ADOI Blog

The Media 2.0 – The Geek, The Politics and The Loose Cannon

Ham on 05 13, 2008

By Blog-Grog

For all intent and purposes, the Media 2.0 organised by the 4A’s, can be construed as the definitive starting point of advertising agencies taking the power of the web seriously. Invited to speak were personalities that pioneered the usage of the web, people like Oon Yeoh, who I believed was the first to start blogging, Prem from Malaysiakini and Rocky, a veteran journalist who had supported the idea of blogging even when he was in charge of the Malay Mail. Rather controversial chaps who can be explosively direct at times and probably with Special Branch files as thick as a Subway Sandwich.

It all started with the geek who had something to say, and for Malaysians, that geek was Oon Yeoh. A trained journalist with a rather clear understanding of technology, he saw the promise of the web early, and was careful enough to tread carefully and not get his servers/computer confiscated as what happened with Malaysiakini when they got on nerves of the government under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Jeff Ooi started a day after, and from then on a new form of media with a very personal touch started to snowball, slowly but surely. Others joined the fray, not necessarily political, but covering a wide range of topics. Till today, I believe that the most highly read one-man show blogger (Malaysia-Today does not count as a personal blog in my view) is Paul Tan, who writes about cars and all things connected. Proton has advertised widely on his site, and he has earned a five-figured income merely from advertising and Google ads. He is not the only one who has reached that kind of income level.

So in essence, Media 2.0 by its de-facto association with advertising is not a little late, it is far too late. The blame however does not lie in the industry. It lies in the fact that the ruling government, mainly represented by the then Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin, was adamantly against the online community, clustering all bloggers as liars – going as far as using the term ‘goblok’.

After the recent Malaysian Electoral Tsunami and Zainuddin’s exit from the Malaysian Cabinet, bloggers were quick to ask “Who’s the goblok now?”

That’s hard question to answer indeed, in my opinion. So to be fair to the 4As, they too probably only took the step after the political culture of the ruling party took a change, in so far as blogging and bloggers are concerned.

Heck, Khir Toyo has a blog now, and the current Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek is keen on engaging bloggers. It’s a fact that way before he was appointed Information Minister, Ahmad Shabery was seen in the Press Club talking to All Blogs head Rocky, so he is no newcomer to the bloggers. If he will use this to reach out to these bloggers effectively remains to be seen. The 4As, led by industry professionals with a nose for what’s happening round the corner, realizes this. Hence, Media 2.0 and what I suspect will be more interactions with bloggers from the advertising fraternity.

So ignoring the political climate entirely might not be a realistic expectation to impose on the advertising fraternity. After all, as Ham wrote, they government themselves are big spenders as far as advertising is concerned. The Tourism Ministry is said to have a budget in excess of RM400 million to attract 22.5 million tourists.

That’s a lot of money contributed to the ADEX. As it is, with the current trend, the time has come for the geek, the politics and the so called ‘loose cannons’ blogging fraternity to shine. The question is, will they be like Icarus, and soar too close to the sun. Personally, I hope not.

Send article as PDF to