LABIS -- Elections are normally synonymous with the presence of politicians, party machinery, police and journalists. Now there also groups making their presence, covering the Tenang by-election campaign here. These are the bloggers -- reporting, analysing and making commentaries and publishing them on their blogs, many of which come with unusual names. Here, bloggers like PapaGomo, Parpukari, Pisau.net, Badut Rakyat, Malay Dilemma, Gerakan-anti-PKR and Ruang Bicara Faisal are making their present felt, eager to cover the by-election and getting a share of readerships among the netizens. Their presence sometimes raises questions about their purpose and about who they are. Bloggers function the same way as journalists from the mainstream media, except that they appear to be enjoying more freedom in presenting their analysis. Speaking on the way they work, pro-government blogger known as PapaGomo said they would usually share information received among them and blog about these issues from their points of view. According to another blog writer, Ahmad, who runs the blog "Gelombang Rakyat," bloggers utilise numerous blogging platforms like Blogspot and Wordpress as well as social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. "We use the opportunities available in the cyber media ... we can see that pro-government bloggers have a bigger presence in the Internet compared to the pro-opposition," he said. When asked if they would like to assume the role of the traditional media, Papagomo said that was not the case. In fact, he said, they relied a lot on the mainstream media to obtain the relevant information. "We pick up a lot from the mainstream media such as Bernama ... and then we make comments about the issue being reported. "As you can see we don't have media passes and we are not authorised to enter many of the venues, including the venues of some Umno programmes," he added. (Bernama) | 
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