Front line media: discrimination against the online press

The thing had happened earlier though! online reporters received press cards as a matter of fact. The current situation could be compared to the physicians´ order deciding to ban surgeons from the professional brotherhood.   
The theoretically argued lack of expertise does not make it since the online reporters are as a matter of fact far more qualified than the traditional ones. “People believe that online reporters are merely citizens uploading online whatever they want, no strings attached, without any knowledge of the job. I say different, information platforms are not this, and it is not any better on radio waves”, outline a reporter actually working for a radio station.   
The incentives of such a discrimination against the online press would be purely political. The HAT´s communication ministry has all the reasons to mistrust these virtual groups based abroad, owners of which are not necessarily known, and therefore, completely escaping state lead pressures. Online reporters are being cast aside; their investigation field is being restricted to demonstrations and official ceremonies.   
The HAT lost some battles in its on line propaganda, didn’t give hopes to win the war up for so much. “Online reporters are being rejected because they are considered as frantically opposed to the ruling power and blamed for having arguably contributed to the denial of international recognition for this power… “, declared a newspaper´s reporter trying to break through online   
So what about the victims´ point? “This exclusion doesn’t mean a thing for me, I am holding myself as thoroughly professional, I can keep on doing my job as I used to”, declared an online reporter. “They want us to swallow their statements blind and kick us out of the press circle when we don´t oblige”, she added with a cloud of bitterness.   
“This discrimination is an opportunity serving online journalism in Madagascar. Much more people must commit to it, and in the end, any of ruling power´s ministry´s recognitions are peanuts compared to this growing force”, optimistically declared a former reporter who shifted to the online world in the year 2000.   
Are Malagasy politicians scared by Internet´s power, something they can´t keep under control? Not yet, since there are not yet many users around. The ruling authorities haben better oppose online reporting while they can. Any recovery of constitutional order would not serve them in any good. Their largest problem is that they have to convince the rest of the world in which the world wide web is by far the largest power. Burdening the online reporting job in Madagascar would be their good start.