Stories about Citizen Media from August, 2008
New African Aggregator
White African reports that the news aggregation site Alltop has just created an Africa page, Africa.Alltop.com, with the aim of giving African news and bloggers “additional attention outside of the traditional African blog echo chamber”.
Ethiopia: Teddy Afro's lawyer in jail, then released
Arefe of Addis Journal reports that the lawyer of popular Ethiopian singer Teddy Afro has been released after spending a few days in jail with his client. The lawyer had been found guilty on charges of contempt of court, adding some more drama to the singer's trial that has captured...
South Ossetia, Georgia: Journalists Killed, Foreigners Evacuated
Reportedly, two journalists have been killed amidst the fighting in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, and several others have been wounded. At the same time, foreigners are being evacuated from Georgia and the situation remains tense, while everyone's holding their breath for a ceasefire.
AIDS Conference youth: A force to be reckoned with
One of the most active zones at the Global Village in the AIDS conference was certainly the Youth Action Zone, where youth from many different parts of the world got together to talk about their experiences, their hopes, their dreams and how change should come about taking their participation seriously. Their YouTube Channel has a series of videos from the AIDS conference, interviews and commentary about their role in taking control of the AIDS epidemic.
Brazil: On the verge of a civil war over indigenous land
While the world celebrates the rights of indigenous people this Indigenous Peoples Day, dispute over land in Brazil is bringing the country to the verge of a civil war.
Georgia: Similarities with 1995 Croatia
Gray Falcon compares the current situation of South Ossetians in Georgia with that of Serbs in Croatia in 1995.
Angola: Countdown to the long awaited elections
Angola's first parliamentary elections in 16 years will finally take place at the beginning of September. Clara Onofre reports on the local atmosphere during the countdown to the polls, direct from Luanda.
Russia: Sexual harassment good for babymaking?
Natalia Antonova comments on the case of a Russian judge who dismissed charges of sexual harassment against an empolyer saying that “it is needed for the continuation of the human race”. Eternal Remont also gave his two cents on the strange ruling.
Russia: Violence on the Southern Borders
Erik of Sochi Travel comments on two recent disturbing developments in Southern Russia: a blast on one of the Sochi beaches in which two people died, and “Georgia waging new war on it’s breakaway republic – South Osetia”.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Lost London Connection
Tim Clancy of the blog Pure Intent laments the cancelation of flights between Sarajevo and London. He says: “The city of London has done great things for this country. Although we do not bare the entire blame of this misfortune, we certainly are guilty of having our heads in the...
Peru: Blogging About Food at Home and Abroad
Peruvian food has been receiving plenty of attention in the media, and bloggers are writing about their favorite dishes. Alejandro García of Peru Food provides the latest blog roundup about the subject of local cuisine found at home and in the diaspora communities.
Poland: Endless Celebration of History
Pawel of Polandian writes about the 1st of August anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, including several photos of the remembrance celebrations in a post titled “Poles must stop living in the past”. He writes: “The fact that we decide to focus all our popular celebrations around history means...
Czech Republic: Prague Churches
Strog's Prague pictures & opinions diverses [French] has been writing about several churches in Prague, including many pictures. Most recently, he has described in great detail the Gothic church of sv. Václava na Zderaze, the Baroque sv. Jana na Skalce (in French St Jean -de Népomucène- sur le rocher) and...
Estonia: Hemingway and Promotional Storytelling
Vello Vikerkaar advocates for the substitution of Estonia's inane slogan ‘Welcome to Estonia’ for a story worthy of Hemingway, who once said “In every port in the world, at least two Estonians can be found”.
Balkans: “The banality of journalistic evil”
Gray Falcon writes a detailed critique of a recent article by Dan Bilefsky published in the New York Times titled “Hero to Some, Butcher to Others”, about fugitive Ratko Mladić. In it he complains about what he calls “the Good versus evil, black-and-white, typical coverage of Bosnia (and the Balkans...
Croatia: Anniversary of Operation Storm
On the 4th of August 1995 the largest European land offensive since World War II started in Central Croatia, in the area of Krajina. Until then Croatian Serbs were the majority population there, but a few days later there were no Serbian families left in this area. For that reason it was called Operation Storm (Operacija Oluja). Bloggers comment on the anniversary.
Latvia: Failed Referendum
On the 2nd of August a referendum took place in Latvia, to vote on amendments to the Constitution that would make it possible for the people to initiate the dissolution of the Parliament. In spite of popular support for the process, the referendum had to be declared invalid due to a low turnout. Bloggers reacted to the disappointing results.
Albania: Conditional Hospitality?
Inside Albania questions the famous Albanian hospitality after receiving the visit of two “non-white” friends that didn't get a very polite treatment in Tirana.
Mozambique: 2038?
What will Mozambique be like in 30 years? Sociologist Carlos Serra provides nine "Byzantine" scenarios and invites his readers to amend them as they see fit
Belarus: Manual for journalists
Daniel Rodrigo [Spanish] posted photos of a “manual” for Belarussian journalists, a promotional leaflet on a documentary about the lack of freedom of speech in Belarus.
