The Nuts And Bolts Of It

Seasoned journalists Jacqueline Ann Surin and Cindy Tham, formerly from theSun and The Edge, have just started a new project which kicks off in August. Entitled The Nut Graph (a journalist term used to describe the paragraph which explains the value of the story), the website will talk politics but with the added spice of pop culture, differentiating it from the many news sites online. Surin adds that “by politics, we don’t just mean politicians, political parties or government. We are referring to the power relations between different stakeholders in an issue. Hence, we will be focusing on issues of importance such as the politics of race in Malaysia, or the politics of religion, the environment, healthcare, education, or even the politics of politics.”

What this means is that one can expect more than just a news report on the site; one should instead expect an analysis of the report, placing it within the social, political and cultural context of what’s going on to get a grasp on what it all means within the larger scheme of things or events. This is where and how pop culture can help. Describing pop culture as a good barometer of democratic health, Surin says that The Nut Graph will be a strong supporter of independent artistic expressions and aims to shed light on aspects of our culture which do not receive the attention of the mainstream.

While their political features will attract a more adult crowd, the team is hoping that their columns on pop culture will help bring in a younger readership too. It also helps that the site will move beyond just text by using videos, audio recordings, photographs, illustrations and cartoons as a means of social commentary. “We also plan to make our site disabled-friendly (we believe this will be a first for a Malaysian news site) because we want to be inclusive. Hence, the visually challenged will also be able to ‘read’ our site.” Sounds very cool, indeed! You can expect three to four updates weekly at www.thenutgraph.com when it launches.

Text Sarah Chan Photo Blink Studio