· January, 2012

Below are posts about citizen media in English. Don't miss Global Voices, where Global Voices posts are translated into English! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about English from January, 2012

Cuba: Human Rights Double Standard

  31 January 2012

Lilianne Ruíz, blogging at Translating Cuba, compares a television spot “that shows a series of watercolors of butterflies from one of the five officials of the Interior Ministry imprisoned in the United States…with the stories that are told of Cuban jails, especially for political prisoners who, ever since their detention,...

Russia, Syria: Anti- and Pro-Assad Facebook Comment Attack

RuNet Echo  31 January 2012

Facebook pages of some Russian media outlets (e.g., Afisha, Bolshoi Gorod, Esquire Russia, Channel 1, MTV Russia) were deluged with copy-pasted comments [ru, ar] from users who appeared to be supporters of the Syrian opposition earlier today. An excerpt from a typical comment [ru, ar]: “Syria's regime is killing people...

Puerto Rico: Waste of Money

  31 January 2012

Dondequiera says of a US $20 million ad campaign to promote tourism: “If we could only use 1/4 of that money to police and clean our beaches, maintain the bathrooms…. I just thought you'd like to know how your hard earned tax dollars were being spent. The whole thing just...

Cuba: Upwardly Mobile?

  31 January 2012

The latest Cuban media campaign “is directed against the [expensive] mobile vendors, those sellers of fruits and vegetables who transport their goods on a tricycle or other wheeled device” – Generation Y says: “Although this is a problem that hurts us all, I don’t think we will solve it with...

Bermuda: “Constant Circus”

  31 January 2012

“The Premier is saying that she will pass more good governance laws. That’s positive,” says Vexed Bermoothes. But he still can't help but wonder: “You need laws to control the actions of your own inner circle? Seriously?”

Jamaica: Bleached

  31 January 2012

Annie Paul posts an article she wrote about Vybz Kartel and the skin bleaching phenomenon.

Panama: President Receives Draft for New Constitution

  31 January 2012

“President Martinelli received [es] a draft of a new constitution from a special commission working on the subject,” reports Bloggings by boz. Boz looks at two of the biggest issues regarding the reform: reelection and the creation of a Constitutional Court within the Supreme Court.

Mexico: Discussing Nonviolence with Javier Sicilia

  31 January 2012

Fred Rosen interviewed Javier Sicilia, founder of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity. Rosen will report on the conversation in upcoming posts in his blog at the NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America) website; in this first post he focuses on “some excerpts on the questions of...

Azerbaijan: #LightYourFire Eurovision Meme

  31 January 2012

Ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku in May, a new Internet Meme has appeared on Twitter. With Azerbaijan known as the Land of Fire, the hashtag for the international singing contest is the same as this year's official motto, #LightYourFire.

China: The legacy of Wukan

  31 January 2012

David Bandurski from China Media Project blogs about the discussion among Chinese public intellectuals on the political implications of Wukan struggle against land acquisition in Guangdong.

Macedonia: “Conformism, Hypocrisy and Opportunism”

  30 January 2012

Human rights activist, journalist and artist Xhabir M. Deralla candidly expressed his view on the role of the civic sector in contemporary Macedonia: “The choir of indolent subjects stands mute. As media get quieter, the stench of the decay prevails. The civil society forgets that media are civil society, too....

India: Child Abuse In Mumbai

  30 January 2012

Debolina Raja Gupta blames Mumbai police for not being able to solve the recent child abuse cases and the trend is on the rise as a consequence.

Pakistan: Moral Policing of Dating Couples Gets TV Show Axed

  30 January 2012

In a recent live Pakistani television show, a group of middle aged women were seen scouring the parks of Karachi to hold accountable the couples dating without their guardians' knowledge. Protests mounted on social media which led to the firing of the anchor and removal of the show from the network.

Chile: Mapping Chile with OpenStreetMap

  30 January 2012

In El Quinto Poder [es], Marcelo Aliaga writes about OpenStreetMap (OSM), “a free editable map of the whole world,” and the OSM community in Chile. He invites Chileans to participate and stay informed through the local blog. [es]

Cuba: Pope's Visit & Human Rights

  30 January 2012

In the wake of more repression against Las Damas de Blanco, Uncommon Sense thinks “that the pope should postpone his visit until human rights conditions improve in Cuba.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Abuse of Trust

  30 January 2012

The TnT River says of an incident in which a teacher allegedly stuck a student's head in a toilet bowl: “This is another case of child abuse which comes in a different form and from an institution entrusted with the education and all-round development of this child.”

South Africa: Student Anti-Racism Poster Causes a Stir

  30 January 2012

South Africa's Democratic Alliance Students Organisation recently released a controversial poster as part of their anti-racism campaign, which shows a naked mixed-race couple embracing. The poster has caused a huge stir on Facebook, Twitter and blogs and even generated viral spoof posters.

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