Stories about Media & Journalism from July, 2012
Costa Rica: Video Love Note Gets Vice-Minister Dismissed
The Costa Rican Vice-Minister of Youth Karina Bolaños was removed from her post by the Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla after a video showing an underwear clad vice minister sending a love note to a lover was made public and spread through the web. Reactions to this news are quite varied: from censure to the Vice-Minister for making a video and not taking care to erase it, to rejection of all those who continued to spread the video and finally, repudiation to the President for removing the vice-minister from her post as if she were not the victim of this whole affair.
Russia: Anti-Church Activist Flees Under Psychiatric Incarceration Threat
A blogger and leader of the Youth Human Rights Group in Karelia, has fled Russia to Poland after months of interrogations by prosecutors that included threats of detention in a psychiatric clinic in retaliation for statements made online against the Russian Orthodox Church.
Angola: Citizens Demand Transparent Electoral Campaign
Angola's civil society is urging more transparency [pt] on the preparation of the coming general elections scheduled for August 31, 2012. One of the initiatives recently launched is an online petition [pt] demanding the parties leaders to take part of live debates on TV.
Tanzania: Newspaper Shut Down by Government
On 30 July, the government of Tanzania banned indefinitely a popular weekly investigative newspaper called Mwanahalisi. Tanzanians received the news with great astonishment, although the same newspaper was previously banned for three months in 2008.
Wales: Imagining the Welsh Language Web
For the 600,000 speakers of Welsh the Internet represents a galaxy of new opportunities to use and see their language. But what exactly is 'y we Gymraeg' - the 'Welsh language web' - and how can it benefit the language's speakers?
Taiwan: Threat of Media Monopoly and Power Abuse
Taiwanese civil society is worried that the acquisition of cable TV services by Want Want China Times would result in political censorship, in particular on mainland China news. A recent staged scandal against a scholar leading the campaign against the acquisition has shown the public the devastating effect of media monopoly and abusive use of media power.
Mauritania: Diplomat Sets Himself Alight
A few minutes before Iftar, Hassan Ould Abba, a Mauritanian diplomat who used to work as an advisor at the Mauritanian Embassy in Kuwait, set himself alight in the district of Ksar, North of the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. An ambulance rushed to rescue him, but he passed away upon arrival at hospital. Ahmed Ould Jedou summarizes online reactions.
Brazil: Concerns Over Public Health in Januária
Participants of the citizen journalism project Amigos de Januária, Rising Voices grantee of 2011, are carrying on the mission to monitor the local government of Januária, in Brazil. The latest posts on their blog refer to concerns over health and public safety.
Pakistan: Hindu Boy Converted to Islam in Live Telecast
A Ramadan special on a private TV channel is making news in Pakistan. Controversial TV show host Maya Khan, invited a religious scholar to convert a young Hindu boy to Islam live on her show. But some say the conversion was forced.
Brazil: Board of Social Communication Under Criticism
The Observatório do Direito à Comunicação, website of communication rights in Brazil, reports that [pt] the Board of Social Communication, elected by National Congress on July 17, is under criticism as the list of candidates was concealed and voting session was unannounced. Board members analyze, report and make recommendations on...
Peru: Environmental Journalist Detained in Cajamarca
Juan Arellano reports [es] in his blog that the “environmental journalist Jorge Chávez Ortiz, known on Twitter as @chavezwar [es], has reportedly been detained a few hours ago in Cajamarca. The young journalist from Cajamarca is also responsible for the blog Mi mina corrupta (“My corrupt mine”) [es], where he...
Greece: Photo ‘Road Trip’ Around Europe Debt Crisis
‘We Are The Pigs‘ – in reference to the derogatory PIGS acronym – is a crowdfunded photojournalism ‘road trip’ venture, to collect people's stories from European countries affected by the debt crisis. The project, started by two young Central European women journalists frustrated with the stereotypical hyperbole and abuse levelled in the media...
Indonesia: EngageMedia's Video4Change Retreat on Video for Social Change
Indonesia was the host-country for Video4Change, a week long retreat where different organizations came together to discuss how video can be used for social change and also come up with solutions for the resource gaps.
The Bahamas: Comments on the Colorado Shooting
There has not been a significant reaction in the Caribbean blogosphere about the Colorado movie theatre shooting - which is being cited as one of the deadliest in recent U.S. history - save for two Bahamian bloggers, for whom the news hit close to home.
Colombia: Locals Concerned Over Media's Slant on Cauca Conflict
The indigenous people of the Cauca department, in southwestern Colombia, are concerned that the media is misrepresenting their struggle to expel legal and illegal armed groups from their territory. Netizens weigh in on the media's coverage of this current conflict.
Mauritania: A Journalist Behind Bars
Mauritanian journalist Obeid Ould Amegn, whose health is in bad condition [Ar], is still in the central prison of the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott. Obeid Ould Amegn, a journalist and an anti-slavery human rights activist, is the vice-president of the Club of Activist Journalists. Mauritanian police had arrested him on April 29, in the capital Nouakchott, after he gave a statement to Al Arabiya TV network regarding those arrested following a book-burning protest.
Peru: Graffiti Overshadows Coverage of Anti-Mining Protests
During a recent protest march in Lima against the Conga mining project, the monument to the liberator Jose de San Martin was defaced with slogans against the government and the mining project. The media attention, and even in the blogosphere, was more focused on this "graffiti", obscuring the message of the protests.
Video: Internet Society Discusses International Freedom of Speech and Censorship
Will the technologies of anonymization win out over new digital monitoring tools? And will new wireless data technologies foster democracy–or lead to more effective tracking and surveillance? A panel discussion in Washington, DC on 25 June, 2012 with 6 activists from Syria, India, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Venezuela and Azerbaijan aimed to answer these questions.
Indonesia: Charismatic Entrepreneur Charmed Jakarta Voters
Residents of Jakarta, Indonesia went to the polls to elect a new governor of the country's capital. In a surprising twist, voters supported Joko Widodo, an entrepreneur and mayor of central Java city of Solo. For the first time in Jakarta elections, social networks were recognized as tools that promote voters' education and campaign awareness
El Salvador: President Funes Airs First Weekly Radio Program
“Conversando con el Presidente” (Talking with the President”) is a “weekly radio call in program to let citizens call and talk to their president,” as Tim's El Salvador Blog explains. Blogger Hunnapuh [es] gathers citizen reactions to the first show (aired Saturday, July 14, 2012), and shares his own opinion...
Trinidad & Tobago: Irresponsible Advertising
“The new tagline for the rum’s advertisements was ‘When it pours, you reign.’ My brain exploded. Really? Show images of soaking wet, drunk-looking women, in a campaign that explicitly gives complete domination to the “you” to whom the ads appeal?” Lisa Allen-Agostini wonders “what on earth [the advertising agency was]...
