Stories about Citizen Media from December, 2010
Russia: Internet 2010 Overview
2010 highlighted several important trends of Russian Internet. Online audience grows very fast with people getting more news online and actively using social networks. In a lot of ways, 2010...
North Korea's State-run TV Broadcasted its First Western-made Film
North Korea's state-run television broadcasted its first Western-made film, a heavily edited “Bend It Like Beckham”. The British soccer film contains North Korea's taboo topics, like interracial relationships, homosexuality and...
Latin America: 2010 in Review
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, a police strike in Ecuador and the Nobel Prize in Literature for Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa were some of the news bloggers and citizen...
Nigeria: Controversy Over the Sale of Stolen Benin Mask
Online activists have been protesting against the proposed auction of six pieces of stolen artworks including the mask of Queen Idia – the first Queen Mother of Benin, Nigeria.
Zambia: Tina Banda, The Facebook Agony Aunt
To many people Facebook is a tool to announce what they are doing or what they have done, yet to some Zambians, it is being used as ‘Agony Aunt’ from...
Bolivia: Government Ends Fuel Subsidies, Protests Expected
On December 26th, the Bolivian government announced that it would be ending fuel subsidies and that the price of gasoline and diesel would increase by 73% and 83%, respectively. The...
USA: Indigenous Youth Media Project Recovers History
For a Navajo community, video has become a way to connect youth with their ancestors and the history of their people through the story of the Yellow Woman.
Mexico: Indigenous People Denounce Mining Project on Sacred Site
The Indigenous Huichol People of Mexico are denouncing a Canadian mining project that is threatening one of their sacred sites and that, if completed, would endanger their health and water...
India: Doctor Gets Life Sentence On Sedition Charges
On 24th December, 2010, a Sessions Court in Raipur, Chattisgarh, convicted civil rights activist Dr. Binayak Sen on charges of sedition and conspiracy. The court found Dr. Sen guilty of...
South Africa: Corrective rape is a hate crime
Corrective rape is a criminal practice, whereby men rape lesbian women, purportedly as a means of “curing” the woman of her sexual orientation. Despite South Africa being the first nation...
South Korea:Cows Culled As Mouth and Foot Disease Spread
As the mouth and foot disease spread around South Korea, the government ordered farms to slaughter their cattle, including yet healthy cows and pigs to slowdown the wide spread the disease. @Biguse...
Caucasus: The Year in Review
With 2011 nearly upon us, the year in new and social media in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia during 2010 was surprisingly positive. So, what did the past year hold in...
Zambia: 1964 Independence Agreement Threatens to Split Nation
Zambia has in recent weeks been faced with clamours of secession by one of its regions with which it merged at independence from Britain in October 1964 to form a...
Venezuela: Hugo Chavez Granted Special Powers for 18 Months
On December 17, Caracas Gringo wrote that President Hugo Chavez “was granted special powers to rule by presidential decree until June 2012.” An Enabling Law that Venezuelan Analysis reports was...
Malawi: Citizens’ take on vice-president's dismissal
In early 2009 Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika was fighting for his political life with an opposition that frustrated his every move in parliament and looked strong enough to unseat...
Bangladesh:Discussing the Controversy Surrounding Dr.Yunus
Badrud Doza, on his blog An Ordinary Citizen, discusses the recent controversy surrounding Dr. Yunus – Nobel laureate and founder of Grameen Bank.
South/North Korea: Tensions Escalate in Midst of Live-Fire Drills
South Korean military exercises were underway today near the disputed waters with North Korea, who threatened Seoul to strike back, raising more tensions in the Korean peninsula. The Korean people,...
Chile: Prison Fire Sparks Debate on Social Networking Sites
A fire in a prison in San Miguel in Santiago, Chile, which killed more than 80 prisoners after one of its towers caught fire, caused mixed reactions on social networks....
Côte d'Ivoire: Lessons for Africa
Africans can learn from the political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, says Salisu Suleiman:"The most important message must be that there are no perfect democracies anywhere in the world. Even Western...
Brazil: Indigenous communities reflect on using the internet
For the first time ever, delegates of 16 indigenous communities from all over the country gathered together to discuss a subject of utmost importance: the Internet, and how to use...
