Global Voices » Sylwia Presley

Poland: Reactions to Evacuation of Polish Tourists From Cairo

Sylwia Presley — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 23:02:39 +0000

Tourists in Cairo stuck in transfer for the night. Photo by Sylwia Presley

Current events in Cairo have forced a lot of Polish citizens to leave the city. However, due to the curfew, some of the flights from and to Poland have been cancelled. The Polish government, together with LOT Polish Airlines, dedicated a separate flight to provide Polish citizens stranded in Egypt with a safe travel option. The event caused various reactions on Polish forums.

Armin1 posts a question [PL]:

I wonder who is going to pay for the flight to Poland for those posh tourists?

JasnaOster questions [PL] the very idea of travelling to Cairo nowadays:

Why do those stupid people try to get to Egypt in times of revolution? It is a total irresponsibility. And later they will cry that no one wants to get them out of there.

Sawanna disagrees [PL] with the fact that the government should cover the costs of the emergency flight:

All Poles spending their time in Egypt travelled there of their own will. So they saw what they are getting into. I do not see any reason why the tax payers would have to pay for the irresponsible acts caused by the Polish “we will manage somehow” attitude.

Olek questions [PL] the entire idea of additional support for citizens:

I agree with sawanna completely, they wanted to go, let them manage on their own.

Some users discuss the fact that Polish tourists are still traveling to Cairo, despite warnings issued by the government and travel agencies. XZA, for instance, still plans [PL] to travel:

I am going to Egypt today and I do not give a damn what that bunch of idiots is doing:)

Gość responds, stating [PL]:

so make sure you take packed lunch, so you have what to eat once you are stuck at the airport waiting for a plane, shitting in your pants in fear.

Others wonder whether the Polish government should ban traveling to Egypt all together. WZ responds [PL]:

Because communism is over, they cannot ban anything.

Prezes points out [PL]:

Ministry of International Affairs could ban travel agencies from putting Poles at risk: here read ‘flying to Egypt'.

Tourists stuck at the Cairo Airport last weekend. Photo by Sylwia Presley

Gabec comments [PL] on the official statement of LOT Polish Airlines (posted on the company's forum), referring to the fact that there is designated assistance at the airport provided for Polish citizens:

[…] I hope something has improved, as from the update from my friend, who was brought back to Poland after quite a lot of asking on his behalf - no one really supported passengers, even more so - no one really heard of this airline's representatives at the airport.

Interesting - on the official Facebook profile of LOT Airlines, the marketing team states that the passengers do not deserve any help.

Egon.olsen, a moderator, responds [PL]:

As far as I understand, just after your post, steps were taken to improve the situation on Facebook, but one must remember that the phones work poorly or not at all on the ground and there is no Internet…

However, Gabec once again points out the reality of the situation [PL]:

[…] Does LOT try to reach the passengers in Cairo on the phone (it seems like the only option)? Just to warn you: on Saturday and Sunday Polish and Egyptian mobiles worked in Cairo. The landlines are all fine. At the time when the Internet is off, info on the Facebook profile or Lot.com is useless to those people.

Another moderator, Airliner, states on Jan. 31 [PL]:

Currently there is no reason to evacuate our citizens. Furthermore, charter flights to Cairo continue flying as if nothing happened ;) If one has paid 1,299 for a day, revolution or not, the holidays have to be used.

To which Sprajt2 responds [PL]:

I think that the tourists do not spend their time happily any more and, despite it all, it would be really good to evacuate them all, it's better to prevent the unknown than wait for the events to unfold, you never know what will happen.

After spending three days last week at the Cairo Airport myself, I have prepared a few practical tips for those who happen to be stuck there for a longer period of time:

1. Cairo Airport on Sunday http://ow.ly/i/7Klw #jan25 #Cairo #Egypt

2. Now, few tips for those stuck at the airport or heading that way: first one- don't! For at least few more days avoid it #jan25 #Cairo

3. Overall: less staff but all (incl. Local passengers) are very supportive! Ask for help, stay calm and humble- they are tired, tense #jan25

4. Stay with others, you have hrs to wait, will be nervous and tired,so is everyone. going to the toilet is easy if others watch your bag#jan25

5. Internet is down so you do not need printouts of tickets for checking, just ticket no. Customs allow water in due to long waiting #jan25

6. Do not tweet political statements, flight details etc, my tweet on wifi resulted in shutdown, they are reading it.Protect yourself! #jan25

7. Novotel keeps your room if you explain you might miss yet another flight, ask them if it's possible to come back and use it #jan25

8. Airport hotels (stayed at novotel for 200euro) have warm food and are safe, transfer every 30min and free shuttle bus #jan25 #Cairo

9. If you have rescheduled flight do not stay at the airport (no hot food, one open coffeshop, one working cashmashine), go to a hotel #jan25

10. If staying at the airport, have cash, banks are shutting down, only working cash machine is in Arabic, ask locals for help #jan25

11. To change your flight you can get visa (15usd) and exit transit to go to EgyptAir office. Staff is exhausted but kind and helpful. #jan25

12. You will get food few times a day in transit but shops sell only pepsi and sweets- Egyiptians are in the streets or at home #jan25 #Cairo

13. Do not trust airport tourist agent- sends you to his contact, unsure. Will tell you novotel is fully booked, but check yourself! #jan25

14. If you are stuck in transfer you will need to leave your passport and ticket with Egyptair, otherwise no new ticket. #jan25 #Cairo

15. Ask for staff canteen, outside of the building, 30min, sells sandwiches, but do not pay in dollars is poss, was told it's a rip off #jan25

16. At the airport ensure you have plenty of water or pepsi, as shop runs out of it time to time (always had soft drinks though) #jan25

17. Be prepared for mess. Cleaners have other priorities nowadays so it's understandable. #jan25 #Cairo

Poland: More Reactions to IAC Report - on Microblogs and via Cartoons

Sylwia Presley — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:27:53 +0000

The Interstate Aviation Committee's report on the crash of TU-154M near Smolensk on April 10, 2010, has provoked many insightful posts from bloggers, but we have also found that microblogging platforms - Twitter and Blip.pl - have become good spaces for Poles to express their opinions, and that quite a few visuals criticising the report have appeared online.

On Twitter, users generally criticise the report and the Polish government's reactions.

@janpoplawski states [PL]:

Why is the government preparing an answer to the Russian government if the report was written by IAC - an international organisation

@tuskwatch refers [PL] to the fact that the Prime Minister was absent on the day of the report's publication:

It seems that Prime Minister Tusk considered his reaction to the report a success and went back to skiing. Shall we wish him happy holidays?

@gregorius74 speaks as if stating the obvious [PL]:

A discovery! This government does not seem to think. Klich: IAC report was supposed to discredit us http://bit.ly/gRTd3g

@radiomaryja, the Twitter account of a Catholic radio station, has this [PL]:

IAC report disappointed us http://bit.ly/eiS7lx

@brulion invites Twitter users to join a new Facebook page [PL]:

http://www.facebook.com/raportMAK group “I think the IAC report is outrageous”

Polish microblogging engine, Blip.pl, contains reactions of similar sentiment.

@jezykwkosmosie writes [PL]:

IAC was as delicate to Tupolew's crew in its report as possible. When we have the Polish report heads will roll, that's all.

@aimrumru also disagrees with the claim that the report is objective [PL]:

mistake after mistake of the Polish crew, plus mistake after mistake of the Russian controllers. so the IAC report is partial.

@wikploc is interested in the reactions of the public [PL]:

Here we go. The experts of airplane crashes from Nowogrodzka street prove how IAC twisted the report. I wonder if the “dark folk” will buy it.

