Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
Over the weekend a modest but passionate group of European Videobloggers got together for the 5th time in 5 years. While the world of video online didn’t quite turn out how we had hoped or perhaps how we had thought, we still gather to discuss issues as well as reminisce about the past and what may come.
Instead of trying to further explain it, I’ll end on a lighter note, with a video of me being remixed by my good friend and videoblog veteran Raymond who was in town from Norway.
A recent podcast on this site was dedicated to telling the story of the Azeri videobloggers/youth activists who were attacked, arrested and held on a hooliganism charge. At that time their sentence had still not been decided. In this past week the verdict was handed down, Emin 2.5 years, Adnan 2 years in prison.
In an analysis of this verdict and its impact on freedom of expression and the press, especially for bloggers and different types of citizen journalists, Ali asks the questions:
How do Azerbaijani youth activists and citizen journalists feel? Are they scared? Will this verdict cause them to be less outspoken and critical in the future?
According to Ali, when their sentence was handed down, Emin declared to the court that it was an honor for him to be imprisoned for his ideals.
The purpose of their international summit is to do something to help the 1 billion people worldwide who will face famine this year. In order to address this global problem, this week the UN asked the international community at the UN Food Summit for 44 billion dollars to invest in agriculture in developing nations. The summit said no to this request.
Meanwhile the total amount spent by the US alone on the occupation of Afghanistan will total 223 billion dollars this year. According to Jo Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes’ research, both wars combined have cost 3 trillion dollars.
Military experts and political leaders continue to argue about how best to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan, how best to spend the hundreds of billions of dollars for fighting their war. Yet we know what it takes to stop hunger, we know how to feed people, and we don’t do it.
There are so many beautiful and inspiring photographs of when the Berlin wall came down, everyone who remembers it talks about what a great moment in history it was.
After hearing such testimony I feel a great sense of shame and disappointment that 20 years later, we still have walls dividing cities, nations, and people. And while you’d think these walls would be on the verge of being torn down like the Berlin wall was not long ago, instead they get longer and they build more of them.
Which begs the question, have we learned anything since the fall of the wall?
This month marks the beginning of a series in both text as well as podcasts, focusing on journalists of all kinds who have been stopped from doing their work. Whether they’ve been spied on, detained, deported or even murdered, the point of this series will be to shed more light on reporters and critical voices who have been targeted because of the work that they do.
The first case will come this week with the arrest of two Azeri video journalists in jail since July 8th when they were assaulted and arrested. Both Emin Milli and Adnan Hadji-zadeh are citizen journalists and were extremely active in organizing youth online before being taken in to custody. They’ve been charged with hooliganism, though it is not clear why or what that means in Azerbaijan. Their trial, which has generated international concern and criticism, has been repeatedly delayed.
Later this week my guest on the podcast will be Ali S. Novruzov, Azeri blogger and concerned citizen who has been following this issue since the beginning. Together we will talk about how this all happened, the situation for citizen journalists and journalists in general in Azerbaijan, and much more.
The Argentine parliament passed a new media reform law last week that caused alot of controversy throughout the country and is also of interest for national media policy throughout the world.
The stated purpose and provisions of the law are not altogether unfamiliar ones, though in this era of dying newspapers and hyper consolidation of media companies, we don’t see them get put into effect very often. What am I talking about? Let me list the guts of the law, as I’ve understood it from both Argentine and international media channels, blogs, and tweets:
This list is what I’ve compiled and understood as a non-native Spanish speaker who has never set foot in Argentina, though I have observed the political and social situation via the internet for the past decade. No doubt Argentines and critical observers on both sides will have different interpretations and details about the situation.
That said, putting aside the surrounding debate, the stated purpose and many of the provisions of the media law are interesting for anyone concerned about issues such as media consolidation, diversity, representation, non-profit journalism and culture. Such issues have long been debated within institutions like the European Parliament as well as national governments throughout the world. Many of the details within the text of this law were no doubt inspired by several European provisions that seek to nurture a diverse and dynamic public media sector.
On the other side there is concern about how this will be carried out in Argentina. The fear that this will empower the government in a dangerous manner and benefit only those with money who happen to be close to the executive branch. Others simply believe that the market should determine what happens to Argentine media, where for example the media corporation Clarin owns 44% of the media market share (more than 250 newspapers, radio stations, tv channels, cable stations). In their eyes this law is not only dangerous but it would severely damage their very successful and prestigious communication business.
While continuing to read and follow this issue, I will get in touch with some interesting people on the ground in Argentina who could join me for a podcast in an effort to learn more about what is happening with the world of media in that country.