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Bananas the Film

Returned to Amsterdam and noticed a new documentary film which is showing back in New York City this week, entitled: BANANAS!
Bananas! is the story of the Banana industry’s use of a chemical known as Nemagon, a highly toxic chemical compound used for spraying banana trees throughout the 60’s and 70’s. The pesticide has grave effects on the health of any mammal, as it caused massive levels of male sterility among banana workers, as well as high levels of cancer. Despite knowing the effects of the pesticide on humans, companies including Dole (one of the world’s largest banana growers) sprayed fields anyway without informing or making any effort to protect workers.

The film focuses not only on the banana industry but on the case of Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez, a lawyer representing 12 Nicaraguan banana workers suffering the effects of Nemagon, taking on Dole.

The emergence of the film naturally drew criticism and threats from Dole, who claim their own investigators determined most of the claims in the film to be fraudulent. They threatened legal action against the film, but according the film’s website, those suits have been withdrawn.

I had not heard about this film before today, and I have only begun to read specifically about Nemagon. But I very much intend to see the film when it comes to Amsterdam next month, as well as interview the director and perhaps some other parties involved in this issue. I’m sure you’re hoping I talk to Dole… I’ll see what I can do, large corporations don’t normally have time for we the independent reporters out there.

If you’re curious, here’s the trailer.

BANANAS!* trailer from WG Film on Vimeo.

Rostov to Lisbon (bmtv104)

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A vlog entry from Lisbon reviewing plans for Vlog Europe 2009. I also throw in some images and video from the Russia trip last week.

Murdochs, Media, and Money

I am a sucker for programs and some discussions about the future of media and what the newspaper industry will look like in 10 years. Even though I think it is discussed to death lately, with everyone just sticking a finger in the air and making a speech, I enjoy listening to people from different backgrounds and different experiences.

While I’m no fan of Rupert Murdoch and alot of his philosophy about the function and purpose of the media, it is interesting to see what he plans to do with his media empire online. More recently he has announced his intention that all his newspapers will be going to a for-pay business model where people will have to subscribe in order to get access. This comes as the conventional wisdom online says this is insane and will not work because the public has so much choice of free online news.

On a recent episode of Background Briefing from Australia Radio National, the topic was indeed media and business models online and it features a speech by Rupert’s son James Murdoch. They also get into what many executives see as a MEDIA WAR, when it comes to how the industry will work in the future. And just when you thought one episode couldn’t have more than two Murdochs, the program also gets into the media philosophy of Sir Keith Murdoch, who was critical of the public broadcasting model in Australia.

I highly recommend giving this episode a listen, especially if you’re like me, and you can’t resist more points of view and widsom regarding how media is funded and how it will be funded in the future.

What I Learned in Rostov

Greetings from my last night in Rostov-on-Don, where the N-Ost conference has just about wrapped up, and it has been a great success as far as I can tell. There is plenty to write about in a city that is so seldom heard about outside of Russia, yet has such personality. As its been a busy few days and I must already prepare to leave, I wanted to make a brief list of things I learned in and about Rostov which I thought you might find interesting:

Very big Korean population, who have been here for about 50 years, while still maintain their traditions and language, they’re an important part of what makes this city work.
Parks. They like their parks. Sometimes its more of a long green tree lined walk way stretching many city blocks and offering a great alternative to walking on streets with traffic.
Sometimes your huge truck breaks down in an intersection and its perfectly acceptable to just stand there and everyone will drive around you for hours.
Rostov has many religions, Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Armenian, Muslim, Jewish and according to the guy at the Korean cultural assocation- Buddhist.
The Bridge over the Don river takes you from Europe to Asia.
Don’t count on every street being paved and don’t underestimate how giant potholes can be.
People in Rostov don’t speak much in terms of languages besides Russian, but if you’re in need of something they’re more than willing to work with you through pointing, hand signals, and smiles.
The Armenian population of Rostov has been here for ages and make up another important part of the civic tapestry.
We may be far from Japan but Rostovians love Sushi and manage to put it on the menu at any kind of restaurant.
4 days is not enough to really get to know a Russian city like this, but it does provide enough time to make some great friends.

Wikileaks Fights the Good Fight (bmtv#103)

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After a long hiatus, a video entry complete with my sick-person voice. Focuses on Wikileaks and what they’re working on and the support they are seeking.

N-Ost Russia This Week

A bit too sick to write a proper post or prepare the next podcast today. However I wanted to point out that this wednesday I’m leaving for a 5 day visit to Russia. Specifically to speak at the N-Ost International Media Conference in Rostov-on-Don, which is located in southern Russia, near the Black Sea.

Looking over the program, which is in German, I see that speakers include many Russian bloggers and journalists working in the world of new and old media. Admittedly I don’t read any Russian blogs although I do read blogs by Russians and blogs by those who happen to be living in Russia. While I’m there I hope to be able to learn about their experiences, concerns, and projects. With any luck you’ll hear about it and perhaps from them directly on the podcast.

My talk, which will be held on Friday morning (and to my knowledge not streamed live) will be on Web 2.0 in Journalism, which means I’ll be talking about today’s web tools for journalists and how they help, hurt, etc.

I’m especially excited as this will be my first ever visit to Russia. While of course everyone thinks of cities like St. Petersberg or Moscow, I’m looking forward to experiencing a city that until recently, I knew nothing about.