@bukowskip states with cynicism [PL]:

IAC report did not surprise me at all. Even if they'd shot down the plane, it would turn out that the pilot collided with a rocket.

@jakubkowalski adds [PL]:

I hope that the Polish authorities will maintain the current approach, that the IAC report in unacceptable. […]

@bukol87 mentions this [PL]:

IAC report cannot be a common agreement. It has no responsibility to accept corrections. Game Over

Andrzej Krauze posts the following cartoon [PL]:

"Please inform comrade Stalin in kettle 17 that the IAC report was published in accordance with his instructions"

Krzętowski drew this one for Newsweek.pl [PL]:

"First of all, get it translated from Soviet into Polish"

The newly established Facebook page - “I think the IAC report is outrageous” - contains a few of these visuals, too.

Achmaja posts [PL] a pretty strong criticism of the Russian side:

"from russia with love, iac report"

TVN48 posts an old visual in a new context [PL]:

"Putin: Lick my shoes. /Tusk: "Let's talk compromise"

Tusk knew from the very beginning how one should relate to Russia. Not fighting with a sword, but with “the language of compromise.” That's what I call good foreign policy. And the results we've seen recently, for instance.
[graphics by Lach from 2 years ago]

Poland: Initial Reactions to Russian Report on Polish Air Force One Plane Crash

Sylwia Presley — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:48:59 +0000

The Interstate Aviation Committee's report on the crash of TU-154M airplane near Smolensk on April 10, 2010, has generated an outburst of strong opinions about the validity and objectivity of the document, as well as the effect it might have on the Polish politics in 2011 (here is the IAC's report in Polish, in Russian, and in English). Most discussions in various social media are highly negative of the document's content, but gradually bloggers are beginning to elaborate on the topic.

The author of Kozi Dryngiel blog [PL] provides a really insightful analysis of the April 10 flight and landing conditions, pointing out some still unclear elements:

A detailed analysis of the “new” material published by IAC would take time. However, already now, after the first glimpse at the video reconstruction of the Polish plane's flight over the Russian territory, which is attached to the report, serious questions and concerns arise.

The new IAC report maintains the version that blames the Poles. It mentions the wrong decision to land in conditions that were not safe enough to approach the airport. It mentions crew activities that imply lack of experience and skills to maneuver the Tu-154M. It states that the crew reduced the altitude too quickly while approaching the airport, which made the maneuvering difficult. It also mentions pressure on the pilots exercised by their superiors, which was supposed to cause psychological tension and increase the stress level in this already difficult situation. […]

As we pointed out earlier (here i here) - the information provided by the controller to the crew was not detailed enough - […] the plane was further from the landing spot and higher than it was assumed from the tower's reports. […]

IAC also states that the accident was caused by the pressure exercised on the crew by the passengers, which cannot be directly proven. It has to be mentioned here that the fact that the controller provided mistaken information about the distance and height of the plane could have been a more crucial factor of the crash than the assumption about the superiors' pressure. […]

Azrael Kubacki presents his views [PL] on the political context of this report:

The report on the Moscovian IAC, said to be international, de facto Russian, strongly embedded in the Kremlin's commission, did not surprise anyone who followed all the publicly available information and materials. Followed and analysed rationally, without reference to conspiracy theories, assassination, thermal bombs, interference of the plane equipment, or even using another plane and kidnapping the passengers. It does come as a surprise to those who assumed that the Russians would remain neutral and admit their own mistakes. Let's state this here and now - mistakes that were not the major factor of the crash of Tu-154M, but mistakes that allowed the Polish crew to fly straight down onto the swampy forest.

After listing all the mistakes that the Poles made, Kubacki continues [PL]:

All this does not allow the Polish side to stop questioning whether the Russians, their airport staff and the airport itself were ready to welcome the Polish plane. It looks like the Russian ban on the landing, closing down the airport before the arrival of the Polish plane, could have prevented the catastrophe. They did not do so, as their three controllers were also exposed to similar pressure as the Polish pilots. Just that they could pass the blame on to the Polish crew of Tu-154M – who could not do much about it but try to land. It is obvious that they are to blame for the crash - but can the Poles pass the blame on them? Not really?

Later on, Kubacki continues with the political context of this report [PL]:

The Smolensk case will dominate the political discourse and will remain the main topic of political games before the autumn elections - for Law and Justice party [PiS] and Jarosław Kaczyński for sure. Discussions and accusations will sharpen and polarise the Polish political life even more to the state in which only [PO] and PiS will matter. It's really bad for the Polish politics […], but it will last until the Polish commission's report of minister Jerzy Miller and until the investigation of the Polish prosecution do not end. This will not happen before the autumn elections.

As one of the commentators pointed out, the IAC report has opened a new chapter in the Polish-Polish war, this time under the Russian flag…

Rusofil publishes two blog posts. In his first one on the topic, he mentions this [PL]:

IAC has published the report on the crash of the Polish President's plane near Smolensk. For me its content comes as no surprise. It describes everything that took place during the flight and the reasons of the crash. Of course, it provoked a wave of disagreement in Poland, but I do not understand why. Only one fact is pointing to the Polish pilots causing the catastrophe. It is the lack of reaction to the command PULL UP. […]

The report raises a lot of questions and doubts, it also gives scope to many theories. This is its major fault, which also proves lack of communication between the Polish and the Russian sides. Discussions, disagreements and arguments will last for a while yet.

In his second post Rusofil continues [PL]:

Why does the IAC report not contain the remarks of the Polish side? It is an interesting question, which does not have a clear explanation. The statement that the Russians do not want to take the blame has its grounds, but I would like to point out that IAC is an independent international organisation, regardless of whether we like it or not. Of course, I do not exclude the possibility of pressure on the committee, but I doubt it was the Kremlin. I would rather see the army's input there. […]

The question arises, why then did the Kremlin not put pressure on IAC in order to prevent international scandal? In my opinion they tried to, but failed. The endless power of the Kremlin and Prime Minister Putin is a myth propagated by Moscow and willingly copied by the Western media. In reality, the new fight for power begins, and the Smolensk plane crash case has became a part of it. It is worth mentioning, though, that from Moscow's point of view it is a secondary factor. In Poland, however, the noise around the report will give birth to political arguments (hopefully, not social ones), and gradually weaken the country. And this, sadly, is also somewhat beneficial for Moscow. […]

Some, like K. from Maccaroni blog [PL], see the report as shameful for Poland:

How should I put it… Regardless of the attempts to save the good name of the airport crew, the report is hitting us hard. […]

Another blogger, ndb2010, has more radical views [PL] :

To summarise initially: the report contains verbal accusations about pressure, but the factual bits related to the found parts, which we currently have access to, is so absurd that I cannot believe that Russians could publish this thing.

It's a pity that the Western press reports only on the Russian version.

The report is disgusting. Nothing new, basically the rule of the [Chicago Convention] has been broken, as it states that one cannot blame any parties, nor write a report which in any way affects individuals personally.

It contains a lot of untrue information. They feel they cannot be punished. They want to scare us.

The blog of the Catholic Radio Maryja posts speculations [PL]:

The report of IAC on causes of the Smolensk crash would make Radio Maryja happy under one condition. It would be enough if the Russians admitted conducting an assassination of the Polish plane, together with the government of Tusk. This did not happen, however, so the reaction of Father Rydzyk was predictable.

Kazimierz Maciejewski is very upset [PL]:

Well, yesterday I thought I could use this report as toilet paper, today I know I won't, as I would not spare my lower back for this rag.

