Global Voices » Claire Ulrich

Video: “Social Media Has Consumed Our Lives”

Claire Ulrich — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:26:09 +0000

France, Yemen: Vanishing Women

Claire Ulrich — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 08:09:55 +0000

“Disparition” by Yemeni photographer Bushra Almutawakel

Eloïse Lagrenée [fr] has posted on her Facebook page a picture by Yemeni photographer Bushra Almutawakel, illustrating how women could vanish into darkness and invisibility, step by step, under fundamentalist pressure and the full niqab. It has been shared over 1,500 times.

France: #RadioLondres, Election Day Fun and Dissidence on Twitter

Claire Ulrich — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:19:24 +0000

Occasions to laugh or smile have been few and far between during the current French presidential election campaign, which has been obsessed with recession, unemployment, xenophobia. But today, April 22, 2012, as French voters elect two runner-up among ten candidates, they are finally having electoral fun on Twitter under the hashtag #RadioLondres [all links in French].

The ten French presidential candidates, with their

The French electoral code enforces a Euro 75,000 (US $99,000) fine for violation of the confidentiality of the results and has dispatched 10 official “censors” to monitor the Web and enforce the ban until the official result time, 8 PM local time (GMT+1), despite the fact that neighbouring countries Switzerland and Belgium can communicate preliminary results whenever they please online.

The ban unleashed a mischievous hashtag on French language Twitter: #RadioLondres.

Netizens are having a field day tweeting insider news and fantasy results via secret codes and riddles, as the French Resistance daily radio used to do from London during World War II to coordinate sabotages and secret operations.

On 18 April, Guillaume on Twitter was among the first to set the rules of this game:

@Guillaumechampaud: On va se faire un code. “Le flan est au four” ça veut dire Hollande au 2nd tour. “La tomate est mûre”, ça veut dire Mélenchon.

@Guillaumechampaud: We will invent a code. “The flan (custard tart) is in the oven” means Hollande is in for the final election. “The tomato is ripe” means Mélenchon is.

Soon after, a mysterious tweet appeared, and was widely retweeted.

@xfrison: Les talonnettes sont dans les cartons. Je répète, les talonnettes sont dans les cartons #radiolondres

@xfrison: Heelpieces are in the moving crates. I repeat, heelpieces are in the moving crates. #radiolondres

Guessing when Sarkozy is concerned – as in this tweet – is easy for the French: they know their president's minute stature, his taste for Rolex watches, yachts, and his Hungarian origin.

The socialist contender, François Hollande (his surname means “Netherlands” in French) is often linked to cheese-based riddles, to a pedal boat (in reference to a snide comment made by another candidate, Mélenchon, on Hollande's campaign), or to a French brand of custard, Flanby.

Marine le Pen, the extreme right candidate, can be identified as “The Flame” (her party logo) or allusions to Brittany (her family region) and fish.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a far left candidate, has very “red” nicknames, such as “cherry” or “redbreasted robin”.

On Twitter, Gabriel is pushing his candidate:

Gabriel_Hussy">@Gabriel_Hussy: #radiolondres Le pédalo remonte le fleuve, je répète le pédalo remonte le fleuve…

@Gabriel_Hussy: The pedal boat is progressing upstream. I repeat. The pedal boat is progressing upstream.

Some call on wine buffs culture, linking candidates to their native region:

@Borislaffargue: #RadioLondres A l'heure de l'apéritif! Malibu Orange (29%/vol), Kir Royal (21%/vol), Beaujolais (18%/vol), Schnaps (16%/vol), Jurançon (8%)

@Borislaffargue: #RadioLondres At the cocktail hour! Malibu Orange [color of Hollande's campaign] (29%/vol), Kir Royal (21%/vol), Beaujolais (18%/vol), Schnaps (16%/vol), Jurançon (8%) [centrist candidate Bayrou]

Frederic tuned in on Twitter from the French Caribbean, where voters voted ahead of France:

@FredericHelbert: sous les cocotiers, ou ds la franz lointaine, la température atteint les 30 à 40° degrés sur baromètre des pays-bas..#RadioLondres

@FredericHelbert: under the coconut trees, in the far-away France, temperatures reach 30 to 40° degrees Celsius on the barometers of The Netherlands…#RadioLondres

Zineb dishes culinary tips:

@Zineb_borja: #RadioLondres Mes voisins qui aiment les frites viennent de me dire que le fromage est le meilleur suivi du goulasch.

@Zineb_Borja: My neighbours who like French fries tell me that cheese is at its best when served before gulasch

Cyril has wardrobe access:

@Cestsidoux Le nain chausse toujours du 26. Je repete, le nain chausse toujours du 26

@Cestsidoux: The midget's shoe size is still 26. I repeat, the midget's shoe-size is still 26.

