Citizen Reporter

A Living Podcast History

Most discussions of blogging or podcasting history immediately sound crazy because they all involve an allegedly “long” span of about 12 to 14 years. As crazy as it may sound, when it comes to the internet, 12 years is an eternity. When it comes to life, however, 12 years goes by in the blink of an eye.

This spring I have rediscovered a podcast I used to listen to regularly, The Overnightscape, hosted by Frank Edward Nora who several times a week takes you along during his commute to work from New Jersey to Manhattan and occasionally invites you to relax at home with him or with a friend as they talk about everything from pop-culture to history and generally, things going on in Frank’s mind. Back in 2004, when podcasting first officially started, Frank’s style of recording would have been called stream of consciousness, which could be one of the greatest examples of what made the voices and style of podcasting so unique. No radio program would ever have had the nerve and patience to allow a host to just think out loud without a time limit, but the freedom and honestly of podcasting was the perfect place for it.

Though we’re not far from podcasting turning a decade old, strangely many of those podcasts that were so unique and experimental have disappeared. Producers of these programs stopped for a wide range of reasons, among them: the lack of financial resources to continue, the lack of returns in the form of feedback (or perhaps money), the demands of a day job or other offline life requirements, loss of interest, or as Ivan explained on a recent edition of the podcast – some projects need to end. Among today’s remaining independent podcast programs, there is a mix of specialized topics which often involve interviews and just a few long running monologue (stream of consciousness) type shows. (my favorite being the incomparable Yeast Radio) Many of these have faced their own critical moments where things almost shut down for good but then fortunately made it through and carry on still today.

Yet despite what we still have in terms of audio (and video) creators, many great ones have hung up their spurs and called it quits. There are countless audio and video files who’s hosting accounts ceased to exist and are therefore no longer available online. Time and the internet keep moving forward, things change, and what seems at present so permanent, can disappear so easily. At the recent gathering of creative minds during Re:publica12 in Berlin there was a group of people looking for like-minded individuals interested in archiving and preserving blogs. The familiar idea- that one day many of us and/or our websites will be gone and the only way to preserve this valuable (or valueless) work is to put it somewhere in such a manner that it will still be accessible well into the future.

With all this in mind I notice wordpress telling me that I will soon reach 2000 posts on citizenreporter.org. 2,000 posts, 420 podcasts and counting- will it all still be accessible in 12 years? I very much hope so.

New Frontiers for Global Citizen Journalism

Photo Courtesy of CarribeanFreePhoto on flickr (thanks Georgia!)

Global Voices Online has come a long way since the days of being all about blogs from around the world. Just as the technology for publishing online and having conversations about issues that effect our lives has evolved, so too has this international project dedicated to multi-lingual, multi-cultural, grassroots reporting. In 2012 GVO are into more than just providing a place for translation and reporting, they’ve moved into specialized projects relating to advocacy, socio-cultural projects and protecting citizen journalists around the world. At this year’s Re:publica12 conference, I had a chance to finally sit down with Ivan Sigal, executive director of Global Voices Online, and we spoke about these new frontiers and how he sees where we are today as global citizens of many languages examining the world around us.

Sacred Cows of Protest Culture

In my formidable years as a university student and an activist, I happily attended any and all protests I could. To this day you might catch me bragging about the effects of tear gas and the importance of having a gas mask. I tried, using what means were available to me, to carry on the tradition I learned about in history books and through personal stories from previous generations- those who had protested before me. There is a great sense of pride and belonging that comes with engaging in such activities despite the occasional risks and tremendous odds one often faces. (Pro-East Timor Independence protests in the late 90’s were interesting but, admittedly, small)