Komandos1948 has different views, though, posted on his blog [PL]:

Blaming the Russians is embarrassing, to say the least. The pilot is to decide when and how to land (this time under pressure). We should rather stop with the IAC report, otherwise we will learn that we need to move the Kaczynski couple from Wawel to a less public place to rest, as they will be blamed for the death of many people. Because no president would ever allow so many high officials (the elite of Poland, one might say) to sit on one plane, travelling to such an important event. I openly put the responsibility for the crash on the shoulders of President Lech Kaczyński and his cabinet.

Andrzej Matys looks into the future of the Polish politics [PL]:

We can expect stormy discussion with tearing the clothes and judging each other's dignity and faith, since the IAC report on the Smolensk crash is a great prologue to the autumn elections. […] It is difficult to predict what the Prime Minister and the government will do now. Maybe it would have been wiser to announce a joint committee just after the crash? Maybe the government should keep us more up to date on the issue and its doubts related to the report? Maybe we should have expected more information and explanations from the Russians. Finally, maybe the Prime Minister should have returned earlier from his skiing holiday? His absence on Wednesday looked bad on him, as anyone could comment on the report but the head of the government. And, sooner or later, someone will use it to blame him. More so that the long-awaited by everyone (and one day late) analysis contained in the report did not work well for him. To put it nicely.

Marucha summarises it all [PL]:

We are free to believe what we want, but we will never know the truth. […] That is our only certainty.

Poland: Microblog Reactions to the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity

Sylwia Presley — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:11:05 +0000

More than 800 concerts, 1,300 artists performing for free today, 120,000 volunteers, an endless amount of charity activities across the whole of Poland and so far almost 37 million zloty (PLN; approximately 12.3 million USD) are the results of the grand finale of the 19th Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. As we slowly approach the end of the day, we are also looking at on-line reactions to the event.

Most posts are purely informative. Users of Twitter, and the Polish microblogging engine Blip.pl update their audiences under the hashtag #WOSP (an abbreviation of the event's name in Polish: Wielka Orkiestra Swiątecznej Pomocy).

@yinasshi has done great job in documenting the event on Twitter today:

Go check out http://www.en.wosp.org.pl/. We're playing for children with urological and nephrological diseases! #wosp

@elelontko posted information about the amount of money raised during the day:

Almost 8 mln PLN!! Gooo Owsiak !#WOSP

Others, like @AshleyRobertsTM, suggested ways of donation through on-line channels:

Please guys support WOŚP (GreatOrchestraofChristmasCharity) on facebook. every click is 0,50zł for ill children http://www.facebook.com/wosp

Some posted in languages other than Polish or English. @Drakisnaba mentioned [ES] the event in Spanish:

Este año, 30 millones de corazones, 120 000 voluntarios, 1300 artistas, 800 conciertos en toda Polonia! ~>http://www.wosp.org.pl/

This year, 30 million hearts, 120 000 volunteers, 1300 artists, 800 concerts across entire Poland! ~>http://www.wosp.org.pl/

Apart from the official on-line transmission, many posted updates on various aspects of the charity day. mmwarszawa posted [PL] on Blip a photo from one of the activities:

For #wosp they tried to hit the record of people squeezed into one Ikarus bus…they managed 307. Not bad, don't you think? ;-)

Students in Lódź designed a heart made of small coins to be donated to charity, as mmlodz updates [PL] on Blip.pl:

In #Łodz they built a heart for #WOŚP 2011.

mmpoznan documents [PL] people giving blood at the event:

Blood - gift more precious than money - it's the 19th final of #WOŚP in #Poznan

Most reactions are full of support, enthusiasm and great dedication to the event. The conversations contain a lot of feedback on personal involvement of the Poles today. Volunteers, like @haftus, express [PL] their happiness at being a part of this great day:

after fundraising for WOSP, I collected 100zł - next year we will do better :] but it was superb. the atmosphere amongst the volunteers was extremely positive.

Some, like @mrskuza, post about items they purchased to support charity (here [PL], referring to the little hearts - traditional items sold by WOSP every year):

I already have two WOSP little hearts

Others thank the buyers for purchasing their donations. @marekskorupa is [PL] one of them:

Thank you for betting for VOIVODE'S ARMCHAIR on the auction :) 550pln goes to WOŚP:) #wosp #owsiak #dolnyslask

There were also a few comments on the importance of this charity event for the entire country. Some, like @DilvishPL, see [PL] it as a great educational tool for the Polish youth:

WOSP has one more important meaning, which other actions lack: it teaches, very effectively, the youth to be charitable and to understand the need for solidarity.

Some point out that the charity event proves faults in the Polish economy. @bornin1984 wrote [PL]:

It's good to have #WOSP, but the fact of it (and other charitable actions) proves the weakness of the economy and the country.

@wlochatypl also implies [PL] the lack of proper funds from the Polish Health Fund (NFZ):

Send an sms saying “serce” [Polish for “heart”] to 75565 (6,15zl brutto) for WOSP. Help collecting money for everything NFZ should provide!

@arturpl points out [PL] the same, using an international comparison:

There is no WOSP in Belarus, but they have the equipment. Strange, isn't it?

Generally, the reactions in microblogging services are positive today. The event was culminated by a series of fireworks all across the country at 8 PM GMT, also documented in social media. @yinasshi posted:

The night sky will be bright tonight in Poland at 8 PM from fireworks and our love! http://www.en.wosp.org.pl/ #wospPlaying for the kids!

jbkp4group documented the show hosted in Warsaw on YouTube:

The total amount of money raised will be posted on the main site, Facebook and Blip of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

Western Europe: A journey through tech for transparency projects

Sylwia Presley — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:35:25 +0000

The Technology for Transparency Network focuses largely on countries outside of North America and Western Europe. However, many of the trends in the use of technology to promote transparency and accountability, particularly with respect to open government movements, are piloted in western countries before being adapted in developing countries. We are not formally documenting these cases as part of our research, but we hope that by sharing several examples we can highlight the “state of the art” work in the technology for transparency space. Let’s start with a tour of Western Europe:

UK: A successful example of open government

They Work For You

Our first stop is the United Kingdom, where They Work for You is enabling citizens to access data about their representatives to the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Welsh Assembly. They Work for You was originally developed by a group of volunteers. With the support of UK Citizens Online Democracy and MySociety it has expanded to allow others to use its data via an open API. Based on a simple post code search, I was able to find my local MP and read his bio, recent speeches and appearances, and also — more importantly — his expenses, sponsorships, and additional income.

Another site supported by MySociety, FixMyStreet, is a model of active civic engagement at the local level. The site allows anyone to report local problems — graffiti, potholes, broken street lights — to be addressed by local councils. By providing statistical information on how many reported issues have been resolved, the site administrators make it possible to judge the effectiveness of local authorities. If we add WriteToThem and HearFromThem to the mix (sites providing direct communication with representatives), we create an impressive picture of technological solutions for transparency in this country.

France: Citizens as watchers

Étude sur le redécoupage électoral

Traveling south to France, we come across Regards Citoyens. This site, which is accessible on Facebook, Twitter and Identi.ca, is an umbrella of several transparency solutions. NosDéputés.fr is an online monitoring system of parliamentary activities. It presents 642 parliament members, profiling their activities from last 12 months (here is an example). I personally like the usage of tag cloud featuring words currently used by the National Assembly and graphs of current parliamentary activities on their main site. A separate part of the site is dedicated to site users and their activities related to monitoring the representatives. Another project, originally called Simplifions la loi 2.0, is currently a subpage of Nosdeputes.fr. It documents current parliamentary work. Étude sur le redécoupage électoral is a site providing great insights into the proposed changes of the constituency limits, looking also at the impact of those on future elections.

