· April, 2011

Stories about Citizen Media from April, 2011

Colombia on Red Alert After Heavy Rains

Colombia is on red alert due to heavy rains. Residents of 28 departments suffer extreme hardship: flooding, landslides and sudden increase in rivers and streams have left more than three million five hundred thousand victims.

29 April 2011

Zambia: President's Son Threatens Journalist

A senior Zambia journalist recently received threats from the son of the Zambian president Rupiah Banda, James, following a story that appeared on the Zambian Watchdog, a leading investigative journalism website, alleging that James was a thief and was involved in major government deals and also State House officials are drunks and start drinking as early as 15.00 hours during working days.

29 April 2011

Uganda: Citizens Outraged by Violent Re-Arrest of Opposition Leader

Uganda opposition leader Dr.Kiiza Besigye was re-arrested in the capital Kampala for participating in the Walk to Work Campaign one night after he was granted bail. Besigye had been granted bail on the condition that he would not engage in the campaign that has put the Ugandan regime in the headlines for three weeks now.

29 April 2011

Peru: Second Electoral Round Kicks Off

A few weeks before the second round of elections in Peru, the choice between candidates Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori, the growing polarisation in Peruvian society, and ultimately from the electorate, is as notable in the press as it is on social networks.

28 April 2011

Brazil: School Bullying and the Realengo Massacre

On 7 April 2011, twelve adolescents at the Tasso da Silveira City School in the west of Rio de Janeiro were shot dead. The culprit was ex-pupil, Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, 23, who then turned the gun on himself. The growing speculation about the killer’s profile, in both the blogosphere and traditional media, raised the issue of bullying in Brazilian society.

28 April 2011

Poland: Decrease of corruption

Michael Dembinski of W-wa Jeziorki notes that corruption in Poland continues to decrease in contrast to many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a recent article in...

28 April 2011

Zimbabwe: Revolution has no blueprint

Upenyu Makoni- Muchemwa from Kubatana.net writes: “Rumours of a revolution in Zimbabwe have been greatly exaggerated. Filled with hope but little practical knowledge, several unidentified groups took to Facebook in...

28 April 2011

Peru: Hydroelectric Projects in the Amazon Under Discussion Again

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested the suspension of Brazil's Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, reopening the debate in Peru on similar projects and their impact on the Peruvian Amazon communities. In Peru, the most publicized hydroelectric megaprojects are the Inambari and Pakitzapango centrals, included in the Peru-Brazil Energy Agreement signed last year.

27 April 2011

Australia: Crusading Christian Lanced by Own Tweets

Australian Christian Lobby Director Jim Wallace tweeted on ANZAC Day that Australians didn't fight during World War I for gay marriage and Islam. He has since then deleted his tweet and apologized for his remark. Here are some online reactions from Australia.

26 April 2011

Russia: Regions Reduce Digital Divide

RuNet Echo

More than 90 percent of new users are not from Moscow or Saint-Petersburg, Yandex regional Internet development report says [ru]. Authors note a significant increase in Internet use nation-wide, 30-60...

26 April 2011

Argentina: Bloggers Discuss Inflation

Inflation has long been a subject of controversy in Argentina, and as such is a recurring topic for discussion among bloggers. As an important political issue, it is expected to be one of the main themes debated during the presidential race next October.

26 April 2011

Argentina: Croatian Community Reacts to Sentence of General Ante Gotovina

On April 15, 2011, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) handed down sentences to the Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Cermak. Gotovina and Markac were charged with "crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war" committed in 1995 by the forces of their country during "Operation Storm." In Argentina, where it is estimated that the Croatian community is the country's third largest, there have been various reactions.

24 April 2011

Nigeria: Tweeps Report And Discuss Post-Election Violence

Nigeria's presidential election was held in on 16 April 2011. Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner. Some observers have alleged that the election was rigged to favor the incumbent. Post-election violence erupted in northern states where supporters of Muhammadu Buhari attacked churches, homes and police stations. This is a summary of reports and reaction from tweeps using NigeriaDecides hashtag.

22 April 2011

Chile: Nurse Expedites Organ Transport Using Twitter

Cristina Bizama, a nurse at Talca hospital in Chile, has devised a way to speed up the transport of organs from the city of Talca to the capital, Santiago, some 260 kilometers away. Everything started with one tweet: "Incredible! There is no way to transport 5 organs to [Santiago]."

21 April 2011

Zambia: Tweeps Discuss Need For Condom Distribution in Prisons

Issues such as HIV/AIDS and homosexuality are emotive issues in Zambia. The former has claimed a lot of lives in the last quarter of a century and the latter is an issue that people dare not talk about publicly. Some Zambians on Twitter have however, brought an interesting aspect to the homosexuality debate - that condoms should be distributed in Zambian prisons, where sodomy is known to be practised.

21 April 2011

Guatemala: Maximón and Other Holy Week Traditions

The different and special elements of religiosity in Guatemala make Holy Week (in Spanish, 'Semana Santa') quite a unique experience. Somehow the Catholic religion has been "hacked" to incorporate indigenous peoples' gods, goddesses, rites and ceremonies while integrating elements of Catholicism.

21 April 2011

Colombia: Anti-Personnel Mines and the “Remángate” Campaign

April 4, 2011, marked the celebration of the International Day of Awareness of Anti-personnel Mines. In Colombia, the Presidential Program for Action Against Anti-personnel Mines (Paicma) joined corporate groups and social organizations to promote the "Remángate" campaign. The campaign relies on its website, Twitter account (@remangate) and hashtag #Remangate.

20 April 2011

South Korea: Search Engine Censorship Claims

As South Korea's biggest search engines file an anti-competition charge against Google, net users have started to look back at the various companies' contributions to the Korean net environment. The nation's most visited portal, Naver, has come under particular fire for alleged news screening and censorship of information, along with its monopoly in the field.

20 April 2011