· August, 2009

Stories about Governance from August, 2009

Sri Lanka: Citizen Media Contest

  25 August 2009

Sri Lankan citizen journalism initiative Groundviews announced a new competition “aimed at encouraging more citizen journalism on two vital issues confronting polity and society in post-war Sri Lanka – the conditions facing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and growing reports of Police brutality”, informs ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) blog.

India: A wave of suicides among farmers

  25 August 2009

Increasingly, Indian farmers are resorting to extreme measures, including suicide, to escape complex problems of poverty, crop failure and growing debt. Indian bloggers analyze the situation.

Kenyan cartoonists find a home in the blogosphere

  25 August 2009

The older Kenyan generations vividly remember cartoon characters like Bogi Benda, Juha Kalulu and many others who premiered in newspapers. But times are changing and the internet is changing almost everything including the medium that cartoonists are using to share their thoughts.

China: Free speech under control 2.0

  25 August 2009

David Bandurski translated an article from CCP mouthpiece publication, Qiushi, on “Freedom of Speech and the Media’s Responsibility”. The article showed the Chinese government's desire for a fair share in the global public opinion.

Kazakhstan: On the Efficacy of Government

  25 August 2009

How professional is the government? Is it rigorous enough in performing its functions? How often does it interfere in matters beyond its competence? These are among the most popular questions discussed in the Kazakh blogosphere. Izhanov writes a gloomy, ironic post on the “sensitive” subject of bidding in the process...

Indonesia: Soeharto's son aims to be president?

  25 August 2009

Hutomo Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former Indonesian President Soeharto, returns to the political arena with a bang. He seeks chairmanship of his father's political party Golkar. Indonesian bloggers speak about this political twist in the archipelagic country.

Serbia: Threats to LGBT Population

  23 August 2009

Serbia's gays are facing plenty of problems - and on Sept. 20, they are planning to hold a gay pride parade in Belgrade. Sinisa Boljanovic reviews some pro and contra reactions published on Serbian blogs and in other online venues.

Russia: Flag Day Rally

  22 August 2009

LJ users daria_mas and alter-gregor post photos (RUS) from the opposition rally that took place in Moscow on Russia's Flag Day and ended with riot police detaining some of the activists.

Iran: Testimonies of torture and rape

The Iranian authorities have been accused by UN experts and the opposition of torturing protesters of the June 12 presidential election results. Iranian civil society activists have been using citizen media to highlight testimonies about the Iranian tragedy.

Azerbaijan: Eurovision scandal continues

  22 August 2009

Despite attempts by the authorities to downplay the incident, news that the names and addresses of 43 citizens who voted for the Armenian entry in this year's Eurovision Song Contest had been obtained by police in Azerbaijan continues to send out shock waves through the Internet.