Italy: Civil society’s struggle against corruption

In Italy, Openpolis is the site to check out. With a community of more than 13,000 members and various content management options (tagging, graphing, etc.), it allows users to find their local representatives, ‘adopt’ them, follow their activities and contribute to an online database by uploading updates on the chosen representative. Openpolis’ sub-site Open Parlamento is a great real-time monitor of parliament activities, including this impressive visualisation on voting sessions and this profile of Silvio Berlusconi.

Openpolis

Openpolis is a product of Depp and Memefarmers. Depp is an association dedicated to e-democracy and open civic participation with an impressive range of experiences in the field of transparency. Depp developed a technology called politicaldesk, which enables the real-time tracking of parliament activities. They were also the authors of Voi Siete Qui, a platform that publishes the results of a questionnaire conducted with representatives of most of the participating parties in Italy’s 2008 elections. The questionnaire consisted of questions related to 25 major issues chosen by Depp’s community of users. It was sent to all parties, most of which responded (the parties that did not cooperate are clearly identified). The results are available as visualization of distances between various parties on different topics prepared based on a multidimentional scaling algorithm. The site also allows new users to find out their own score on the chosen issues by filling out the questionnaire online.

Another Depp project, Eworkshop Senato Ragazzi, targets students at secondary schools, who are given a chance to actively learn about work of parliament by suggesting, rating and commenting on bills proposed by others. This e-learning community consists of students, teachers, and parliament representatives and is incorporated into larger platform, Senato Ragazzi. Economia Partecipata is a showcase of how local authorities (in this case in the Lazio region) can provide their citizens with channels for increasing both transparency and active dialogue and civic engagement.

Switzerland: Exploring e-democracy

Smartvote

Navigating over to Switzerland, I was advised to check out the activities of Politools – Political Research Network, which brings together specialists from social sciences, political sciences, geography, history, information technology and art history to work on various project dedicated to transparency. The first of these is Smartvote, established in 2002 and still running today. The website allows citizens to find the candidates whose views most closely align with theirs based on a publicly available analysis of responses candidates have provided on 30-70 questions. The site was used for the first time during the 2003 elections. Another platform, ParlaRating (active since 1997), is using a multidimentional scaling method to rate political positions of various representatives on a scale from -10 to 10.

Convergence and differences

While studying the projects above I was trying to compare various aspects of their approach to what I have seen so far in Central and Eastern Europe. Recently I was conducting interview with a representative of Polish website Mam Prawo Wiedziec (“I have the right to know”). Their work is very similar to projects I have found in Western Europe from many points of view. They also use questionnaires to gain information about candidates in local, regional and national elections. They post profiles of politicians on their website and educate citizens on their rights. They focus on raising awareness around elections, aiming to convince citizens to vote for people who actually represent their views. They also mention a lack of proper political education (for which the Italian e-learning solution is a perfect answer). Other projects we have looked at in our first phase of research were also very close to those goals. I am more confident today in stating that most of the transparency projects throughout Europe might have a lot in common.

Now, if the goals and ways of work are more or less similar, I wonder where they differ? It would be interesting to see how projects in Western Europe are funded, for example. I have seen MySociety mentioned as a sponsor in the UK, and I know their work in Central and Eastern Europe is tremendous. I have seen Transparency International mentioned in connection with the French platform, and I know this organization is heavily involved in work in Hungary and in Poland. It is good to see those international organizations having impact in various regions of Europe and helping to keep many of those valuable projects sustainable.

Grassroots transparency movements as a regional (and global) trend

As the final question to the readers and hopefully something to initiate further discussion I would like to mention the civic engagement itself. During a recent conversation with Polish transparency organization Watchdog, I heard something interesting - it seems that elections are what generate increased activity of various groups in Poland that are interested in transparency issues. It is also noticeable that the number of those short-term, spontaneous groups and projects is increasing. Organizations like Watchdog and Stowarzyszenie 61 (the organization managing Mam Prawo Wiedziec) find it fascinating and comforting that more and more civic actions are born during the times of elections, as this proves that the society’s involvement in public matters grows from one year to another. Despite my assumption that this might not be the case in Western Europe in seemingly more developed democracies, I see now clearly that grassroots transparency movements are present and growing all across Europe.

Poland: Initial Microblog Coverage of the Presidential Elections

Sylwia Presley — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:49:47 +0000

The first round of the presidential elections in Poland finished at 8 PM tonight. You can see profiles of all the candidates, as well as the initial results of a poll, on this Gazeta.pl website [PL]. According to this poll, Bronisław Komorowski received an estimated 45.7% of the votes, which puts him only a few percent away from winning the elections in this first round. Jarosław Kaczyński, the brother of the late president Lech Kaczyński, is said to have received 33.2% of the votes. Grzegorz Napieralski, with his 13.2% of the votes, comes in the third place.

Next to the preliminary results released by the mainstream media, we are looking at reactions emerging on microblogging services. Both on Twitter and on its Polish mirror service, Blip.pl, people are expressing their initial thoughts about the announced results under #wybory [elections] hashtag.

Many of those who did not vote are re-tweeting @ChrisApril, who posted [PL] his view in the form of a photo featuring all the candidates' names crossed out:

My photo of the day: http://htxt.it/MkSh #elections

‘I do not give a shit about you. None of you is worth my vote'

A few users question the quality of exit poll predictions. @lecrerro points out [PL]:

Not the methodology but the very fact that something like polls exist is unacceptable. I suggest deciding whether it's a poll or the elections.

@michio is also questioning [PL] the accuracy of the announced results:

WHERE IS THE REPORT OF INDEPENDENT OBSERVERS #ELECTIONS

Another Twitter user, @jacekgalka, points out [PL] the fact that the actual results are not available yet:

oh fun. 3 hrs after the elections and we still cannot be certain who won and if there will be the second round. Whether he won with 5 or 13 is a huge difference.

Others start commenting on the announced results. Some, like @szwalowski, refer [PL] to the less popular candidates:

It's sad that my candidate lost even to Korwin-Mikke! #elections

Others criticize choices of those citizens who support the leading candidates. @sweetdreams is harsh on the region which supported Kaczyński [PL]:

Lublin area..SHAME ON YOU. Another #elections, and you are still supporting the Kaczyński brothers. F@@@@@ backyard of PiS party:/

Other voices speculate about the actual results. @maleństwo points out [PL]:

#elections really interested whether Komorowski would win… He is the lesser evil out of the two in my opinion.

@darekespl agrees with her, linking to the previous blip [PL]:

http://blip.pl/s/98043436 I must say I will also go for lesser evil during the second round #elections

As discussions continue, it's worth following the hashtags for the three leading candidates, too: #komorowski, #kaczynski and #napieralski. The official results will be published as soon as the counting of the votes is finalized. The second round of the elections is planned for July 4.

