Stories from and

Social Media Week Discusses Principles for a Collaborative World

  23 September 2013

Social Media Week, a worldwide event which “brings people, brands and organizations together to explore how we connect and communicate as a society”, starts today, September 23, 2013. In the second edition of this year's global conference, with the cities of Berlin, Bogotá, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, São Paulo and Toronto...

Composer's Ode to Turkish Protesters

  28 June 2013

German musician Davide Martello performed live during the protests in Istanbul's Taksim Square. This track is dedicated to the Soldiers of Light, the victims of this insane violence by the turkish government. Composed during the protests in Istanbul two weeks ago… live in the crowds on Taksim Square. That's how...

Open Letter to Germany's Cultural Foundation

  19 June 2013

Safia Dickersbach (@ArtsSafia) challenges a new programme dedicated to foster “German-African cultural relations”: 3. The Kulturstiftung claims to support the new African initiatives in the area of contemporary and innovative art. But on the other hand: a. Africans are not allowed to apply for the funds directly. b. The African...

SenseCamp Berlin: a Social Entrepreneurship Gathering

  22 February 2013

Berlin held its second SenseCamp on February 8 and 9, 2013, a barcamp dedicated to social entrepreneurship. The program included workshops, meetings and conferences, to raise the impact of social entrepreneurial start-ups. Creative types, entrepreneurs and those who were interested, were invited to register in order to participate in this...

Germany's Outcry Over Sexism Grips Twitter #Aufschrei

  25 January 2013

Journelle tweeted about a hashtag that has gripped the German twittersphere: What I like about #aufschrei [outcry] is that it’s bringing much-deserved attention to these disgusting incidents of casual sexism that might otherwise be played down. Using the hashtag #aufschrei [de], female Twitter users have been reporting the sexual harassment...

Parallels Between Religious and Copyright Wars

  24 January 2013

Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Pirate Party, reinterprets the wars of religion that devastated Western Europe in the XVI and XVII centuries in terms of the current struggle to control information through overbearing legislation related to copyright and freedom of expression: The religious wars were never about religion as such....

Mainland China's Demand on Infant Formula Milk Becomes a Global Issue

  23 January 2013

The news about anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands as a result of the shortage of infant forumla milk is widely discussed in Hong Kong. Dictionary of Politically Incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese has collected the reports and the online discussion on this anti-Chinese sentiment.

Japan: Digital Backyard in Sapporo

  7 January 2013

The three-day conference “Digital Backyards” initiated by smal.jp and berlinergazette.de will take place in Sapporo on January 10-12, 2013. There will be a barcamp-style networking event on January 10 and 11 for journalists, activists, bloggers, researchers, entrepreneurs, cultural workers and programmers to define problems and come up with solutions. The outcome will be...

Portugal: An Open Letter to Germany

  5 November 2012

Portuguese economist and researcher José Maria Castro Caldas published an open letter to the citizens of Germany on the website of the Initiative for a Citizen Audit of the public debt. The Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel will be on an official visit to Portugal on November 12, 2012.

Germany: Satire Magazine Calls for Complimentary Ph.D.s

  1 November 2012

After a series of scandals surrounding the academic achievements of German politicians who cheated on their dissertations, the online satire magazine“Der Postillon” is now calling for a complimentary Ph.D. [de] for all politicans: This way, the embarrassing and politically dishonorable rescinding of doctorates can be avoided. The Ministry of Education...

Discussing New Forms of Journalism

  28 October 2012

What distinguishes citizen media from traditional media? Is it even still possible do draw the line? Global Voices author Débora Medeiros shares her notes from a discussion on new forms of journalism, which took place during a barcamp session at the Berlin Colloquium for Internet and Society, on October 26,...

Japan: Petition to Release Violin from Frankfurt Customs

  25 September 2012

On August 16, 2012, German customs officials at Frankfurt Airport seized a Guarneri violin from Japanese professional musician Yuzuko Horigome when she failed to present correct documentation. They demanded that she pay nearly US$ 500,000 in order to get it back.

Chinese Mitten Crabs Invade German Waters

  7 September 2012

An interesting post from China Hush on the problems caused by Chinese mitten crabs in German rivers. To tackle the problem, German fishermen are selling the crabs to Chinese restaurants.

Germany: Improve Reporting on Disabled People

  3 September 2012

It ought to become something understood in the language that disabled people do things not in spite of or because of, but with their disabilities. During the Paralympics in London there have been more and more reports on “against-it-all people” or “supercripples” in the media. leidmedien.de explains how to get...

Colombia: Accessing the Internet in Germany

  1 July 2012

Ana María Vallejo, a Colombian studying in Germany, has written a two-part series (1, 2) [es] on her experience accessing the Internet in that country. She compares it with her experience in Colombia and describes the restrictions for accessing some content there.