I started blogging in 2003 and it is as a blogger that I joined Global Voices Online as managing editor in 2006. I was seduced by the individual social side of blogging, I'm now wedded to its potential to empower individuals around the world to tell their own stories and shape the future of what we call “news”. I worked for more than 15 years as a radio journalist for the BBC World Service, mostly specialising in news about Africa. I've also worked for various human rights and media freedom organisations. I have a really bad gadget addiction and I love to knit, if I ever get the time.
Latest posts by Rachel Rawlins
Meet Sami Ben Gharbia, Global Voices’ new Advocacy Director
Global Voices is delighted to announce the appointment of Sami Ben Gharbia as Advocacy Director, and the attentive reader will already have noticed his posts on anti-censorship and free-speech issues....
World, meet Africa! A new way of reporting the continent
It's frequently depressing reading accounts of Africa in the mainstream media. Doubly so, in fact. Firstly because what is defined as worthy of reporting is, well, depressing. And secondly because...
Global Voices Delhi summit – only a few days to go!
The last details are being put together for the Global Voices annual summit being held in Delhi on Saturday 16 December. But the physical location shouldn't make a difference –...
Thailand: First day of the coup
Rumors of a coup had been circulating in Bangkok for weeks, and foreigners like me had been ‘warned’ to be careful, don’t stay out late, move in groups, keep updated...
Thailand: Liveblogging the coup
At least two blogs have been set up solely to cover the unfolding military coup in Thailand – a group blog 19sep which is in English and revolution.blogrevo which is...
Knight-Batten Awards: And the winner is…..
It was appropriate that, for an award given for innovations in journalism, overseen by J-Lab (the Institute of Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland), the news came from my...
The world is talking – we're listening
Global Voices has grown dramatically over the past year thanks to our fantastic community of authors, supporters, editors and readers. We're working hard to make sure that the site is...
Five years on from 9/11, the world remembers
The mainstream media in many countries have been preoccupied with events in the United States to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon...
Children in crises and the role of reporters – tell the media what you think
Where is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child? This is the question asked in a poll by AlertNet, the early warning network for humanitarian organisations,...
Iraq: “Brilliant” new blog!
At Iraq Blog Count a group of contributors keep a tally of, yes, you've guessed it, blogs in Iraq. The latest addition, Baghdad Chronicle, gets a rave review: Woah, I...
Egypt: Rights lawyer remembered
As activists in Egypt continue to demand an independent judiciary Baheyya celebrates the life of the recently deceased campaigning lawyer Ahmed Nbil al Hilali. In his lifetime, he was christened...
Somalia: Change of power in Mogadishu
It seems Islamist forces have ousted US-backed warlords from the centre of the Somali capital Mogadishu according to Fontaine at Yebo Googo, but warns that although the fighting is over...
HIV – Death by Diplomacy
Leading African HIV activists and other campaigners from around the world are anxious that previous gains made at the international level five years ago. Olivia Phiri, Zambian blogger at Real...
Ethiopia: Raising the Wrong Flag
Wonkette of Weichegud! ET Politics posts a roundup of reaction to the ongoing treason trial in Ethiopia. More than 70 people are charged with crimes which carry the death penalty....
Be irrepressible! a campaign for global internet freedom
As more and more nations carve up the so-called global, borderless internet into separate spheres of control through filtering and censorship, often using technology supplied by large IT companies, Amnesty...
Advocacy: Help protect global bloggers
Bloggers, like others at the forefront of activities promoting freedom of speech and information, can run into trouble with the authorities. At Global Voices we have had first hand experience...
Bloggers Bomb for Blogger
Not the life-threatening variety of course. I'm talking about a campaign to bring attention to the situation of detained Egyptian blogger Alaa Ahmed Seif al-Islam, as well as the more...
We Media conference update
A quick post from London to let you know that one of the speakers here, Nitin Desai, the Special Assistant to the UN Secretary General, who chaired the UN’s Working...
Global Voices at the We Media Global Forum
Yes, we'll be there in full effect. And we hope as many bloggers and other internet inhabitants as possible will join us via the exciting live chat page which has...
Broadening Blogging in Africa by Radio
Some members of the audience may have been sceptical – “blogging is too complex… where is the power for the connection, the internet is still a luxury” was the comment...
Unbuilding bridges
There's no bridge, and a lot of troubled water in Malaysia. It's all about the cancellation of Malaysia's plan to build a bridge to Singapore. Jeff Ooi has been following...