On the other hand there is something that needs to be said about protests and carrying on some traditions that could prove extremely unpopular and unacceptable to others who are committed to fighting certain battles in a very particular way. Ill make the general statement and then explain with some detail, hoping that those who read this understand that is just my observation with no intention to insult the integrity of dedicated activists out there. – There are many protest tools that are touted as good options, that in fact accomplish hardly anything. Among them, the modern day versions of strikes, boycotts, and petitions, all once very effective, all now very hard to quantify as successful. Throughout Europe we have the tradition of the one day strike, where the next day they’re back on the job, and in the next salary negotiation they wind up losing something in a compromise; waiting out a strike becomes like waiting out a day or two of bad weather for the corporations involved. Boycotts are constantly being declared on both offline and online forums, yet with few exceptions, no boycott of anything has been successful since the days of fighting apartheid in South Africa. In the 90’s there was a Shell boycott I participated in. In the early 2000’s, a boycott of CocaCola. Decades later, neither of these companies skipped a beat and few people can remember the boycott. Then there’s the online petition, which is so easy to pass around and so annoying in your inbox. Good intentioned petitions get signed and passed around, occasionally handed to elected officials, and then what happens? Perhaps a little rhetoric and some impotent promises by a bureaucrat who makes sure to file your petition in a virtual drawer next to all the other ones.

There is still people power — make no mistake. People can still make things happen. Occasionally they have over the years. But the routine ways we protest and express grievances, despite being noble and from a great tradition – if we’re really painfully honest with ourselves, a lot of it is symbolic and ineffective. The world has changed, the circumstances have changed, and the beautiful old methods do not always apply. And not being allowed to point this out, being discredited for breaking with the time honored formula, just perpetuates all the self-congratulating, guilt relieving activities that range from the same old tired calls for a general strike to the same old tired calls to share this petition on your Facebook.

The Road Back to Libya

Just over a year ago, Brian Conley found himself teaching workshops on new media reporting in a divided Libya. While Gadaffi clung to power and a war was fought, Brian and his team improvised their way around and experienced part of the excitement, fear, frustration, and joy.. not to mention all the other emotions that this very difficult conflict brought about. This month, one year since those first journeys around Libya, he is returning to pick up where he left off. These are his stories, setting the stage for a new adventure, one where his actions will help bring about a better future for a hopeful nation.

Today’s Commemoration, Tomorrow’s History

In an effort to save money and increase productivity, Portugal is getting rid of some holidays that people don’t really celebrate anymore. Among the obsolete days of non-work, the day the nation dumped the monarchy and became a republic, October 5th, 1910. More than 100 years since that significant moment in history, no one alive remembers it, and few are the voices that think its worth hanging on to as a holiday.

Here in the Netherlands, this past Friday was Remembrance day, which includes the 2 minutes of silence which takes place every May the 4th in memoriam of all the victims of WWII (though more recently it has been expanded to include victims of all military conflicts, its still more famous for WWII victims). A friend’s grandfather, who lived through the occupation of the country and the war that caused so much pain and destruction, finds the 2 minutes of silence un-necessary – after all, he lived through it. But WWII is much more recent and much more significant in the lives of present day people in the Netherlands that the establishment of the republic is for today’s Portuguese. The reasons probably seem obvious.

But it occurs to me that 100 years from now, WWII remembrance day may also get put aside for economic or social purposes. At some point enough time passes that these significant moments that some lived through and others know all-to-well from stories and history books, even these seemingly vital rituals will not be seen the same way. This is not to say it is a good or bad development, these moments in history and the holidays dedicated to them, can fade over time. It is, if anything, just an odd characteristic of us as a species. We may record history, but over time, to some degree, it becomes natural to forget.

Imagine that. The era will come where WWII is referred to in the same far-off spirit as today we look at the war of 1812 or the wars during Roman times. September 11th will no longer be remembered as it is today, nothing special will take place at the sight of the World Trade Center, life – like time – just keep moving along.

The Stifling of Dissent and the Legacy of Occupy

The use of the law to keep people from protesting and assembling did not start with the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. In fact, for hundreds of years, since the birth of the United States, there has been a slow but steady effort to keep people from being able to lawfully protest and organize. During the occupy movement there were extensive discussions about democracy, freedom, economics, and our future. Somewhere behind it all, there was the issue of laws and what protesters can and cannot do. In the end it was the police armed with tear gas and legal ordinances who were able to clear people out of the public squares they had peacefully occupied. In this podcast we speak with attorney Joshua Dratel, the first civilian defense lawyer to have worked with prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. His recent article “The Evaporation of American Political Dissent” talks about the long running degredation of the right to protest and assemble in the United States.