The UrbanWire
The UrbanWire is an entertainment and lifestyle ezine produced and maintained by online journalism students of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School of Film and Media Studies in Singapore, attracting an average of 2 million hits each month as of late 2007.
The UrbanWire or UW is the integrated publication of TriMedia Publishing, Singapore's first editorial consultancy managed by students.
History
"Live" since January 18, 2002 by a team of 5 students and online journalism lecturer Mr Robin Yee, it remains the only student-led media in Singapore consistently invited to cover major entertainment events such as Singapore Idol, MediaCorp TV's Star Awards and the MTV Asia Awards. UrbanWire also covered MTV World Stage in 2012. Since 2006, it has been publishing nearly one story every day of the year, making it one of the most often refreshed youth e-zines in Singapore.
Content
The UrbanWire reports on Movies, Music, Gaming, Food, TV, People, Books, Sports, WiredLife, NightLife, Features, Style, Events and Campus. It also runs stories from sister publications- HYPE, Singapore's first student-produced glossy entertainment and lifestyle magazine, and npTribune, Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s campus newspaper, both of which are also produced by Trimedia Publishing.
Technology
Always striving to keep up with the rapid advancements of technology, The UrbanWire was among the first e-zines in Singapore to
- offer RSS feeds,
- use a Content Management System, and
- produce a series of English podcasts on China with Mr Jacky Peng, a systems analyst in Ngee Ann Polytechnic who hails from Guangzhou.
This was positively reviewed by Global Voices Online , a non-profit project funded and initiated by Harvard Law School that aggregates and features the most significant blogs in the world.
Social Good
Despite being a young media player, The UrbanWire is aware of its role and potential for doing good in society. These are some initiatives it has embarked on to give back to society in some small way. Because The UrbanWire is a new media outfit, all of them revolve around the principles of technology use, and benefitting students or youths:
1. Bridging the Digital Divide - March 2003
The drive to collect and refurbish old computers and redistribute them to needy students saw more than 300 being collected and in excess of 100 being successfully sent across the island to homes of students in need within 2 weeks. The efforts were possible due to sponsors and volunteers both within and outside Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
2. S.M.A.R.T.S - Jan 2006
The gameshow, possibly the world's first online charity gameshow created by Robin Yee. saw its semi-finals and finals staged at Ngee Ann City's Civic Plaza on Jan 7 and 8, 2006. It raised $8,000 for youth charities and gave away more than $10,000 worth of prizes to players, who were tested on their general knowledge in 15 categories. This was in response to the poor level of general knowledge of the majority of students. Students from 122 local schools played the game online.
3. UWtimate Download - Feb 2008
Youths, despite being a very important market, often are denied the generous discounts and privileges that credit card companies trot out to older, salaried members. To address this inequality and to capture the "heartshare, mindshare and phoneshare of youths", Robin Yee has initiated UWtimate Download, a novel mobile phone-based privilege program. This is also an environmentally-safe alternative as no plastic cards are produced, and benefits can easily and virally be passed on to friends/family and even tourists via a simple mms or bluetooth connection. More than 50 merchants in Singapore are part of this program, including vPOST, which is offering a $15 discount on shipping charges on online shopping.