Stories about Citizen Media from July, 2010
Georgia: Frozen conflicts, frozen happiness
With a little over a week to go before the second anniversary of the short war fought between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, Evolutsia turns its attention to another one of the country's two frozen conflicts, Abkhazia.
Kenya: Netizens Discuss Kenya's Referendum
Bloggers are discussing Kenya's referendum on the proposed new constitution, which will take place on on August 4, 2010.The campaigns for the referendum involved two camps: “Yes” camp led by the Kenyan President and the Prime Minister and “No” camp led by the church.
Chile: Mapuche on Hunger Strike over Anti-terror Law
On July 12, 2010, fourteen Mapuche indigenous detainees began a hunger strike to denounce the Chilean State’s treatment of Mapuche communities in southern Chile. The strike is aimed mainly at ending the use of Chile’s Anti-terrorism Law against Mapuche prisoners, a Pinochet-era decree widely used during the seventeen years of the Pinochet dictatorship.
Global Threat of Wheat Killer Rises
The risk posed by a fungus that is deadly to the world's second largest crop, wheat, continues to rise. The killer fungus, called Ug99, causes stem rust disease, which can destroy entire wheat fields.
Italy: NO to Restrictions on Online Free Speech
A newly revised Media and Wiretapping bill before the Italian parliament today could introduce a threatening "liability risk" for all bloggers and online media.
Brazil: African Artist Refused Entry
Spanish based storyteller and artist Boniface Ofogo Nkama, from Cameroon, was refused entry to Brazil last Friday because of the lack of a visa. He had been invited to participate in a Storytelling Symposium [pt], and the organizer, Benita Prieto, pours her heart out and tells all [pt].
Ecuador: Leader of Citizen's Revolution Has an Economics Blog
Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa has been known for promoting Open Source Software. To prove this, he has created a blog where he explains economic matters didactically, so that people can understand the economic analysis, charts and concepts. He has been posting since May 29, 2010 in the multimedia blog Economía en...
Bangladesh: Minimum Wages Raised In Garments Sector
After long protests and bargaining with the employers and the workers, the Bangladesh Government has decided to raise the minimum wages to Tk. 3000 per month ($44) which is approximately double of the current minimum wages. Bloggers discuss how this impacts the workers and the industry.
South Korea: A Politician’s ‘Emperor’s Dish’ Enraged Struggling Koreans
A South Korean politician's effort to experience the minimum wage earner's life went backfire due to poor understanding on the severity of the working poor's life conditions.
India: RTI Activist Murdered
On the 20th of this month, 33yr old Amit Jethwa, a prominent environmentalist and Right to Information (RTI) activist was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen opposite the Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad, India. Netizens react with shock and anger.
Japan: How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays
After a video on Cherry Blossom Viewing [en], the team of Legon produced an instructional animated video on How to Enjoy Fireworks Displays (Hanabi) [en] in Japan. Both in English and Japanese, it illustrates the basics of the firework festivals that often light up the summer night sky in Japan.
Liveblog of global reactions to Wikileaks Afghanistan war logs
More than 90,000 classified U.S. military documents about the war in Afghanistan have been leaked. As an experiment, we are using Google Wave to live blog global blog and citizen media reactions to the war logs (#warlogs) made public today by Wikileaks, Der Spiegel, New York Times and The Guardian.
Ecuador: Youth in Ambato Get Their Own Venue for Art, Culture and Education
Close to the celebration of International Youth Day, Ecuadorian youth from Ambato are happy they can express their own thoughts in a space of tolerance and mutual respect, after three long years of hard work, writes Gabo of Ambato Loco [es]. With the creation of a “Casa de la Juventud” (House of/for...
Venezuela and Colombia: Online Political Cartoons Add Humor to Current Events
Humorous political cartoons provide a steam valve for Colombians and Venezuelans who tune into the web for different perspectives on current events through animated online web shows.
Brazil: Collaborative Website on Street Dwellers
Maria Frô talks about the new website FalaRua [Street Talking], dedicated to the street dwellers of Brazil. The online community offers information about the Project for Training and Strengthening of Street Dwellers and invites everyone to participate through a quick registration. [all links in Portuguese]
Colombia: Twitter Reactions After Special Session Between Venezuela and Colombia at OAS
The recent tension between Colombia and Venezuela was eventually taken to a Special Session in the Organization of American States (OAS) where both ambassadors presented their points of view. During and after the assembly, Colombian twitter users reacted to the events. Here is a summary of those reactions.
India: Fair, Lovely and Facebooked
A new Facebook app has been creating some controversy in India. The app lets users lighten the skin colour on their profile pictures. Bloggers discuss the complexity of the issue especially the fact that the app is targeting men instead of women.
Blog Carnival: Colombia, Women and the Web – A Summary
There seems to be a concern among Colombian women about defending their rights and about increasing the number of women who can use the Internet and new media to express themselves and take advantage of the benefits this medium offers, like other women do in other countries. This is evident after going over 21 posts submitted for the first carnival of blogs organized by Global Voices in Spanish: Blog Carnival: Colombia, Women on the Web. Take a look at what these bloggers had to say.
South Korea: Halting Corporal Punishment In Schools Met With Opposition
South Korean society is buzzing with the old issue of corporal punishment in schools, as an elementary teacher beating his students got leaked into public. A controversy was ignited as the Seoul Education Office ordered a halt on any physical punishment from every school.
Brunei: Great Tasty Tour goes East Asia
Two Spanish Foodie Bloggers, Inaki and Esther, are currently on a gastronomy tour in East Asia for some ten months. GV author Senor Pablo interviews the two bloggers about their Brunei tour.
Censorship in Singapore
Singapore authorities caused a major uproar when they banned a film of an ex-political prisoner and arrested a British author who wrote a book about the death penalty in Singapore. Bloggers react