Transparency Projects in Central and Eastern Europe

Sylwia Presley — Sat, 01 May 2010 13:30:40 +0000

Central and Eastern Europe is rich in examples of citizen participation projects related to governmental transparency, most of which work in partnership with major institutions that provide financial and methodological support like Open Society Institute, MySociety and Transparency International. Many also work with local organizations and media. I have talked to people involved in such projects in Poland and in Hungary, but they also mentioned innovative work coming from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, like KohoVolit.eu. Before we look more closely at example projects from the area let me share my overall insights with you after having studied a few major transparency projects in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The actual type of transparency projects in each country depends on the profiles of people involved in the initial action, their relationship with the government, as well as on the nature of citizen participation in the country. All of those projects acknowledge the need to disclose information related to governance in an smoothly presented, easily digestible way. Whether it is with the support of many volunteers, or with a smaller core group of dedicated activists, they all invest a lot of time in their projects and yet still struggle in procuring precise government information, which should be made publicly available. Most of them flag issues regarding governmental accountability. In many cases, their cooperation with mainstream media seems to play an important role in their ability to put pressure of MP’s and other public officials. Some transparency projects also aim to address the frequently passive attitude of citizens in the region regarding corruption, which as mentioned in a chat with Kepmutatas in Hungary, originates from lack of understanding of existing official procedures for citizens to flag government misconduct. It quickly becomes apparent that in Central and Eastern Europe raising awareness among citizens about transparency and the methods to fight corruption is just as important as putting pressure on government representatives to become more transparent about their actions and expenses.

From Check Republic and Slovakia we have seen a conversation with KohoVolit.eu, a project of two dedicated people who spend their time raising awareness about representatives from parliaments in both countries, as well as representatives from the European Parliament. As mentioned in the interview, main challenges are related to a lack of citizen participation in politics, and the lack of structured, official information from the parliament websites.

Slovakia hosts another interesting transparency project, the Fair Play Alliance, where politicians are asked to actively participate in the project and if they fail to do so, are faced with related media coverage at the most sensitive them time leading up to elections. Again, it reveals the strategy of combining research and open data with mainstream media partnerships to put pressure on politicians to be more transparent and more accountable during their time in office.

In Hungary, the project Kepmutatas.hu is responding to the challenge of poorly presented public information by building a visually friendly tool to estimate unreported campaign expenses by major political parties on a simple graph with links to additional details. Despite media support and a clear call to action, there is still a lack of political will to reform campaign finance laws. Political parties are not required to disclose their campaign spending so volunteers and project coordinators work to calculate estimated sums. The project is promoted via traditional media, but also social media channels like Facebook.

In Poland there are a few projects worth mentioning. Sejmometr.pl is a portal that feeds official information about currently introduced laws and the legislators involved in their creation. It also offers legal advice, encourages bloggers to co-operate on stories, and request more data from the parliament website administrators. Stowarzyszenie Art. 61 (the name refers to article 61 of Polish Constitution, which declares access to public, governance-related information public) is the organization behind a few transparency projects in the country. Their Kandydaci2009 initiative is the second edition (following a similar version in 2005) of a portal to help citizens to choose representatives to European Parliament by presenting profiles and platforms of the candidates, as well as reports on no-cooperative representatives. Its twin project, Mam Prawo Wiedzieć ('I have the right to know‘) is a similar compass of candidates to Polish parliament with a dedicated to “Citizen’s Guide” that offers concise explanations of laws related citizen's rights regarding transparency and accountability. Watchdog.pl is an NGO working closely with other organizations to educate, advocate and support developments in the area of transparency and accountability. Their website is a good knowledge pool of campaigns, issues and solutions. All three Polish organizations use a strong network of like minded people to promote their work offline, as well as through social media channels.

Participants of the Watchdog: Working Out Credibility workshop that took place in late March in Warsaw.

When reading case studies from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as during conversations with Polish and Hungarian activists I could not help but realize another challenge: co-operation at the regional level. We see Fair Play Alliance sharing their tools abroad, we hear about Kepmutatas.hu staying in touch with Czech campaigners but the information flow between those teams seems to be limited. I personally see great potential in transparency and social media events in the region. Social Innovation Camp in Bratislava provided many NGO’s with an occasion to share knowledge and skills. The fifth annual Confidence Conference, which is planned for the end of May in Warsaw, brings together specialists from different organizations and sectors to share skills and network. Wikimania, planned for July in Gdansk, aims to bring professionals from the entire region, which can give opportunities to network as well. And last but not least, Watchdog aims to end the summer season with a barcamp-style event dedicated strictly to transparency. I hope that the Technology for Transparency Network will push for more co-operation across geographic and language barriers to encourage the sharing of skills and ideas.

Poland: Social Network Criticized for ‘Black Ribbon' Gifting Option

Sylwia Presley — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:58:46 +0000

The majority of trending discussions this week in Poland evolves around last Saturday's crash of the Polish plane in Russia. One of the most popular discussions [PL] on Wykop, a Polish bookmarking engine, is the new gifting option that Nasza-Klasa social network has introduced: black ribbons.

A screenshot example, originally posted on Yfrog, has had nearly 80,000 views already:

"Congratulations to Nasza-Klasa on their ambitions"

Nasza-Klasa has also created an account dedicated to updates related to the tragedy [PL]:

"Information about the catastrophe in Smolensk"

Both actions have generated various reactions from the public. Most reactions are negative.

Mazaq's reaction is harsh [PL]:

Police should take care of this and close this foolish portal.

TomaszMazowiecki refers to the commercial nature of these changes [PL]:

Just to earn money, regardless of the means, […] no matter how… just to earn money, a big chunk of it.

Szykago also criticises the idea [PL]:

I saw it earlier. Administrators of nasza-klasa have gone too far. And those presents with a black ribbon - a disgrace. Just to earn money on something that can be described as a national tragedy. I hope they will pay for it. It's simply a joke.

GrubyKociol states [PL]:

Administrators went too far, but users are not any better. A MILLION of ribbons, candles. Why the f*** do you need it all? You want to show the world how sad you are? Pathetic.

Some, like dulek, do not mind the idea of a news updates page, still disliking the new presents [PL]:

Well those presents are stupid, but the idea of a news channel itself, as for me, is ok…

Ryu, however, is one of the few who welcomes the idea of black ribbons [PL]:

I used to laugh at those black ribbons all the time, but today somehow….For god's sake, we put some kind of a band on our arm, if we cannot simply wear black, so why would we not mark our profiles with something on the Internet? Internet is (more or less) our second life in a way, so it must be normal that we want to express the same as we do in real life.

When Nasza-Klasa took on board the criticism a day later and gave up on the black ribbon presents, Maras2003 noted [PL]:

NK has now changed their approach - one cannot add presents to the profile, but the whole profile works like RSS feed with the newest updates on catastrophe. Bravo! Could you not do this from the very beginning though?!

Ag_ points out [PL]:

There is a Facebook profile named “Smolensk catastrophe - all information.” As far as I understand, it's a way to provide updates to people, but somehow it feels stupid to click ‘become a fan' :/

Kukaszd sums it all up [PL]:

I think that everyone should express their feelings, including sadness, individually. Somehow we seem to perceive commercialism as bad, and nonetheless we all support it. It would be ideal if everyone acted selflessly.

Poland: Controversy Over Polish President's Burial‎ Location

Sylwia Presley — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 00:39:15 +0000

Today's announcement that the Polish presidential couple killed in the tragic aircraft accident over Smolensk last Saturday would be buried on Sunday at 2PM in Krakow's Wawel Castle raised a lot of controversy.

Lech Kaczyński's family was given a choice of three burial locations: the Wawel Castle in Krakow, as well as St. John's Cathedral and the Powązki Military Cemetery in Warsaw. Stanisław Dziwisz, the Cardinal Archbishop of Krakow, announced [PL] today that they had decided in favor of Wawel, and this announcement later sparked a series of public protests.

