Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

The era of information — free for all?

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Journalism has a purpose — to provide information in an unbiased manner to the public. Now of course over the years journalism has evolved into many categories as media expanded its horizon. Most importantly it is all about practicing responsible journalism.


In came the social media and immediately most of us knew that this medium is going to be more than personal profile and just being social. Social media is perfect for citizen journalism. But it is also a double edged word because in every situation it depends who is using the technology or the tools.


Just as feared there have been many times when the social media has been misused and the recent incident being the tragic case experienced in New Zealand. A live coverage of anything would have cost so much in the past but what happened when this facility became accessible to all? With no one to monitor or approve the social media user had access to a live facility that sent shock waves around the world as he broadcast the act of terrorism. The world has been divided too on how the media labels the acts of crimes.


Speaking of social media there were videos taken just before a plane crash which again can be debated whether it should have been circulated. One reason being the rights of the victims, the other being the sentiments of the family members of the victims and thirdly the state of the mind of the viewers.


It is time we as individuals thought about responsible journalism individually and collectively whether we are journalists or not because it is an open stage with a worldwide audience. The impact is far reaching. At the same time think about the positive impact we could have.


Many people have had similar concerns about the violence that is depicted in video games. And players of all ages joyfully engage in electronic games that are often about chasing and killing, making it so normal until you see real people perform the real moves similar to the simulations making us question about the impact the video games have on people’s minds.


There is a longing for traditional games which not only gave physical work out but an opportunity to bond with others as well. Now we are already isolated in many ways and even our leisure time is spent online.


But one thing is for sure this is also the era when we have highest accessibility to endless amount of information. So there are many who are benefiting from the social media and the digital world. It has become a major tool for education. And so have video games — gaming can be an asset but it all depends on what the content is.


And that is just like us human. We are all equipped with a mind, but what is the content of the mind makes all the difference.


So should the ones who are on the right track stay aloof and not share their path with others? The world would have been peaceful long time ago right?


But as a wise man, a spiritual teacher, once explained when the cup is full no matter how much ever tea is poured in, it would just have to flow out and spill all over. That is just like knowledge wasted but there might be others who are thirsty around who might just be able to use even the spilled over tea.


The ideal situation would be to keep the cup half free by keeping the mind fresh and using it and being ready for refills. For that I suppose we would have to keep our mind on a mode that is actively using our knowledge where more knowledge can be poured in. To keep the mind even healthier the best option would be to share the knowledge with others because it helps one to gain more. So let us reach out to other minds to keep minds healthy because only then can the society be healthy.


lakshmiobserver@gmail.com


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