links for 2008-06-22
-
Doc on dangers for journalists. Includes YouTube links
-
Bill T on whether online consumption changes the way we think. Picks up on Susan Greenfield and others
June 22, 2008
June 20, 2008
links for 2008-06-20
-
musings on twitter - or as i put it, a backchannel on life.
June 19, 2008
links for 2008-06-19
-
NYT article on different countires approaches to free speech
Huffington - Global and Local
Arianna Huffington has been in London this week meeting politicians, newspaper editors and, today, with the BBC. She did multiple interviews and spoke to a lunchtime gathering of journalists and editors about The Huffington Post, journalism and the US elections. The site's a remarkable achievement in just three years - fuelled by top drawer contacts and serious financial backing.
Now she says they are going to go local by launching a series of city sites (eg Huffington- Chicago) and go Global with an international edition. The first I can see working (more competition and problems for the US press) the latter I'm a bit more sceptical about. It's tough for pan-global, destination/ content sites as opposed to search or email portals. But it would be a brave person to say it wont work given her track record.
June 18, 2008
China and the Net
Ron Deibert, of Citizen Lab and the Open Net initiative, has been giving evidence to the US Congress on how China interferes with the internet and censors many sites. Citizen Lab works on the Psiphon software which allows users to circumvent blocking in some circumstances.
Reading his evidence two phrases leaped out at me:
During the Olympics, he suggests, China may reduce or eliminate controls over
access to popular English language websites, news services, and blogging
platforms, while keeping in place or even enhancing filters on the local language
equivalents. This policy would give outsiders the impression that restrictions are
minimal while targeting those sources of information that matter most for
domestic policy.
Let's look out for that one.
And, secondly...do as you would be done by:
criticism of China’s vast censorship, surveillance, and infowar practices rings hollow in light
of revelations of extra-legal surveillance of the Internet occurring in the United
States itself, or US military development of information warfare techniques that
propose to “fight and win wars in cyberspace.” Echoing the comments made
by my colleagues John Palfrey and Colin Maclay, the US government needs to
show the way by examining its own domestic and foreign policies with respect
to data retention, surveillance and information warfare. Only then will criticism
directed towards China and other countries like it carry the full moral weight it
presently lacks.
June 17, 2008
Blogger arrests
Erin McCoy, a student at the University of Washington and a researcher for
the World Information Access Project, emailed me a report they've published analysing bloggers arrested around the world - a total of 64 in 5 years. 2007 saw three times as many arrests as 2006 - although so far 2008 looks better. That's not counting countries like Zimbabwe, China, Iran where there are few figures available.
links for 2008-06-17
-
Great piece by Robert Fox on state of journalism, stemming from the Breathing memorial
June 16, 2008
links for 2008-06-16
-
Jeremy Bowen on the risks of frontline journalism
-
RS on JOurnalist risk in Media Guardian
In Memorium
This evening the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki Moon, visits the BBC's Broadcasting House to dedicate a new sculpture on the roof. It's called "Breathing" and was commissioned from the Spanish artist, Jaume Plensa. It's in commemoration of all who have died in the course of trying to report the news. 
There is a website which remembers the BBC staff who have died and also shows the sculpture which will be lit at ten every evening and shine a pencil laser beam of light 900 metres into the air. The event is co-hosted with the International News Safety Institute who record all news and media personnel who are killed in the course of reporting the news. It's hoped this new London landmark will remind people of the sacrifices made by news teams in the cause of free speech. There is also a James Fenton poem, "Memorial", also to mark those who've been killed:
We spoke, we chose to speak of war and strife –
a task a fine ambition sought –
and some might say, who shared our work,
our life: that praise was dearly bought.
Drivers, interpreters, these were our friends.
These we loved. These we were trusted by.
The shocked hand wipes the blood across the lens.
The lens looks to the sky.
Most died by mischance. Some seemed honour-bound
to take the lonely, peerless track
conceiving danger as a testing ground
to which they must go back
till the tongue fell silent and they crossed
beyond the realm of time and fear.
Death waved them through the checkpoint. They were lost.
All have their story here.
James Fenton
(Hear it read by the BBC's Harriet Cass)
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon's speech is here.June 15, 2008
links for 2008-06-15
-
Phil Plait on meteorite science
Subscribe:
The Music Blog
Categories
Journalism News
BBC News
![BBCi: Javascript is not available
on this browser](http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/bsp/hi/services/htmlsyndication/img/synd_js_error_js-inactive.gif")
.