Some 400 protesters gathered [PL] in front of the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow tonight to voice their concerns: the authorities' failure to consult with the nation; the fact that Wawel is a resting place of kings, military leaders, representatives of the Polish literature and other historical personalities considered heroes of the nation; the fact that none of the spouses of the heroes resting there had been buried along with them. The protest was organized through several Facebook groups, such as this one (currently 2,143 fans), this (23,369 fans) and this (11,782 members). Nearly 1,400 people have signed this online petition [PL] related to the protest as well. The scale of the protest on Facebook did not go unnoticed in the Polish mainstream media [PL].

To understand the sentiments of the protesters, let's look at some of their posts on Facebook. Maciej Sadkowski expresses the dominant opinion of one of the groups opposing the decision [PL]:

A definite NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Gabi Wielesik points out [PL]:

Not only that suddenly the person everyone laughed at suddenly becomes a national hero, now this…paranoia…maybe we should bury [Gosiewski], [Szmajdziński] and others in Wawel, too? they died [in the plane crash] as well…

Paula Rettinger believes [PL] that the president's place is in Warsaw:

I protest against the burial of [Lech Kaczyński] in Wawel. Brother of my grandfather died in Katyń. As well as my mother's uncle. The topic is close to my heart. The only reason to call Kaczyński a hero is his accidental death. It's an irresponsible, foolish decision taken under the pressure of a constant propaganda flow of condolences to the deceased couple. The Warsaw Cathedral is a necropolis for presidents, and it is where the president should rest.

Izabela Wójcik refers [PL] to the image of Poland abroad:

I also oppose it, as all my friends I've talked to. But it is not only our internal matter because now the entire world will see how after a short period of unity the Polish nation divides and argues again. Try to look at this image: the cortege with guests from all around the world and a demonstration in the back of it. How will it look like to the world? Why multiply conflicts with decisions of this type? Eh…

Piotr Tomula points out [PL] the past sentiments of the Kaczyński family towards Krakow:

He did not receive the honorable citizenship of Krakow, so now his brother pushes him in through the back door for even more, this is exactly how the duckies [a slang word for Kaczyński brothers, derivative of the word ‘kaczka' - ‘a duck'], NO HONOR, only VANITY…

Kuba Bielecki speaks [PL] with irony:

If my family decides where we should be buried, I will tell my brother that I want it to be Wawel, but hand in hand with Sobieski, well actually Mickiewicz would satisfy me, too.

Agata Kol is one of the few voices [PL] supporting the decision, though:

Kaczyński was a head of state, just as kings from the Piast or Jagello dynasties. He was also chosen democratically.

Gazeta.pl posts a survey [PL] on the topic, asking the public for their opinions. Here are the current results (as of 11PM):

What do you think of the plans to bury Kaczyński in Wawel?

63% Should be buried in Warsaw

26% Brilliant, is is exactly his place

11% It does not matter, his family should decide

Piotr Kowalczyk's tweet [PL] sums up the general direction of the discussions:

Wawel will not unite the Poles, but divide them.

Poland: Online Grief After 10.04.2010

Sylwia Presley — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:33:05 +0000

Poland begins the official week-long mourning period after a plane crash killed the Polish President and 95 other officials yesterday in Russia's Smolensk region. All major online news portals, social media services, governmental websites as well as portals of Polish organizations around the world have changed their color palettes to gray, black and white to express unity with the nation's grief.

Google.pl has added a black ribbon to its main site, along with these words:

In memory of the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, and all the victims.

Polish search engines, Wirtualna Polska and Onet.pl have changed their logos:

Gazeta.pl portal of a Polish daily is black and white now, features images of the deceased presidential couple, and has added a black ribbon to its logo:

Blogging engine Blox.pl also features a black logo now:

Same with the major social media sites: Blip, Flaker, Wykop and Nasza-Klasa:

Radio stations, like RMF FM [PL], have changed their programming for this week, are using toned down design and encourage listeners to post their condolences [PL] online.

Governmental websites have also stripped their portals of all colors except black and white. Prezydent.pl - a portal specifically dedicated to the President himself, has posted a photograph of the presidential couple - and a quote from a poem by Zbigniew Herbert:

…and the forest of Katyń evaporates fog…

Polish Embassies and Consulates have joined in the expression of grief. The Polish Consulate in New York changed the design of their site's header:

Polish institutes around the world are also expressing their sorrow. The Polish Cultural Institute in London changed the design of their website and posted this note:

It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of our nation's President, Mr. Lech Kaczynski, in the company of his gracious wife and the many statespersons who have perished along with him.

According to the appropriate protocol of State, all government institutions will commence a week long period of mourning through which we pay tribute to the exceptional individuals that we have lost. As such, all previously scheduled activities of the Polish Cultural Institute have been suspended or cancelled where delay is not possible. While this inconvenience is most regrettable we are confident that you will join with us in solidarity as we remember those lives that have passed before us.

While in Poland people are buying and displaying the Polish flag and black ribbons, all across social media users express their solidarity by adding the ‘Poland' Twibbon to their avatars, as well as changing their avatar photos; below are examples from Nasza-Klasa [PL] social network:

A Polish blog from London, the Polski blog, posts an explanation of the extent of the current crisis [PL]:

The fact that this tragedy mirrors [the events of March 1940] is a very cruel twist of history and a massive blow to a country which in recent years has been emerging from decades of humiliation and suffering. And that’s regardless of what whoever thinks about the President, whose conservative policies and controversial comments often polarised the society.

Poland will need to brace itself for a very difficult period of rebuilding its power structures. Questions will be asked about the incident, about security policies, about the next steps. But I just hope this time Poland will take a more mature, less divisive approach to these issues.

For now, however, Poland is in the state of mourning - offline and virtually. Until Friday, we Poles will read the news, browse for information and official announcements as well as talk to each other in the palette of gray, black and red colors dominating the Polish Internet.

Polskatimes.pl logo

Poland: Video Reactions to the Deadly Plane Crash

Sylwia Presley — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:23:56 +0000

Following the shocking news of the death of President Lech Kaczyński and 95 other officials, Poland starts the official week of mourning. Next to an enormous amount of reactions in various online venues, video messages present themselves as a very powerful tool to express the feelings of the nation.

Natalia10odd posts her poem, including an English translation:

Bettymegami pays tribute to Lech Kaczyński:

Sasuuka reminds us of the faces and names of all the victims of the plane crash:

The most striking is this simple message of the Polish flag, a black ribbon and the Polish national anthem starting with lyrics ‘Poland is not vanished, until we are alive…' in the context of its title - ‘In memory of the victims who died on April 10, 2010″ uploaded by gucio3417:

Poland: R.I.P. Black Saturday 10.04.2010

Sylwia Presley — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 01:12:52 +0000

Candles in Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel

As we live through the first 24 hours of the tragedy of the Polish nation, social media present various reactions to this morning's events, when Poland lost its President and 95 other important personalities.

On Facebook, people are gathering in newly established groups:

[*] for Poles who died today near Smoleńsk.

We unite in tragedy

R.I.P. Black Saturday 10.04.2010

Some still struggle with accepting the facts:

Others stress the importance of remembering today's catastrophe and the place where it happened:

Many point out the sad irony of the entire accident:

They flew to pay tribute to the victims of Katyń and became victims themselves…

In front of Presidential Palace, Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel

Social networking site ‘Nasza-Klasa' also hosts a significant amount of posts expressing condolences to families, sadness for the nation and a new vision of unity around the person of the President for the entire country:

When he lived some supported him, others opposed him. The tragedy caused everyone to back him up! It's sad that only now he was chosen for the President, while we used to joke about him during his life… now it's only sadness and grief because Our President is gone and many others too. It's sad and depressing that only now he is appreciated (*) Feeling strongly for their families and those who really regret it all !!!!

