Stories about Media & Journalism from January, 2012
Serbia: The Media War Against Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie was concerned about the reception of her director's debut movie, 'In the Land of Blood and Honey', in Bosnia and Serbia, and some of her fears turned out to be justified. Sasa Milosevic reports on the virtual battle that Jolie's film has caused.
Egypt: Reactions to Revolution First Anniversary
Greek blogger Asteris Masouras shares this Storify collection to mark the first anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian revolution on January 25. It includes links to news stories, photographs, videos and Twitter reactions.
Cuba, Barbados: Power of the Hunger Strike
Uncommon Sense notes that Cuban dissident Jorge Cervantes has gone on a hunger strike after being arrested for putting up posters protesting the recent death of hunger striker and prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza. Barbados Free Press, meanwhile, republishes a letter from a Cuban prisoner who has served his...
Trinidad & Tobago: Sympathy for Manning
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog posts a round-up of stories about the former Prime Minister's stroke, while Guanaguanare wishes Mr. Manning “peace and love as [he] recover[s].”
Guyana: Kissoon Firing as “Rodney Redux”
“The government and its sycophantic outliers may argue from now until the cows come home that the days of Burnham are over, but this is essentially Walter Rodney redux…”: The Minority Report adds its voice to the outcry over the firing of Freddie Kissoon from the University of Guyana.
Russia: The Fake Political Twitter Account Phenomenon
Online anonymity provides perfect conditions for human creativity and humor. In the Russian context this manifests as Twitter accounts belonging either to dead politicians or those that deliberately avoid publicity.
Cuba: “Bad” Reporting on Hunger Striker's Death
“Wilman Villlar was a political activist accused of murder, contempt and who knows what other charges. Now we can expect our press to report it, belatedly and badly”, says Bad Handwriting, while Havana Times links to that “belated and bad” reporting here and republishes a counter-argument here.
Haiti: More Cases of UN Sexual Assault
Following new allegations of sexual assault against minors by UN troops in Haiti, mediahacker notes that “the peacekeeping troops accused of sexually abusing the young man in Port Salut have been released from custody and the impunity…continues.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Manning Has Stroke
Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that the former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, has suffered a stroke.
Guyana: “Controversial” Kissoon
Bloggers report on the recent firing of journalist and political science lecturer Freddie Kissoon from the University of Guyana.
Afghanistan: Coverage in US papers falls in 2011
Nick Fielding writes that coverage of Afghanistan in American newspapers fell in 2011 compared to the previous year, although overall coverage of international issues jumped by more than a third.
Video: One Year, One World and 52 Different Stories
Video journalist Maggie Padlewska will travel alone for one year, visiting a country each week for a total of 52 countries. During her journey she'll be recording, editing and producing videos of her interactions with communities, organizations and people under-represented by mass media and uploading them to the web.
Haiti: Leadership Triangle
“There they were, at the official ceremony: the living, breathing banes of Haiti’s existence”: The Haitian Blogger republishes an article which suggests that Martelly, Clinton and Duvalier's “rubbing shoulders” at a recent event “offer[s] an insight into the prospects for Haiti’s reconstruction and, indeed, into the prospects for Haiti’s political...
Cuba: The Loss of a Decent Man
“We are 11 million common criminals, whose misdeeds range from buying milk on the black market to having a satellite dish”: Generation Y says that “now, with the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza, once again the old system of State insult repeats itself…[because] it would be very dangerous if people...
“Teaching through humiliation: tough love or cruelty?”
Rose Kahendi ponders on the role of radio hosts who have public platforms reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners. “Their profession brings with it great responsibility. More so if they take it upon themselves to inform or educate their fans on matters that fall outside their immediate purview. Belittling their...
East Timor: Monitoring the 2012 Elections
There are 10 candidates so far in the coming elections in East Timor. Centru Jornalista Investigativu Timor-Leste is one of the media networks monitoring the polls
Iran:Press TV loses UK licence
Press TV, the Iranian state-run English-language TV, lost the license in UK due to what Ofcom says “breaching the Communications Act”. Maziar Nazemi, a presenter at Iran state-run TV believes [fa]: “It is obvious that every media is fulfilling the goals of its sponsors. So Ofcom's decision is a political...
A Guide to Crowdsourcing in Latin America
Crowdsourcing allows anyone with an Internet connection to generate useful content for the masses. In Latin America, numerous crowdsourcing projects have arisen that respond to the needs and emergencies that the continent is facing. Jacinto Lajas on Periodismo Ciudadano presents examples of these initiatives in the region.
Cuba: TV and “Women's” Programs
Blogger and activist NegraCubana offers a reflection and a critique of the TV program [es] Ecos de Mujer (Echoes of Women) being transmitted on the state-run channel Cubavisión.
Cuba: Bloggers React to Death of Hunger Striker
It has been a sad day for the Cuban blogosphere, as netizens received news of the death of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza, who has been on a hunger strike since last November.
Russia: Security Services Put Pressure on Parents of the Protest Group Moderator
Ilya Klishin, creator of the Facebook groups that organized Russians to participate in Bolotnaya [ru] and Sakharov protest demonstrations, wrote [ru] that his mother had received a call from FSB (Federal Security Services) and his father was summoned to the local police department. Later he added [ru] that he might...
