02.19.2010 at 2:36 pm | Have your say »

Media watchdogs monitoring news on the internet

The blogs are created to check the accuracy of stories carried by the media houses all over the world and at most they critic the stories that are published by the big news sites.The blogs argue that the mainstream media is no longer reporting fairly and at most  is no longer following media ethics that include balance and fairness.

Blog media watchdogs in the US

Brad Friedman who runs the bradblog which monitor content of the Newyorktimes. Photo by Kievglobal. Flicker.com (CC)

One example is the Brad Friedman blog in the United States which monitors content of the Newyorktimes news website everyday. The blog www.bradblog.com says the New York Times must issue retractions or apologies on stories that thenews  site misreport.

In one classic example that the bradblog mentions was one of the false stories that the Newyorktimes carried was the claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

“Not since the Times’ flagrant and inexcusable front-page ‘reporting’ by Judith Miller on Saddam Hussein’s non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction has the paper so irresponsibly, and repeatedly, in saturation coverage, helped to mislead the American people,” reads a quote from the blog on its front page.

Interestingly on Friedman’s blog one can also read breaking news in America, this provides readers with an alternative news source other than the regular news from the big news organisations.

There is also the Velvet revolution in the US which advocates for media to reform in its reports saying the media must be independent from political and business interests.Velvet says the news organisations should admit false reports they carry and that they must correct them.

Example in Europe

In Germany, there is the bildblog that was created to monitor the news content of the BILD, Europe’s largest newspaper with a circulation of three million copies.

The Bild which is Europe's largest selling paper. Photo by Lokha. Flicker.com (CC).

The Bildblog claims that the BILD journalists at the paper exaggerate and at times write false stories.

Interestingly the rise of blogs in Europe has attracted the interest of the European Commission.

In 2008 the commission produced a report on user generated content.In its findings the commission said 65 % of internet users in Europe read blogs everyday.And one in every four people who visit the blogs contributes or writes their own blog.

The Commission says the growing number of bloggers and social networkers can generate new services and economic growth.

| Tagged Case Studies, bildblog, Brad Friedman, Media, New York Times, watchblog, watchdog