Stories about Digital Activism from December, 2008
Barbados: Journalists Appear in Court
Barbados Free Press is keeping an eye on the case of the two arrested journalists, calling the open court hearing “a stunning victory by the dozens of local news media people who showed up to support”, while at the same time denouncing local mainstream media for not making an issue...
Gaza/Sderot: Israel and Palestine together on video
The Gaza/Sderot: Life in Spite of Everything Project is one of the prime examples of the variety of ways a bridge between different cultures and world-views can be created through online media. In this project created by ARTE.tv, a French-German cultural television station, twelve people going on their day to day business on either side of a violent border were exposed on a website for ten week project which ended on December 23rd. The two minute videos documented snippets of the lives of 6 characters in Gaza, Palestine and 6 characters on the other side of the border in Sderot, Israel during two months.
Ukraine: Yushchenko's Press Conference
Tetyana Vysotska of What's Up, Ukraine? writes about the Ukrainian president's annual press conference and his response to one of the most popular questions posed to him via the internet: “Mr. President, how much money should the people of Ukraine pay to convince you and other top authorities to leave...
Russia: Patriarch; Yoshkar-Ola; Stalin's Legacy; Protests
A selection of recent posts from Window on Eurasia: a “Ukrainian” metropolitan who may or may not become Russia's next patriarch; Hungarians react to the Russian authorities’ suggestion to rename Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of Mari El, to Tsaryovokokshaysk, the city's pre-1917 name; some Russian history teachers’ efforts to educate students...
Caribbean: 2008 in Review
From natural disasters to lightning bolts of the athletic kind, 2008 was a busy one for the Caribbean blogosphere. Here are some of the highlights...
Iran: Muslim Bloggers site was hacked
We read [fa] in Iran based Muslim Bloggers site that it was hacked a few days ago while it had launched a campaign to support Gaza Strip people. It seems that several other conservative sites such as Shiayan recently were hacked in Iran.
Haiti: Photo of the Year
Haiti Innovation reports that the UNICEF “Photo of the Year” features the plight of Haiti, while the photographer, who has her own blog, says of her win: “It’s not only great because my work as a photographer gets recognition, but also and much more important – eventually many people will...
Iran: “A blogger in Kurdistan was arrested”
Several blogs and news sites reported that Davood Azadfar , an Iran based blogger, was arrested[fa] yesterday in Mahabad in Iran's Kurdistan province. It seems he had criticized Mahabad's authorities in his blog.
Bangladesh Election 2008 And Cyber Activism
Bangladesh goes into poll on December 29, 2008 for a much awaited parliamentary election. The scenario is lot different than the recent US presidential election where citizen media and Internet campaigning and fund raising were extensively used. With a penetration of 1% of the total population of 145 million, Internet...
Puerto Rico: License to Kill Trees
The recent administrative order by Puerto Rico's Secretary of Agriculture has created a shock wave of reactions in the blogosphere. In the island of Puerto Rico if a person had to cut down a tree he/she had to request permission form the island's Department of Natural Resources - that was until recently, when the Secretary of the Agency issued an administrative order that automatically grants a "fast track" permission to anyone who wishes to cut a tree.
Ukraine: A Loud Protest
Ukrainiana writes about and posts video of a very loud protest in Kyiv: “On December 22, at noon, Kyivites honked their horns to protest against rampant government corruption and endless power struggles wrecking the Ukrainian Dream amid the country’s deepest economic crisis since the early ‘90s.”
Barbados: Journalists Arrested
The Barbadian blogosphere is an uproar following the arrest of two mainstream media journalists - a move that bloggers are interpreting as an assault on press freedom.
Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis: Murderer Executed
Barbadian bloggers Gallimaufry and Barbados Underground take note of the recent execution of a convicted murderer in St. Kitts.
China: Interview with Anti-CNN founder
Jenny Leung interviewed the founder of Anti-CNN.com, Qi Hanting. The interview is posted at China digital times.
Russia: LiveJournal and Mass Media Laws
IZO translates LJ user plucer‘s view that the newest LiveJournal addition – this line at the end of the posts: “I hereby give third parties the right to reproduce or disseminate all of my materials as a whole or in part…” – “would mean you were ‘disseminating information’ and mass-media...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: More on “Resolution 819″
More on Resolution 819, the film, at Cafe Turco – here, here, and here.
Russia: Protest Update
Sean's Russia Blog writes about today's protests in Russia: “The barrage of mass protest fired in Russia’s far east ten days ago echoed with a whimper as opponents of the import car tax hike staged actions across Russia. Today’s protests lacked the manpower of the previous ones, and in Vladivostok,...
Brazil: Against Illegal Abortion or Against Women?
Abortion is a very complex issue in Brazil, just like almost everywhere else in Latin America, where it is considered a crime. Despite this, over 1,000,000 clandestine abortions take place in Brazil and over 70,000 women die of complications from clandestine abortion attempts every year. Daniel Duende takes a look at the new moves in the clash between pro-life and pro-choice movements.
Egyptian Spinsters
The outcasts of the Egyptian society – the spinsters – are raising their voices in an attempt to change how society views them. Khokha – the anonymous author of The daily diaries of a sinister spinister - says: انا عشت حبة كل ما اقول رأى ولا كلمة … يردوا فى...
Egypt: Gamal Eid detained and deported from Jordan
The Jordanian intelligence prevents Gamal Eid, the General Manager of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), from entering Jordan because of his criticism of freedom of expression in Jordan two years ago,The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, The Skeptic reports the details.
Armenia: LGBT News
Unzipped: Gay Armenia is pleased to inform its readers that following the recent UN statement in support of LGBT rights, World Focus has quoted the blog in its report on the move which Armenia endorsed. In related news, the same blog also details the contents of a new issue of...
