Stories about North America from September, 2014
Telling Puerto Rican Stories on the Web
Esta Vida Boricua [This Boricua Life] is a digital storytelling project which explores the past and present of Puerto Rico through the collection of experiences of people from all walks of life and all ages. At its most basic level, it is “a place to share stories,” as explained in...
What it Means to be Puerto Rican for Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera
Oscar López Rivera has been imprisoned in the United States for over thirty years because of his political beliefs.
Anton Nossik on the Coming End of Facebook, Twitter, and Google in Russia
Media expert and founding member of the Russian blogosphere Anton Nossik explains why he thinks the end is nigh in Russia for websites used by billions around the globe.
How Not to Understand the Kremlin's Internet ‘Kill Switch’
The justifications for preparing a “self-sufficient RuNet” are weak. The tools necessary for such a feat, moreover, would empower the Kremlin to restrict Russia's vital communications in an instant.
U.S. Authorities Seek Data on Indymedia Athens
On September 5, the U.S. Department of Justice issued to the organization and Web hosting provider May First an inquiry about one of its members, Greece-based Center for Independent Media Athens, also known as Indymedia Athens. Founded in 2005, May First is a non-profit organization dedicated to provide cooperative Internet services, such as...
CPJ Calls on Obama to Defend the Right to Report in the Digital Age
With more and more world governments targeting journalists with communications surveillance, the Committee to Protect Journalists is asking the Obama administration to clean up its act.
After US Ambassador to Ukraine's Twitter Gaffe, RT Says ‘World Won't Be Duped Again’
America’s social media outreach on the Ukraine crisis has always been flawed, if only because Uncle Sam is up against an adversary that frequently camouflages online propaganda as “grassroots” activism.
Covert Surveillance ‘Project Speargun’ Fires Up New Zealand Election
ANNA MAJAVU of Pacific Media Watch reports for The Daily Blog on an extraordinary event in Auckland on 15 September 2014: NEW ZEALAND Prime Minister John Key has been accused of allowing the secret installation of equipment that would enable spooks to tap into New Zealand’s undersea fibre optic cable...
Migrant Children from Central America Are Not Mere Statistics
In an opinion piece for the American newspaper Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Global Voices contributor Jamie Stark wonders, “What kind of parent would pay $10,000 for a stranger to bring a child 1,400 miles through gangland and hostile border crossings? A good parent, perhaps.” As a concerned citizen about the crisis of...
How the United States H4 Visa Traps Foreign Workers’ Family Members in a ‘Golden Cage’
H4 visa holders cannot get a job in the US, work remotely for a company back home or even freelance.
A Fleet of Life-Size Paper Boats Is Sailing Down the Hudson River to Protest Climate Change
SeaChange: We All Live Downstream, a collaboration between 350.org and Brooklyn-based maritime arts collective Mare Liberum, is headed to the People’s Climate March.
News of the Latest McDonald's Closure in Russia “Devastates” Obama
When current events inspire Russia's satirists, the RuNet produces some amazingly funny short stories. Russia's ongoing assault on the McDonald's food chain is having such an effect.
Trafficked Ecuadorian Children Pass Through Hell on the Way to the US
Ecuadorian minors start dangerous journeys to the United States in search of the American dream. For 12-year-old Nohemí Álvarez Quillay, the voyage ended up costing her her life.
Activists and Bloggers Worldwide Ponder Lessons Learned From the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
There is no denying that more people are now more aware of ALS than ever before, but critics have accused the campaign of focusing on self-congratulating deeds.
These 8 Ice Bucket Spinoffs Challenge Hunger, War and Politics
From the “Lather Against Ebola” campaign against Ebola in Côte d'Ivoire to the Rubble Bucket Challenge for children in Gaza, people are repurposing the viral phenomenon.
An Election Film Week in Lebanon to Say #NoToExtension of Parliament Term
What better than the seventh art to mobilize? In another effort to push for Elections in Lebanon and prevent an extension of the Parliamentary term #NoToExtension, Lebanese NGO Nahwa Al Muwatiniya (meaning Towards Citizenship) held an “Election Film Week”. Six works from Chile, Iran, China, Ghana and the US, varying between documentaries...
From Liberia to South Korea, West Africa's Ebola Outbreak Is Met With Ignorance and Paranoia
A pub in South Korea posted a notice turning away Africans "due to Ebola virus," and a Nigerian millionaire preacher is offering to cure Ebola patients with his special water.
