Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

A civic statement on Col·lectiu Emma (@CollectiuEmma)'s blog criticizes the way the Spanish government is dealing with the political situation in the region of Catalonia, where 55 % of the population favors independence [ca] from Spain, according to an official poll. The statement explains the “strategy of fear” and other “hostile” arguments, and claims for “a friendly separation, preferably under international supervision and with external support for both parties.” The post is available in English, Spanish, German, French, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese, Italian and Dutch.

Journelle tweeted about a hashtag that has gripped the German twittersphere:

What I like about #aufschrei [outcry] is that it’s bringing much-deserved attention to these disgusting incidents of casual sexism that might otherwise be played down.

Using the hashtag #aufschrei [de], female Twitter users have been reporting the sexual harassment and abuse they have experienced at work or at school, or when simply going about their day-to-day lives. Ina Marinescu has collected some of these Tweets on her blog [de].

A screenshot of the Face the Balkans website.

Fifteen young journalists from six different countries have produced a series of personal stories about representatives of the minorities (in a broad sense) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, and Macedonia. The stories are available in English, German, and French on the Face the Balkans website.

After a series of scandals surrounding the academic achievements of German politicians who cheated on their dissertations, the online satire magazine“Der Postillon” is now calling for a complimentary Ph.D. [de] for all politicans:

This way, the embarrassing and politically dishonorable rescinding of doctorates can be avoided. The Ministry of Education has already given the green light for the “Dr. pseud.”

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It ought to become something understood in the language that disabled people do things not in spite of or because of, but with their disabilities.

During the Paralympics in London there have been more and more reports on “against-it-all people” or “supercripples” in the media. leidmedien.de explains how to get the tone right.

The Bavarian broadcasting company, Bayerischer Rundfunk, in Germany recently launched a social TV experiment called “Rundshow” [de] (Roundshow). Viewers are actively incorporated into the show through virtual means such as Google Hangout, videos, an app called “Die Macht” (The Power), and Twitter. The concept of blurring the lines between TV and the Internet can already be seen with Al Jazeera's show The Stream. But Rundshow is the first format of its kind to be attempted in Germany.