OhmyNews and 'wired red devils' (Korea)

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While South Korea's journalists and political leaders have been debating how to reform Korean media for decades, the hot new OhmyNews website has paved the way for a new type of democratic journalism with its thousands of 'Net citizens - netizens - as contributors. Readership is in the millions and netizens act when called upon.

The urgency of these press reforms became a hotly debated issue inside South Korea's governing Uri (Open) Party and the election in February 2003 of President Roh Moo-hyun, who has since led a critical campaign against the well-known conservative bias in the country's print media. The Uri Party has introduced legislation to revamp what it calls South Korea's distorted media market, an estimated 70-80% of which is controlled by the "big three" mass-circulation dailies. Three reform bills are expected to be pushed through the National Assembly soon, and one reason is the alternative Internet media, especially OhmyNews.

Broadband connectivity in South Korea, a country not much larger than the US state of Virginia, is rapidly transforming the lives of its 49 million citizens, and along the way serving up a populist and successful virtual news medium.

Kim Soung-su, 32, a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom, takes pride in her role as one of the more than 32,000 new citizen-reporters or netizens; she writes film reviews and commentaries on US foreign policy for OhmyNews.com.

Asia Times