I am a British/Italian freelance writer and blogger interested in the intersection of media and politics, with particular reference to issues of censorship, civil society and social and political reform. I am fascinated by the future of journalism and press freedom in the digital age and the pace of change in emerging markets.
I am currently an editorial assistant at Index on Censorship in London. Since October 2009 I have written about Brazil and China for Global Voices Online, where I sit on the Board of Directors.
From 2009 to 2011 I lived in Shanghai, China, where I studied Mandarin and contributed to Shanghaiist, Shanghai Daily, The China Beat and the China Economic Review. I have also written for openDemocracy.
I have an MSc (Merit) from the London School of Economics in Global Media and Communications, and a 1st Class Honours degree in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies. I speak Italian, Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.
Twitter: @martaruco.
Latest posts by Marta Cooper from December, 2010
China: “the person I most admire has the surname Liu.”
Danwei has translated a range of Chinese microbloggers’ tweets and posts celebrating their heroes. Those mentioned are all surnamed Liu, and share similar traits with Liu Xiaobo, this year's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Brazil: President Lula defends WikiLeaks’ Assange
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) has this week criticised [pt] the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, condemning the Brazilian press for not having defended the Australian activist. Lula said [pt, en], “the boy was arrested and I'm not seeing any protest against [the curtailment of] freedom of expression.”
