Stories about Citizen Media from November, 2011
Peru: Conga Mining Project Suspended in Wake of Public Pressure
Protesting residents have managed to temporarily suspend operations of the Conga gold mining project, but protests continue all the same in support of the project's definitive cancellation. At the heart of the conflict is the defense of some 20 lagoons and their ecosystems, which would be seriously degraded by the execution of this mining project.
Latin America: A Conversation With Santiago Hoerth about Open Technology
Juan Arellano chats with Santiago Hoerth, founder and coordinator of Código Sur, about his organization, issues related to neutral Internet exchange points (IXP) and free networks, and the current state of free software in Latin America.
Iran: UK embassy under attack
A film in YouTube shows how a group of Iranian protesters attacked UK embassy in Tehran on Monday.
Iran: “Police brutality toward the protesters”
Hamid Darvishi, a pro-regime student who was among those who raided UK compounds in Tehran, describes [Fa] police brutality toward the protesters: “Our wild brothers in police were beating us in our heads. A soldiers asked us how much we were paid to raid the compound here?”
Indonesia: Social Media Situation
Indonesian netizen @donnybu posts on Slideshare a presentation about the social media situation in Indonesia, including the challenges faced by internet users as they campaign for greater internet freedom
Russia: Creators of Election Violation Map Come Under Attack
With a week to go until Russia's parliamentary elections, the Golos election monitoring association has been experiencing unprecedented pressure, including a break-in by a television team, accusatory articles in major newspapers, and a call for the organization's closure signed by three parliament deputies.
Bolivia Holds its First ‘PressCamp’
The first PressCamp Bolivia [es] will be held on December 3, 2011 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. With a similar dynamic to BarCamp conferences, participants at PressCamp Bolivia will discuss online journalism, creative commons, and citizen journalism, among other subjects. Hugo Miranda provides more information in his blog [es].
Cuba: Under “Survey-lance”
“As far as many Cubans here are concerned, it is not necessary to have survey results to verify the high levels of discontent and uncertainty we live under”: Without Evasion explains why she's sceptical of surveys.
Trinidad & Tobago: Impressed with Miss Miles
Dingolay reviews the new play about Gene Miles (a whistleblower for a political corruption scandal in the 1960s, who subsequently became a social outcast), admitting she was “a bit chilled by the fact that what happened to Gene Miles could happen again today, woman PM or no.”
Barbados: The Pride of Independence
Barbadian bloggers post their Independence Day greetings, here, here, here and here.
Bermuda: Public Debate about Crime Reduction Methods?
Respice Finem examines the sensitive issue of the Bermuda police's “stop and search” policy as part of their crime reduction arsenal, saying that the concern of “those advocating caution…is that in our quest to significantly reduce crime…we do not sacrifice the liberties so many fought for for so long.”
Jamaica: First Afro Chess Grandmaster
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp republishes an interview with Maurice Ashley, “the Jamaica-born Grandmaster of Chess”.
A Book on Citizen Journalism
The digital media outlet Periodismo Ciudadano [es] has published a book on the evolution of citizen journalism [es] titled “Periodismo ciudadano: evolución positiva de la comunicación,” which is freely accessible in PDF format. The book includes case studies from all over the world.
Ukraine: Government Gives In to Pressure, Bans Killing of Stray Dogs
On Oct. 22, Vasyl Pawlowsky wrote about the often “sadistic” ways of getting rid of stray dogs in Ukraine ahead of the Euro 2012 Football Championship. Tell Ukraine to Stop Burning Animals Alive petition now has 496,177 signatures; the goal is 750,000. At least two Facebook groups were set up...
Sri Lanka: Project Roku
Murshid introduces Project Roku, a next generation conversation system born in Sri Lanka.
ActionAid: halve world hunger by 2015
“Let's fight climate change & hunger. Together” is a new video released by ActionAid & produced by the LatteCreative team, to support the world food crisis campaign and keep the ‘pressure on governments to deliver on their promise to halve world hunger by 2015′.
Trinidad & Tobago: Online Safety
Mark Lyndersay writes an enlightening post about online child safety, here.
Cuba: Mariela's Red Light Comment
Ernesto Morales Licea takes issue with Mariela Castro's now infamous statement to Radio Netherlands during her visit to Amsterdam's Red Light District.
St. Lucia: Looking Good for St. Lucia Labour Party
Caribbean-American Forum says that incoming results point to the likelihood that opposition leader Dr. Kenny Anthony has led the St. Lucia Labour Party to a sweeping victory in the country's recent general election.
Barbados: Response to Crime Affecting Tourism?
Barbados Free Press questions the role of the local police “in what has become an all-too-familiar story of covering up crime against tourists.”
Latin America: A Conversation with Carolina Botero about Intellectual Property
Juan Arellano chats with Carolina Botero, one of the Latin American representatives of Creative Commons, about intellectual property in the region, how indigenous communities can make use of it, and piracy.
