Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2010 August 30

30 August 2010

Daily archive · 10 posts

Stories from 30 August 2010

Armenia-Azerbaijan: More dialogue through film

Written by Onnik Krikorian · Central Asia & Caucasus

With national television in Armenia and Azerbaijan controlled by the authorities or government-linked individuals, there is little opportunity for independent reporting. Now more objective and human interest stories can be found on the Internet.

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Nicaragua: The Result of the 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media

Written by Rodrigo Penalba · Translated by Silvia Viñas · Latin America

The 2.0 Meeting of Blogs and New Media took place on August 12 and 13 in Managua, Nicaragua. Here we summarize the even't results through images, podcasts, videos and blogs.

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Caribbean: “Earl” Watch

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · US Virgin Islands, Caribbean

It's that time again: Hurricane season. Regional bloggers, having been affected by brutal storms in the past, are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Earl, which has now been classified as a Category 3 storm. Within the next 36 to 48 hours, it is expected to affect the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, among other islands.

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Western Europe: A journey through tech for transparency projects

Written by Sylwia Presley · Eastern & Central Europe, Western Europe

Sylwia Presley takes us on a tour of technology for transparency projects in Western Europe.

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Ghana: Former President Connects With People On Facebook

Written by Linda Annan · Sub-Saharan Africa

It has been almost a year and half since John Kufuor respectfully handed over power to Ghanaian President Atta Mills. Despite leaving office, Kufuor still sees the need to communicate with the public. Thanks to social networking, Kufuor communicates to Ghanaian citizens using his Facebook account, which has 15,066 followers (at the time of writing this post).

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Australia Still Waiting for a New Government

Written by Kevin Rennie · Oceania

A week after its election, Australia is waiting for a new government. Neither side won a majority of the 150 House of Representative seats. Bloggers have been busy speculating not only on possible outcomes but also the reasons for the hung parliament.

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South Korea: Government Plan To Increase Cigarette Price Meets Public Backlash

Written by Lee Yoo Eun · East Asia

South Korea’s health department announced on tripling the price of cigarettes to curb the nation’s high smoking rate, prompting a new round of cigarette price disputes online. Many Koreans agree that smoking rates should come down, but still doubt the effectiveness of the new move.

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Japan: Web Startups Present at WISH 2010

Written by Tomomi Sasaki · East Asia

The second edition of the web industry event WISH was held on August 28th, and hundreds gathered to hear a panel discussion by industry leaders and 14 presentations by startup services.

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Russia: Online Cooperation as an Alternative for Government?

Written by Gregory Asmolov · Eastern & Central Europe

Gregory Asmolov analyzes causes of the highly successful cooperation within the Russian online community during the recent wildfires crisis and examines whether online collaboration can provide a sustainable alternative for the government in the future.

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West Africa: Drug Traffickers and Politico-Military Dictators

Written by Abdoulaye Bah · Translated by Jannie Lung · Sub-Saharan Africa

The UN assistant representative in Africa against drug trafficking Cyriaque Sobtafo recently stated that west Africa is now the hub for cocaine trafficking. Many countries are affected and the sudden death of the son of Dadis Camara generated many speculations about the possible involvement of drug dealers in the event.

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Updates from 30 August 2010

Mexico

Hernando y la Silla writes [es] about why people are leaving Monterrey, a city that “has become the center of the conflict between the various criminal gangs.”

• Silvia Viñas

Ghana

Bunmi displays Devin Tepleski's portraits of the inhabitants of Bui, Ghana, who are threatened with relocation by a new hydroelectric dam.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Zambia

Malama Katulwende comments on the recent abuse of copyright by tZambian Watchdog and Lusaka Times websites and the issues it raises on the legal and ethical practice of the the websites.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Cuba

“After all the hubbub about Cuba agreeing to release 52 political prisoners in jail since the ‘black spring' crackdown of March-April 2003, there still remain in prisons across the island 21 members of the Group of 75″: Uncommon Sense posts their names.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

“Fight down, fight down, and more fight down. That seems to be the life of the local artiste”: Outlish Magazine shines the spotlight on “a recent decision taken by the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association…which allegedly paves the way for radio stations to not pay royalties to their collections agent of choice…”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Abeni wants you to vote Welectricity, “the brainchild of Vincentian energy consultant Herbert A (Haz) Samuel”, which delivers energy efficiency through social networking and is in contention for the GE Ecomagination Challenge.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana

“There’s a particular kind of joy attached to this month. Yes, it’s all about ibadah (worship) and the fasting and extra night prayers (Tarawih) can be a test, but there’s a sense of community that abounds during this month”: Lifespan of a Chennette says that “Muslims like making nice things to eat during Ramadan” and posts a mouth-watering chocolate cake recipe.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Mexico

Coinciding with several Bicentennial Independence celebrations in Latin America, from June to October 2010 German and Latin American bloggers [es] will be writing for Los Superdemokraticos about their “daily lifes [sic] in international political contexts.” Posts are published in German and Spanish; five texts are translated into English each month.