A scout girl in Warsaw, photo by Maria Seidel

While waiting for official statements, on forums and in comments to news articles, people start discussing the actual reasons behind the accident. Roled lists the most obvious ones:

1. You fly old trash, which even pilots fear to manage.
2. You fly old trash in difficult weather conditions, without seeing a thing.
3. You decide to land this trash in an airport which is unsuitable for difficult conditions.
4. On board you have 80+ people, mainly the important ones.
5. It is common knowledge that a certain person already has a history of forcing pilots to be “less scared” [referring to the President's previous request to land in bad conditions]
The results, if one can think clearly, are for them to see.

Wujek_extrema speculates [PL]:

Sadly, I do believe in the pressure put on pilots. I can almost hear one of them say: “We will not let the Russians dictate what we should do” - especially on the way to Katyń. It will be an international shame on us, once it becomes official.

nych refers to the possibility of the President's intervention [PL]:

If the Russians advised them not to land, I am sure Kaczor [President] personally decided otherwise, he could not run late for the mess.

xyz points out the potential reasons behind decisions of this kind [PL]:

There were experienced pilots and generals on board. They must have been conscious of landing risks of that type of machine in those conditions. It could have been the case of some people taking the advice of changing airport as planned delay/making it impossible to take part in celebrations and maybe they were too ambitious - we will never know the truth.

pfg questions the irresponsibility of having so many officials travel on the same plane [PL]:

I do understand that the President flew with MP's, his ministers, general Gągor and other officials. But all major army heads in one plane - it is unbelievable.

While we are still waiting for answers to those questions, Wykop users focus [PL] on the fact that the world is learning the truth about the Katyń massacre itself. Hemus writes [PL]:

@JamesikR Despite the tragedy of the whole situation, you are right. Even though I have mixed feelings, I think that maybe today's tragedy will open the eyes of the West and we will not hear in future statements about the “Polish concentration camps.” Death of those dozens of people will not shade the death of thousands.

Mczarny follows up on the comments of users who claim that high traffic on main search engines is due to simple curiosity about the accident:

Thank God for human curiosity. I will go further to state that today's tragedy will not go wasted and will show what others were fighting for - the memory. Sadly, they paid the highest price.

Zexon comments [PL] on a positive note, mentioning that is can also lead to better relationships between Poland and Russia:

And maybe there'll be an improvement in the Polish-Russian relationships.

All flags at half mast, photo by Maria Seidel

Blogging engine blox.pl, in response to increasing amount of blog reactions, has asked [PL] readers to collate their posts in the comments section. Bloggers, like Grzegorz Ajdukiewicz, share [PL] their stories of the day, including photos:

This tragical event totally ruined my day. I started going to an event in the series called Photo Day (already edition #8.0). In the area of closed for refurbishment Central Station dozens of reporters gathered. One of them marched next to me talking on the phone. I heard “President,” “all died?” etc. I thought it was a joke (saying something in the crowd to start a gossip). I walked out of the stinky underground passage and walked into the almost closed down bar, where to my surprise they still had a TV LCD. It was on, a few people stared at it with open mouths. It was 9:56 AM. Everything became apparent. It was not a joke! Sadly!

Others, like yesss, keep their posts very short [PL]:

Pity for the people, it is people I am sad for. Not looking at colors and opinions. Deeply sad.

Bronisław Komorowski, who stepped in to lead the country until the next election, reassured the Poles in their feelings of this day in his official speech [PL]:

Today in the light of our national drama we are united. Today there is no left, no right wing. Division of opinions and beliefs is of no importance. Today we are united, standing in the front of the enormous drama, in the eye of the death of many people. We join in the pain of families of the victims and in the worry of our Motherland bereaved by them.

A special thanks to Maria Seidel for providing photos from Warsaw.

Poland: President Kaczyński is Killed in Plane Crash in Russia - Initial Reactions

Sylwia Presley — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 10:36:36 +0000

The news of the plane crash in Western Russia, which killed the President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and dozens of other senior Polish officials this morning, is reaching the entire blogosphere, as well as the mainstream media now. The President was traveling to Katyn, to take part in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1940 Katyn Forest massacre.

Both Twitter and its Polish mirror service Blip.pl host initial reactions to the catastrophe. People are shocked.

Ewa_b posts:

Nice is adding [PL]:

It must be a bad dream ;-(

Others, like Namenick, express their shock together with passing on the news in English:

Vagla points out [PL]:

Half of Poland's government was on that plane.

Joined in sentiment [PL] by hustka:

“these are the people who ruled the country” chaos!! ;o

Perdo points out [PL]:

The Parliament Speaker steps in for the President. They will announce early elections.

Polish news services, such as Onet.pl, are currently crashing under the load of traffic; mobile networks are also overloaded.

Dziennikarz is reporting [PL]:

All Polish portals are having problems with gigantic traffic

Malisa updates on mobile networks [PL]:

#plusgsm network overloaded. people must call each other with the news.

Mainstream media is delivering news updates constantly, so reactions to those start to appear as well:

KissMeJoeJ is posting:

Polskatimes.pl has published the initial list of people who were on the plane, feeding it to Twitter, too.

Some, like Irenkaa, start speculating [PL]:

I wonder if it really was an accident…

Voter101 comments on the fact that President was not liked by the public [PL]:

#president no one liked him - now there will be respect for the dead…Irony.

Naphilim explains [PL]:

Maybe I didn't like him, but this is not how I imagined the change of the head of the country.

People are beginning to gather and express their grief, as dominikpanek is reporting [PL]:

In front of Presidential Palace in Warsaw citizens of the capital gather. They are bringing flowers and wreaths.

Twitter users are using #RIPLechKaczynski hashtag to express their grief online, calling others to join them, the way TeamJoeJ does:

Linkaaa's tweet sums up the general feeling of the Polish social media users now:

Poland: Ryszard Kapuściński - Fiction or ‘Non-Fiction'?

Sylwia Presley — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:05:15 +0000

Not only the Polish social media are discussing this one! A discussion of the newest book about the life and work of journalist Ryszard Kapuściński, written by Artur Domosławski, has reached the UK, the United States and other regions of the world. ‘Non-Fiction' was published in early March and raised a lot of controversy due to its portrayal of a well-established, legendary Polish reporter, Kapuściński, as a person we have not known so well. A major issue around this reporter's life is the fact that he sometimes added bits of his own stories to his reports.

The Guardian is posting the words of the new biography's author, Artur Domosławski:

Sometimes the literary idea conquered him. In one passage, for example, he writes that the fish in Lake Victoria in Uganda had grown big from feasting on people killed by Idi Amin. It's a colourful and terrifying metaphor. In fact, the fish got larger after eating smaller fish from the Nile. […] Kapuściński was experimenting in journalism. He wasn't aware he had crossed the line between journalism and literature. I still think his books are wonderful and precious. But ultimately, they belong to fiction.

Kapuściński's wife has turned to court with an appeal to stop the publication of the book. However, this was overruled as she took part in the process of its writing, allowing Domosławski to access documents of her husband. She was referring to the facts of the new book damaging her husband's reputation, like his affair, for instance. The idea of a foreign correspondent who was inconsistent with his reports of events is distant from the so far rather flattering image of Kapuściński that the Polish readers had.

First strong criticism of the new biography arrived [PL] from Bronisław Bartoszewski, a politician and a professor who works with the same publisher:

There are publishing houses that publish guides on certified brothels with many stars, but I do not think I would like to publish my history book in a place like that, nor would I like to see them publishing the lives of saints at the same time.

