in their Facebook or Twitter.   Few waited for the evening news or read about it the next day.  People want news relevant to them and they get it when they want it.  A big change from appointed viewing on TV or reading the newspapers.

The pervasive power of social media hasn’t gone unnoticed by commercial companies.  In fact, most companies today have a social media strategy, via Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.  They know the new breed of consumers use social media for everything from the selection of restaurants to shopping and banking.  For consumers, it goes beyond self-expression now; it has become a functional part of their lifestyle.  And these companies understand the one most important characteristic of social media – consumers seek dialogue with companies rather than to be talked at by them.  They want companies to behave like a friend and not a company.

What you do or say in public, you need to be upfront and honest.  You see, in this media community, everyone and anything can be searched. If you try to hide or embellish, you can be quickly found out. So don’t lie. Your lie will stay somewhere in the World Wide Web and it has a habit of showing up when you least expect it. In Singapore, there was the case where a pastor made insensitive remarks about Buddhist and Taoist beliefs. He was investigated last year for a remark he made in 2008 when a 10-minute audio-clip was posted on Youtube.

Understand also what is private can easily become public; national becomes international. By now you must have heard of Nazril Irham or “Ariel” and his model girlfriend Luna Maya – celebrities in Indonesia whose sex tapes were so wildly circulated that police had to raid Internet cafes and schools looking through cellphones of thousands of students across Indonesia. Why did the celebrity do it? He probably thought it would not spread in a Muslim country, in Hong Kong yes but not in Indonesia. He was not only wrong, Ariel is now in jail, and some even accused him of “moral terrorism”.

What does all these developments in the media community tell us today? Well, Rule 1, if you don’t want anyone to know, don’t do it or have it. What you do or say can easily come back to haunt you. Rule 2, when the cat is out of the bag, don’t expect anyone to bail you out. You are on your own; no one wants to come close. When a case is not public, you are likely to get sympathisers, when it is public, even your family members may fear implication not to mention your colleagues and company you work for.  Christian Dior had to fire John Galliano when a video showing him spouting “I love Hitler” went viral, however talented and valued.  Rule 3, information has been democratized, understand the media herd mentality, no matter how correct you are, sympathies will always be with the underdog. There are many cases to support this, ask Tiger Woods. Media will embrace the underdogs even when they are porn stars.

And finally, Rule 4, if something actually happened, come clean as soon as possible. Contrast Tiger Wood’s initial silence to US talk show host, David Letterman. When Letterman was blackmailed about affairs with his staff, he confessed on his own show even before it hit the press. His scandal vanished in weeks. Woods still nurses his shame today and hasn’t been in any shape to win a single title.

“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.