· December, 2012

Stories about Western Europe from December, 2012

Bolivia: Nationalization and football

  31 December 2012

From Bolivia, blogger Eduardo Bowles refers to the nationalization of Spanish company Iberdrola [es]: […] amidst a severe credibility crisis and when the bumpings with Chile weren't enough for “beating around the bush”, MAS regime has ordered the nationalization of four branches of Spanish multinational Iberdrola, thus putting an end...

Earthling – Sexuality in a British Somali Family

  29 December 2012

Sokari writes about Earthling, a short story by Diriye Osman: “Set in Peckkahm south London, Diriye explores sexuality and sister to sister relationships in a British Somali family where desires to be married and to live out of the closet are set against each other. Mental illness and death, two...

Africa's Tainted Global Media Coverage

  27 December 2012

The #Kony2012 campaign contained quite a few over-simplifications about Africa. African media itself is not immune from this sort of criticism either. Here is a summary of the gems, errors and other inaccuracies in media coverage of Africa.

Greece: “Gods Just Got Bored Playing Dice”

  24 December 2012

German daily Handelsblatt reportedly picked Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras as politician of the year, after yet another round of austerity measures, another bailout tranche to Greece, a warning from the European Commission of more to come, and endless ‘GRexit’ speculation (on whether Greece will exit the Eurozone and default). Financial blogger Albert John offers...

A Look Back at the Great Potential of the Internet

  22 December 2012

Ginisty wrote [fr] the following on his blog: We are part of the Generation X, a generation that knew the world before there was such thing as the internet. We saw the internet blossom and spread to almost all population group and because of that, we might be better suited to grasp...

Guinean Journalist Mysteriously Disappears in Angola

  21 December 2012

Where is Milocas Pereira? The question echoes through social networks on the disappearance, six months ago, of the journalist and university professor in the Angolan capital city Luanda, where she has lived since 2004. On the Internet a petition directed to the UN High Commission of Human Rights has been launched.

The Spanish Government's “Boomerang” Hashtag

  19 December 2012

On December 12, the People's Party (PP) of Madrid decided to launched an information campaign on healthcare reform, creating the hashtag #quenotelienconlasanidad [#dontletthemscrewyouonhealthcare] on Twitter. Thousands of netizens took advantage of the campaign to flood the PP's hashtag with tweets, making it a trending topic for reasons very different from those originally intended by its creators.

Catalonia: Independence from Spain to Do What?

  17 December 2012

It appears that Catalonia is now set to hold a referendum on its ties to the rest of Spain. Could an independent Catalonia lead to the break-up of the establishment dynamics that have dominated Spain since the late-1970s? The optimists believe so.

Chinese Youth Association of France Sues Magazine for Racial Defamation

  17 December 2012

We are flabbergasted that the (French magazine) Le Point would stigmatize in such manner a category of the French population in the article “The intriguing success of Chinese people in France” [..] No, not all Chinese Frenchmen are criminals. No, not all Chinese Frenchwomen are prostitutes. They are french citizens like any other citizens. The Chinese Youth...

Minister Wert Sparks Humour on the Net

  15 December 2012

An article on online newspaper Núvol with the title “Send up #Wert” [ca] collects discussions, cartoons, jokes and word games inspired by statements and the education law reform proposed by Spanish Minister José Ignacio Wert.

Inappropriate Analogy for Greece-Macedonia Name Dispute

  14 December 2012

Responding to an assertion by Gerald Knaus… Athens and Skopje face a [prisoner's dilemma]: if neither side believes that a solution is possible, and acts on this, both will lose. …Zarko Trajanoski wrote on Facebook: However, the analogy with “prisoner's dilemma” is not only false, but very offensive: Athens is...

Plástica Magazine Shines Spotlight on Independent Spanish-Language Music

  14 December 2012

Plástica is an international journal specializing in the independent Spanish-language music scene. More than just a magazine, Plástica is a project that focuses on high quality, creative music. Its main goal now is to expand its readership beyond a digital audience, which is why they will launch the first paper edition of the magazine in 2013.

Kuku's Case Reignites Racism Debate in Portugal

  12 December 2012

The recent acquittal of a police agent who shot and killed a 14-year-old boy named Kuku in a neighborhood of the outskirts of Lisbon in 2009 reignited the debate about racism and marginalized communities in Portugal, as well as multiplied the number of social media commentary repudiating the Portuguese judicial system.

Croatia's EU Negotiation Model: A View From Turkey

  11 December 2012

At BlogActiv.com, Kader Sevinç shares highlights [en] from her interview [hr] with the Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija, in which she talked about Turkey’s accession to the EU and the Croatian model for the EU negotiations – “a multi-party model overcoming deep political fractures over the EU membership target.”

Independent French Data Journalism Website OWNI Under Threat of Closure

  11 December 2012

News of the imminent demise of OWNI (OWNI.fr), an independent French data journalism media outlet, surfaced last week. Famous for its close collaboration with WikiLeaks, OWNI developed the WarLogs application and conducted a great deal of analyses on the SpyFiles among others, and has been consistently reporting on surveillance, internet governance and freedom online.