About Us

The Online Citizen – The Advocacy Journalist

The myth of objectivity by the mainstream media has been torn asunder by numerous citizen journalists. But are all citizen journalists advocacy journalists? We have sites like STOMP which claim to be citizen journalists.  But what they really do is introduce greater interactivity to traditional journalism.

Advocacy journalism champions causes and values like civic participation, open government and free media. The advocacy journalist makes no attempt to be “even handed” with the injustices of their day. He or she has seen through the illusory ‘objectivity’ and has assumed partisan positions from every point on the socio-political spectrum.  He or she is more of an activist with a blog and hence the name ‘blogivist’.

Being a bunch of blogivists, The Online Citizen will continue to redefine news, through the merger of opinions and reporting – forever blurring the lines between editorial and news.  The quasi opinions and veiled ‘viewpoints’ of the mainstream media will be routinely exposed and questioned by The Online Citizen; so that in the end, we will have a better and more inclusive Singapore.

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Who are we? What is the purpose of The Online Citizen (TOC)?

TOC began in December 2006 with a simple aim in mind: telling the stories about Singapore and Singaporeans that weren’t being told in the mainstream press.

TOC is a blog site which endeavours to reflect the views and opinions of ordinary Singaporeans. It is a platform which welcomes contributions from the man in the street, the average citizen who is concerned about issues facing our country.

Here at TOC, Singaporeans share their honest opinions.

TOC does not pretend to be right all the time in what we say. We are open to corrections and even criticisms. It is our hope that through the honest and civil exchange of views, all of us will benefit and perhaps take public discourse, especially on controversial issues, to a higher and mature level.

TOC, as our tagline says, endeavours to be a Community of Singaporeans – concerned citizens who care enough to express their views.

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