A Flanby custard container:

Rafik is cautious about Hollande's chances in the second round, on 6 May:

@RafikSmati: Flanby expiration date is 5/5

Olivier is nearly worried by the craze:

@Luisetti: Twitter surchauffe le TweetWall Pro l'hashtag #radiolondres produit 62000 tweets/mn exposés à 18600000 followers-

@Luisetti: Twitter is overheating TweetWall Pro, hashtag #radiolondres produces 62,000 tweets/min shown to 1,860,0000 followers

And Jibinho spares a thought for the official “censors”, on duty until 8 PM:

@Jibinho Une pensée émue pour les 10 censeurs chargés de surveiller la toile jusqu'à 20h. #radiolondres

@Jibinho: A compassionate thought for the 10 censors in charge of monitoring the Net until 8PM #radiolondres

France: The Human Rights Film Festival Awards

Claire Ulrich — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:07:48 +0000

Youphil [fr] published the full list of the recent 2012 Human Rights Film Festival awards in France [fr]. This year, the jury award went to an investigation documentary, Affaire Chebeya: un meurtre d'Etat? [fr] (The Chebeya case: murdered by the State?) by Belgium director Thierry Michel on the murder of human rights activist Floribert Chebeya in 2010, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lebanon: Picture An Arab Man

Claire Ulrich — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 03:19:56 +0000

Rania Massoud repost on her personal blog [fr] her article published by Lebanese daily L'orient-Le jour about a photography project undertaken by Tamara Abdul Hadi. ”Picture an Arab man” wishes to update the image of today's Arab men by photographing men from every Arab country in the nude.

The Best of the Blogs Awards: Have You Submitted Your Blog?

Claire Ulrich — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:23:46 +0000

Have you submitted your blog, social media group, or online initiative to the 2012 Best of the Blogs Awards (The BoBs)?

The BoBs are an annual blog award organized by German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (@dw_thebobs). Bloggers, writers, artists, citizen video reporters, activists and innovators are encouraged to shun shyness and register their blogs in one of 17 categories in 11 languages.

You can also recommend a blog you love written by someone else. Take a moment to submit the link before March, 13, 2012. Online voting will open on April 2, and the winners will be announced on May 2.

This year, educator blogs are especially welcome since a new Education Award will be awarded. A Reporters Without Borders Freedom of Expression Award makes a comeback this year.

Facebook and Twitter may dominate the current online landscape, but blogs are far from outdated and now blend in with social networks.

The “Best of the Blogs” laureates of 2011 are proof of the transforming power of individuals and groups of netizens striving for change. Many have played a part in uprisings in the Arab world, Russia, Mexico, Iran, Bangladesh (full list of the 2011 BoBs winners here).

A few of the 2011 BoBs winners from Iran, Russia, Egypt, Tunisia, Mexico during the ceremony in Bonn, Germany – Image courtesy of Deutsche Welle

The video below highlights the vision behind this respected and global blog competition, now in its 8th year.

Global voices Online and the Best of Blogs Awards share a common mission: to shine light on rarely heard voices and to create bridges across languages and cultures. Many bloggers who were highlighted on Global Voices have later been distinguished by a BoBs award.

Individuals from Global Voices have also been honored to sit on the jury. This year, along with myself (Claire Ulrich) for the French category, Tarek Amr from Egypt will sit on the jury for blogs in Arabic. Also on the jury is Enda Nasution from Indonesia who was the first Indonesia author on Global Voices from 2005-2006.

Mali: The River Niger in Pictures

Claire Ulrich — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:27:09 +0000

Boukary Konaté, a member of the Global Voices community in Mali, recently toured rural schools on a traditional Malian boat as part of a digital literacy project. This boat trip was an opportunity to explore his own country and to illustrate the many aspects of the 2,600 miles-long Niger river.

The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa, exceeded only by the Nile and the Congo River. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea. It runs in a crescent through Mali, Niger and then through Nigeria, discharging through the Niger Delta into the Atlantic.

Here are a few snapshots of the Niger taken by Boukary Konaté and his team, reproduced with permission. More pictures can be found on the Segou Connection photo gallery hosted on Briconcella's Flickr account.

: A view of the Niger river from the embankment of Sekoro, Mali

: A traditional Malian boat on the river Niger, en route to the market

: Ouro Mody, a village on the Niger bank: traditional Fula architecture

: The mosque of Djafarabe, in Fula territory

: Women fetch water from the river to water rice paddies

: A fisherman's son tends to play with the tool of the trade

: Life aboard the UNESCO boat

: A crew member, in traditional head dress

: A Pirogue (dugout) sailing off as dusk descends on the Niger

France, Turkey: Retaliations Expected for Controversial Law on Armenian Genocide

Claire Ulrich — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:10:32 +0000

The Huffington post, in the launch issue of its Francophone version, publishes a column [fr] listing ”Five retaliations Turkey could take on France” as the French Senate is preparing to vote the final draft of this controversial “memory” law this monday, January 23, 2011. This bill will enforce a fine or even a prison sentence for anyone in France denying that the Armenian genocide actually happened.

