· September, 2012

Stories about Media & Journalism from September, 2012

Vietnam: Government Jails Three ‘Dissident’ Bloggers

  30 September 2012

Three Vietnamese bloggers have been convicted by a local court for allegedly spreading anti-government propaganda. One of them will serve a prison term of 12 years. Human rights groups immediately condemned the verdict and warned against the creeping online repression in the country.

Nepal: New Media Gufa – A New Experiment

  29 September 2012

Blogdai reports: Dharma Adhikari's Media Foundation held a “New Media Gufa” or “cave” where 5 of Nepal's top tech-savvy journalists chained themselves to their computers for three days in a heroic attempt to determine the extent of internet penetration in Nepal and to see if Nepali stories could be accurately...

Ukraine: Protesting the Controversial Defamation Bill

  29 September 2012

A bill that calls for penalties of up to five years in jail for defamation passed a first reading in the Ukrainian Parliament on Sep. 18. Following the online campaign against the adoption of the bill, its author submitted a request to recall it. The bill isn't history yet, however, and the protest continues.

The Gloomy Years of Colombian Television

  28 September 2012

Since last May [es], ‘pink sauce’ from popular gossip website La Fiscalía has been posting a series on “the gloomy years of Colombian television” [es], where he reviews, tongue-in-cheek and year by year between 1992 and 2012, the most popular mainstream medium in the country. Readers share their memories of...

Russia: The Kostin Report & the Trojan Horse of American ICT

RuNet Echo  28 September 2012

Earlier this week, the media got a sneak peek at a new report on the foreign penetration of the RuNet and the potential manipulation of the country's future elections. The Internet's growing popularity is transforming it into a political weapon: a weapon that is increasingly guarded by American, albeit private, media firms.

Puerto Rico: Plagiarism Revealed Through the Net

  27 September 2012

Janet Marilyn Hernández, a Venezuelan blogger and public relations professional, discovered that her thesis was plagiarized in a newspaper article and blog post written by professor Ivan Ríos of the University of Puerto Rico. Using email, posts, Twitter and Facebook she brought the situation to the attention of the University and the mainstream press. The professor has since resigned.

Russia: Yekaterinburg Police Raid Regional Internet Publication

RuNet Echo  27 September 2012

On September 27th Yekaterinburg-based internet news portal URA.ru was raided by city police, reports [ru] Evgeny Roizman, local anti-drug campaigner. Roizman is dating the editor-in-chief of the portal, Aksana Panova, who has apparently managed to leave the country before masked operatives arrived at her apartment and scared her mother and young son [ru]....

Chad: Challenges to Freedom of Expression as Social Protests Grow

  27 September 2012

The recent arrests in Chad of three union officers and the editor of an independent newspaper are symptomatic of a disintegration of freedom of expression in the country. These arrests have come after protest movements against the impoverishment of Chad’s population and the privatization of the country’s resources.

Peru: Young Woman Killed After Participating in Reality Show

  26 September 2012

Peruvian netizens were shocked by the murder of 19-year-old Ruth Thalia Sayas Sanchez, a young Peruvian woman who participated in the newly launched reality show 'The value of truth' (El valor de la verdad). Her ex-boyfriend and two others kidnapped and later killed her for money after she had won 15,000 Peruvian soles (about US$5,700) on the show.

Chile: Interview with Poderopedia Founder

  25 September 2012

Jessica Weiss from IJNet interviewed Miguel Paz, founder of Poderopedia [es], a data journalism project which seeks to reveal links among members of Chile's elite: Poderopedia's team will collect and verify data from an array of sources, including news sites, public databases and information disclosed by other companies and institutions....

Colombia: Political Blog ‘Atrabilioso’ Closes Down

  24 September 2012

After 7 years and thousands of posts by several contributors, the political blog Atrabilioso, managed by journalist Jaime Restrepo Vásquez, closed last August 31. The blog's contributors were critics of President Juan Manuel Santos‘ administration and staunch supporters of former President Álvaro Uribe.

Global: The 2012 edition of ‘Wiki Loves Monuments’

  24 September 2012

Julien L. wrote the following on numerama.com: The Wiki Loves Monuments copyright-free landmarks photo contest is going particularly well. Nearly a week after its launch, more than 50 000 photographs have been sent in by contributors. And this is just the beginning, because there are still 22 days left to...

Chinese ‘Soft Power’ Expands in Africa with CCTV

  23 September 2012

Chinese state-controlled media, China Central Television (CCTV), launched its African regional bureau in Nairobi, Kenya on January 11. While its presence has diversified the media landscape in Africa, some have been rather skeptical of its journalistic independence.

North Korea's Parody of K-Pop Sensation ‘Gangnam Style’

  21 September 2012

North Korea uploaded a video entitled “I'm Yushin style!” in its government website Uriminzokkiri as a parody of South Korean pop sensation, ‘Gangnam Style‘. The parody lambasts Park Geun-hye, South Korean ruling conservative party's presidential candidate. Ms. Park is a daughter of former President Park Chung-hee, whose “Yushin” system brutally suppressed democracy...

El Salvador: Reflecting on the Future of Blogs

  21 September 2012

Like many netizens around the world, Salvadoran bloggers are discussing the future of blogs. Prompted by a blogger who has decided to put his blog "on hold", bloggers Fernando Marroquin and David Mejía react to the changing Salvadoran blogosphere.

Russia: Activist Journalists or Bolshevik Bloggers?

RuNet Echo  21 September 2012

Anyone following the Russian protest movement cannot help but notice the degree to which many Russian journalists are involved with the opposition. In the age of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, such interpersonal relationships are clearly visible to outside observers. But what does this overlap say about Russia's journalist culture?