Naga Bloggers: Joining The New Media?

A commentary by various journo-bloggers, a new breed of writers?

Akangchila Longchar
Dimapur | February 2

In an era where everything seems to be going online, the power of blogging cannot be undermined and today some bloggers are one of the most influential personas in the world, and has readership that will make circulation managers of traditional newspapers weep in anguish. What basically started as online diaries has since exploded into a wide spectrum where people are getting paid for their blogs, have become famous, written a hit novel etc. Also tagged as Street Journalism, Social blogging etc, this media has managed to be a virtual smorgasbord of networking and is currently the biggest thing happening within the web world.

A commentary by various journo-bloggers, a new breed of writers?

For the uninitiated, blogs are derived from the word ‘weblog’ and are usually maintained by individual/s with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order, and a typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). A new entry is Microblogging, featuring very short posts. After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity.

So is blogging The New Media?

Analysts has defined New Media to be network-based, computer chip-enabled electronic communication tools as opposed to traditional media like radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc. New media today is said to be reinterpretations of traditional media in various formats and that there is nothing ‘new’ about writing content, however there is definitely something new about how far that content can travel. With the introduction of new media, opinions are definitely more accessible and easy to deliver. Today you post, it gets a hit by other bloggers and you get a live interaction too. Being heard from people quickly all over the world is what sets apart.

Yupangnenla Longkumer, a self confessed fan of blogs feels that blogging is a part and parcel of new media now and people refer blogs to get information. “Hmm… it’s like the baby of New Media,” she says. A subeditor and graphic designer at one of the local newspaper she cites that not everyone can afford to have their own site, so most people depend on blogging to express their writing skills. “Earlier writing was confined to authors and journos and only a few with money or good sponsors could write a book. But now blogging allows people to share their opinion with the whole world concerning different views about culture, religion, politics, life etc” she opines.

Al Ngullie, a senior subeditor at a local daily and journalist for more than ten years considers himself a ‘passionate blogger’ rather than a ‘fan’. He feels that Blogging is The New Media and cites that current online statistics point to about 50-60 million bloggers and the number is has yet to show signs of lag. Today blogging has invaded the conventional paradigms of traditional Journalism. At anytime, any day one will notice that the Google search feed has an article a domestic wife wrote that landed in Associated Press; or news feed on Yahoo about Facebook a 19 year old teenager wrote now been read by at least 2, 00, 000 internet users across the world. It is the New Media, of course, he substantiated.

Is blogging taken seriously?

Khriezovonuo Lhoungo, correspondent for a local daily and another avid blogger also says that blogging definitely has gained popularity with many tech savvy people updating blogs. “And yeah, it’s serious business for some bloggers who even ‘’employ’’ writers to update their blogs by giving them specific topics. They pay these ghost writers on article or monthly basis.” she said.

An independent blogger also opined that feels that it depends on the content of the blog, stating “Blogging allows an individual to write whatever he wants to - from teens sharing their sob stories to the prevailing hardcore issues.”

Should bloggers receive the ‘same’ rank as a journalist?

On this, Khriezovonuo feels that the issue is debatable. She stated “Journalism does have something to do with keeping a journal. Blogging, in other words. But they’re not strictly journalists coz not all of them keep blogs to ‘dispense’ news. That’s the difference. They don’t need to conform to laws or rules of journalism like professional journalist do. Some bloggers are journalists but that doesn’t mean all bloggers can be called journalist. And not all journalists are bloggers.”

“Well a blogger can write news without filtering and give the whole package as he is his own boss, where as a journalist works for a company which makes him to filter the news so that his writing does not hurt anyone or make the situation worst (esp. in terms racial or communal issues). Journos try to be politically correct and get both sides of the story in their writing but a blogger would care less about that,” a journalist commented.

Al Ngullie, answers this question best with, “Almost every journalist is a blogger but not every blogger is a journalist. The difference is this: what do you seek to achieve? Even the most ordinary of article could land on Google’s top search index or on Yahoo’s top 10 news feed – and best of all they could land on the BCC, AP or Reuters. This is the New Media but in the end it is not journalism. Their central paradigms are distinct from each other’s.”

Are you aware of Naga bloggers? 

Today, we have several Naga bloggers, some who blog as a hobby, and some who has taken it several notches higher. We have designers who blog on their latest collections, connecting potential buyers with their goods. We have Naga stylists who upload pictures of their styling works, showcasing their passion n talent and letting people know that yes they know what style is all about. Then, we have other blogs, rather commentaries on our society, our people and whatnot. Then we have blogs, simply blogs diplaying artistic endeavors.

Al Ngullie, who’s a regular blogger himself says that Naga bloggers seem to be everywhere these days. “At least they are not building villages. Way back say around 2003-2004, I would be surprised to see a Naga name commenting on my blogs and believe me I actually had to search for Naga bloggers to link with. Today, the next thread I see is a Naga; I am encouraged that we are actually starting to say what we want to say. Nagaland and her people tell stories only in whispers. The results, as sad as they are, is for all to see. I encourage my readers all the time to blog – not because millions out there are doing so but for the chief reason that one has to be in touch with his aspirations. To do so, he has to constantly challenge himself from interactions, from within the network he is part of – his people, community and his society,” he comments. Other bloggers also reiterated that they are aware of many Naga bloggers and ‘it is a good trend that most of the youngsters are following it.’

So, are bloggers a new breed of writers? Some people disagreed saying that writers were always aplenty but they did not have a means to express their writings but with the launching of blogs, it made things easier. Meanwhile someone else commented, “bloggers are writers, with due respect, however, I’d be wary of bloggers who claim to have broken the code of literature or the semantics. There are thousands of mainstream writers who blog and I guess kazallions of bloggers who write.&rdq uo;