France, Syria: Syrian Cartoonist Ali Ferzat Receives Reporters Without Borders Award

Claire Ulrich — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:11:34 +0000

Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat has been awarded the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom award for 2011. François Forcadell on Iconovox [fr] gives the link to a video interview [fr] of Le Monde's political cartoonist Plantu, paying hommage to his Syrian colleague.

France: A Magazine For Women Living with Breast Cancer

Claire Ulrich — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:23:37 +0000

Rose (Pink) is a new bi-yearly French magazine for women living with breast cancer or who had survived one. The publication is resolutely upbeat and “glossy”, it covers health issues as well as fashion and beauty, to fight the stigma and silence attached to breast cancer. An online version of the first issue is available here [fr].

Catalonia: From Arab Spring To Islamic Autumn

Claire Ulrich — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:20:35 +0000

Pepe Nieto from SODEPAU, a Catalan international aid organization, published a post entitled: “From the Arab Spring to the Islamic Autumn“ [cat]. Nieco forecasts that political Islam will be the great benefactor of the recent events unfolding in the Arab world, after the elections in Tunisia and the statements from the new Libyan leaders. He adds that media should not be surprised by the turn of event given that similar outcomes took place in Algeria, Palestine and Turkey, where repressions never succeeded in stifling Islamic movements.

Algeria: Algerian Journalists Reactions to the Tunisian Elections

Claire Ulrich — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:36:48 +0000

Algerian blog Algérie-Politique published a round-up of Algerian journalists’ comments [fr and ar] on the October 23 Tunisian constituent election. Many were very impressed and inspired by this “example of democracy”.

Mauritius: Tikoulou, Children’s Literature Success Story

Claire Ulrich — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 16:43:27 +0000

Christophe Cassiau-Haurie writes about the sucess story of Tikoulou, a collection of books for children published in Mauritius, which has captivated 4 to 9-year old Mauritian children since 1998. Tikoulou has now become a best seller of Francophone children’s literature.

Libya: A Convenient Execution

Claire Ulrich — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:20:24 +0000

Alain Gresh outlines in his post on Libya, “An Ambiguous Liberation” [fr], that Gaddafi's execution “puts an end to the possibility of a trial that would have shone light on the support given to Gaddafi by different countries, including France and Great Britain, since 2003.”

France: Tunisian Diaspora Open “The Blue Finger Club”

Claire Ulrich — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 08:21:17 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisian Revolution 2011.

From October 20 to 22, during the three-day vote for Tunisian living abroad, Tunisian voters in France have joined the “Blue Fingers Club.” Facebook and Twitter are flooded with pictures of inked-stained blue fingers, proof that they have – many for the first time in their lifetime- cast their ballots and are now part of the select club of early voters in the historical Tunisian constituent elections that culminates the Tunisian revolution.

One of the club new members, @Sonia_72 [fr], is ecstatic:

A voté, le cœur léger, un ciel bleu d'espoirs au bout du doigt, Youhouuu !

Has voted, with a light heart, and a blue sky full of hope at my finger tip, Youhouuu!

Image by @sonia 72 on Twitter

The ballot boxes are full: Image by @Emnalamine on Twitter

Cell phones were forbidden during the vote. While standing in the queue, Emna Lamine took this picture in her poll station, in the Northern suburb of Paris. It confirms a large turnout for the diaspora:

Les urnes pleines!

The ballot boxes are full!

As a result, “Blue Fingers” have sprouted as fast as mushrooms on social networks in France. The picture below from Emna Ben Jemaa ‘s Facebook photo gallery “I have voted. And you?” has been published in media around the world. It is worth a thousand words to express the deep emotion Tunisians felt to be able to vote democratically.

A Tunisian in tears after voting in France – image by Emna Ben Jemaa

A Tunisian with his daughter after the vote: A day of pride – image by Emna Ben Jemaa

A young man shows off his vote for Tunisia- image by Emna Ben Jemaa

A Tumblr blog has also been created for new voters to upload the picture of their blue fingers. Below are a few contributions.

Someone took her blue finger to the Eiffel Tower, to snap her Photo of the Year:

Voting in Paris

V spells victory, and voting:

V for victory

Someone sends a personal message to former president Zeine Al Abedine Ben Ali:

A special message to Ben Ali

The blue-finger set has gained a nickname in France: “Stroumpfs” (Smurfs). Skydancer is feeling like a kid again.

The Smurfs make a come back

And A Photoshoped promise is sent over the Mediterranean sea to Tunisia, where voting has started today (October 23).

A promise of hope

Meanwhile, two young citizen reporters, Lynda El Awadey and Eléonore Bounhiol have collected video testimonies from voters in Paris [fr and ar]:

On Saturday, Zied Mhirsi (@Zizoo) worded this wish:

I hope that everyone in his life, lives days like this one, months like these ones, a revolution like this one #tunisia # tnelec

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisian Revolution 2011.