Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2010 May 05

5 May 2010

Daily archive · 9 posts

Stories from 5 May 2010

Tunisia: A Black Day for Bloggers

Written by Lina Ben Mhenni · Middle East & North Africa

Several Tunisian blogs, even those which have been inactive for months, have been blocked by the authorities for "no reason." Lina Ben Mhenni brings us the story.

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Iran: Who steals bronze statues?

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Eleven bronze statues of Iranian national heroes have been stolen from public parks, leaving Iranian bloggers scratching their heads as to the motive behind the act. Hamid Tehrani sums up their reactions in this post.

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Mexico: Citizen Journalism in the Middle of Drug-Trafficking Violence

Written by Miguel Castillo · Latin America

Monterrey and the Mexican State of Nuevo León is currently caught up a wave of drugtrafficking-related violence that is affecting the daily lives of the residents, who are using citizen media to write about this situation.

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The Republic of Niger ain't sexy enough for headlines

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Is Niger making headlines following reports of food crisis in the country? One blogger, Global Nomad, does not think so. He writes, “Niger isn’t in the headlines. It’s barely ever been in the headlines.” Why? He says, "It just ain't sexy."

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Technology for Transparency in China

Written by Carrie Yang · East Asia

Some recent online projects promoting greater civic engagement and government accountability reflect the emerging power of the middle class and the democratic influence from outside of China. However, while the country undergoes a fundamental shift in how information is spread and controlled, the power of Chinese authorities in regulating communication and participation should never be under-estimated.

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Iran: 126,000 Fans Cheer Mousavi's Opposition Facebook Group

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Iranian opposition leader Mir-Hussein Mousavi's Facebook group has more than 126,000 fans. Hamid Tehrani speaks to the founder of the group and discusses the impact of citizen media on the Iranian political front.

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Philippines: Labor Day 2010

Written by Karlo Mikhail Mongaya · East Asia

Workers of the world celebrated International Labor Day on May 1. In the Philippines, thousands of workers marched on the streets to demand higher wages and better working conditions as the government held job fairs and moved the official labor day holiday to May 3.

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Pakistan: A Nuclear Power Facing a Grave Energy Crisis

Written by Ammar Yasir · South Asia

Pakistan is deemed as a nuclear power but the country is currently facing an immense power and energy shortage. Bloggers assess the situation.

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Technology for Transparency, Civic Engagement and Accountability in Latin America

Written by Renata Avila · Latin America

Latin America has a long history of corruption, organized crime, and impunity. However, the region also has a mature civil society and dozens of technology projects that are poised to disrupt the status quo if they are able to attract more offline participation.

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Updates from 5 May 2010

Russia

A bus with a portrait on Joseph Stalin in the city of St. Petersburg upset some and cheered the others. Russian Internet is filled with thousands of blogs discussing the issue.

• Vadim Isakov

Lebanon

“Discussing the impact of blogging on the freedom of speech in Lebanon and the effect of blogging on the Lebanese society and culture” is one of the topics on the agenda of The First Annual Lebanese Bloggers Convention that is planned to take place at the American University of Beirut on May 19, 2010. Its goal is to encourage students to express their ideas and opinions using personal blogs.

• Moussa Bashir

Lebanon

Beirut Chronicles travels to the village of Bteghrine, north of Beirut, to follow up on rumours of a German flag bearing a swastika hung in the main square. The blog shows us a picture of the building from which the flag is hung, and discusses the issue in this post[Fr].

• Katharine Ganly

Haiti

The Haitian Blogger draws attention to “the plan [by an energy company] to ‘buy' the island of La Gonave…yet a public disclosure of the status of any agreements is unknown outside of the principles involved.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados

Trinidadian diaspora blogger Jumbie's Watch questions former Justice-turned-political candidate Herbert Volney's decision in a case while B.C. Pires says: “It’s difficult to say which is harder to understand: Herbie’s stunned reaction that people should be protesting today when he attempts to speak at election platforms; or the UNC’s decision to have him as a candidate.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco