Stories about Georgia from May, 2010
Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia make Eurovision Top Ten
This year's Eurovision Song Contest drew to a close on a Saturday in a televised final which attracted around 125 million viewers worldwide. But while some media reported lagging interest in the 54-year-old competition and concerns about spiraling costs, countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to take it very seriously indeed.
Georgia: Election reporting in ethnic Azeri region
Writing on Eyes on Georgia, and also tweeting at @AliResh, Azerbaijani journalism student Resh Ali posts a brief account of voting in a largely ethnic Azeri-populated region of Georgia in today's local elections. While noting some improvements, the blog says that there are problems with the vote and shortcomings in...
Georgia: Online local election mapping
Transparency International Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, the National Democratic Institute and the Caucasus Resource Research Center have set up an online mapping system for monitoring today's local election in the former Soviet republic. The vote is considered particularly important as...
Caucasus: Eurovision Semi-final roundup
Unzipped: Gay Armenia offers its opinion on last night's semi-final in this year's Eurovision Song Festival, and especially the entries from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The blog, which has become a mainstay for covering the competition in the Caucasus region, also regularly tweets on it at @unzippedblog.
Caucasus: Social media, cleavage, and rare unity in Eurovision
Although last night's second semi-final for this year's Eurovision Song Contest has been and gone, Twitter was alive with commentary and updates throughout. The annual international competition, noted more for its kitsch entries than for its music, is viewed by well over 100 million people worldwide. Its presence online is nowhere near as large, but is increasingly becoming an important consideration.
Caucasus: Eurovision Social Media
With the first semi-final in this year's Eurovision Song Contest due to take place tomorrow, activity on blogs, social media networks and micro-blogging sites in support of entrants from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the three countries making up the South Caucasus, is naturally increasing. However, their use also sometimes reflects the geopolitical and technical realities of the region.
Georgia: The Tehran-Tbilisi Connection
Matthew Collin in Georgia comments on news that the government of the former Soviet republic has entered into an agreement with Iran on cooperation in the media sphere. The Frontline Club blogger says that given the situation with freedom of the press in Iran, the move hardly fits in with...
Caucasus: Eurovision Twitter
As this year's Eurovision Song Contest approaches, one way to keep up with the entries from the three countries making up the South Caucasus will be via Twitter. Armenia's entry, Eva Rivas, is at @EvaRivas2010 and currently has 110 followers, Azerbaijan's Safura Alizadeh is at @SafuraMusic with 338 followers at...
Caucasus: Armenian-Azerbaijani coexistence
Georgian “Maybe” Time, a new blog from the Caucasus, comments on the experience of a friend from Azerbaijan who was recently chastised for her cooperation and communication with Armenians. Meanwhile, despite the still unresolved conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, Scary Azeri recounts meeting...
Caucasus: Google Translate in Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian
The Google Translate Blog announces the addition of five new alpha languages for its online translation service, including Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian. Likely to be considered in the same way in Azerbaijan and Georgia, The Armenian Observer applauds the move even at such an early stage and says the service...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: New media and conflict transformation
The Oxfam blog reports on the recent Social Media for Social Change conference and Social Innovation Camp held last month in Tbilisi, Georgia, and particularly comments on the work of Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor and the blogger behind Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines in using new and social media...