This opinion provoked a series of comments referring to Bartoszewski's lack of degree, unethical behavior, as well as his inconsistent approach towards the publisher.

Krzysztof opposes [PL] him openly:

Dear Mr Bartoszewski,

It's not the first opinion of yours after which I start to lose all the respect that I used to have for you. Biographies are designed to show people's lives, with their entire luggage of experiences. No matter what. If you want to write/read about statues, I suggest something about Warsaw's Little Mermaid [a statue that is a symbol of Warsaw]

Some of the commentators - like skowronek, for instance - support [PL] Bartoszewski:

I hope that prof. Bartoszewski will resign from co-operation with Świat Książki. This publisher is unreliable with very low standards of publications. I am surprised that the professor is considering doing so just now. Publishing the book about Kapuściński is a disgrace and an obvious move to seek publicity, and let's not pretend it is not a way of counting on more sales, even at the expense of a great writer. A writer who is one of the few who became famous worldwide. But this is exactly our Polish morality, if someone is extraordinary, we spit on them, if someone is an average person or even lower, we raise them up to heavens. It's making me sick.

The news [PL] that the book will be published provoked a new wave of various reactions.

Nasan wonders [PL]:

In this country everything is a scandal, everything is a taboo, everything offends someone, everyone feels humiliated. At the same time, no one restrains themselves from using the most vulgar language when criticising people who hold different opinions.

Liloop refers to the fear of truth [PL]:

Why do we fear the truth so much, regardless of what it would be. This hiding of the truth is exactly the prosthesis of the old system. Something happened or not. If it happened, it's truth. If it didn't, it is not. He did it - he is responsible, he did not - he isn't.

Furry embraces the notion of truth with an interesting, historical explanation [PL]:

Sadly, history is not an exact science. One person remembers things one way, another one differently. Moreover, both are equally convinced they are right and are happy to fight for their opinion till the last drop of blood. Basing truth on documents? What documents, those of the Security Services? Hm…

Blogger Kalarepa86 refers to the point made by many that one needs to read the book before making judgments:

Hmmmm in the light of words spoken by the author of this book I think it's worth learning what his opinion is - I think if someone sympathizes with Kapuściński, this opinion will not diminish theirs. Since I am writing an essay I think I have to (I will not hide I am truly curious as well) grab this book and work out my own opinion about it, have my own opinion and mention it in my essay.

The author of ‘Non-Fiction', Artur Domosławski, posts on his newly set-up blog [PL]:

I particularly thank those who support me and keep their fingers crossed. I also thank those who ask questions and express their doubts without being aggressive. I am happy that this book causes so much interest and discussion.

Bozena2k responds to the post above, saying [PL]:

More and more often we deal with useless people whose only chance to gain publicity is to throw some mud at others, those who grew extraordinarily. The type and form of the mud is not the point. In the end the receivers are similarly useless people, who will be able to breathe with relief: maybe we are low-lives, but those who are not one of us believed in communism, cheated on their wives, avoided truth… Well, these are the times when people like you win.

Both with those dead ones who cannot protect themselves, both with their widows, whose emotions they do not have to consider and with those for whom it is disgusting to dig into private lives of people, who achieved something beautiful and grand.

Kryst.ynak has a different opinion [PL]:

I read the biography of Ryszard Kapuscinski. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND why there is so much fuss about it. The book is well-written, supported by facts. Supported with quotes of people who surrounded and knew Kapuscinski from the side of his works. I write “from the side of his works” on purpose as I feel that no one really knew him as a man. He came, sat down, smiled, left.

Discussions continue in all of the above-mentioned places, as well as on both the author's [PL] and Kapuściński's [PL] Facebook fan page. A Polish daily, Gazeta Wyborcza, has created a special coverage site for the debate, here [PL]. You can read an interview with the author in English, published by the New York Times, here.

Poland: ‘Buy Yourself a Blogger' for Paula Pruska

Sylwia Presley — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:06:53 +0000

'Buy Yourself a Blogger, Price starts from 699 PLZ'

On March 4, the ‘Buy Yourself a Blogger' campaign kicked off in Poland to raise funds for Paula (Paulina) Pruska [PL], who won the ‘Blog of the Year 2009′ prize - and who suffers from a rare type of a cancer and uses her on-line journal to fight for her own cause (read more about it in this earlier GV text).

Four leading marketing and advertising bloggers - Irena Mrozek [PL], Maciej Budzich [PL] , Jacek Gadzinowski [PL] and Natalia Hatalska [PL] - are auctioning away [PL] a 4-hour workshop on the new media and marketing, to be conducted by the four bloggers together. They are also advocating for Paulina by auctioning away a new laptop [PL].

Blogger Natalia Hatalska, who came up with the idea, explains [PL] the target audience of this fundraising campaign:

The ‘Buy Yourself a Blogger' action is directed mainly at companies and agencies that care for deepening their understanding of the new media, blogs and unconventional means of communication. A laptop, on the other hand, is aimed at the readers of our blogs. Both actions, however, are equally targeted at those who want to and can help Paulina. We hope that this solution will help us to raise more money.

The campaign provoked mixed initial reactions. Mały MarketingOwiec responds to Natalia Hatalska's announcement post, saying [PL]:

a really cool idea ;) I hope that the auction will lead to the planned effect… I wonder, however, if it would not be better to organise a workshop/seminar of some kind for a larger audience. Naturally, every place would have to cost a predefined amount of money :)

I can only support this action by writing about it on my blog etc :)

A similar sentiment is expressed by Krzysiek on a discussion forum [PL]:

So what? Shall we collect some money? xD

Dominik Sipowicz mentions [PL] the taxing of the auctioned items:

March 5, Friday, 2 PM - the auction already has 1855 views. Nice results. I wonder what the case with the tax is ;)

Krasus posts [PL] a comment on Maciej Budzich's post, slightly criticising him for potential use of the auction to raise bloggers popularity:

It's super that we have actions like this one. But you know, Maciek, someone might say that…. you are promoting yourself based on someone's unhappiness! ;P Of course I added the widget on my site:)

Przemysław Żyła expresses his full support:

I'm signing it with my hands and legs - http://blogpr.pl and http://auditlog.pl support the action!!!

The links above lead to two blogs with embedded widgets of the campaign.

'charitable auction, check it out!'

In one of those posts, Przemysław Żyła strongly criticises [PL] people who perceive this campaign as an attempt to increase popularity of the four bloggers, who already have an established on-line presence:

I am convinced that all of those people who spend their time and knowledge have no need to build their image on-line through actions like this one. The criticism should be addressed towards those who criticize it or simply pretend they do not notice initiatives of this type.

We keep our fingers crossed for the project and […] encourage everyone to join and support the cause in any possible form:)!

Mały MarketingOwiec appears vocal on this blog as well, supporting [PL] the above opinion:

I believe that all the media and marketing specialists mentioned above already have quite a strong position and have built up their image (not only on the Internet).

Paulina Pruska adds her take [PL] on the auction:

I do not know how many similar forms of compassion I am about to experience, but I know that what you are giving me is priceless… You people are wonderful. The most wonderful. In the entire world. I have no idea how I can thank you and Natalia H. Maybe with heart beat lasting for many years? I simply have no words…

‘Buy Yourself a Blogger' has raised 1,259 PLZ (445 USD) from the workshop auction and 1,500 PLZ (528 USD) from the laptop auction so far. Bloggers will continue both auctions until March 18.