Chris Lydon: Movements and Ideas for 2018

Chris Lydon is a journalist, radio host, and observer of human behavior. He also has a deep love for jazz, books, and a good bowl of oatmeal. Chris and I became friends some ten years ago because of his legendary radio show and podcast, Radio Open Source. The first podcaster in the history of the medium, a former reporter for the NY Times, Chris cares a great deal about where we’ve been, as citizens of planet earth, and where we are going.

Over the years it has become a tradition that I come spend some days in Boston, talking with him and participating in his daily life. A tradition that has had a massive impact on my life, a pilgrimage that I dare not miss. At Chris’s kitchen table, eating oatmeal, talking about the world… thats where I love to be. So what better way to start a 2018 of restoration and rebirth…. it’s Chris Lydon and myself.. looking back at 2017 and finding clues about 2018.

Thailand’s Oppressive Media Law

It was the summer of 2008 and I was in Bangkok, Thailand, on a then work related trip that left me enough spare time to look around and do some reporting.   My focus included alternative media, and lucky for me, a good friend introduced me to Jiew, editor of the alternative magazine Prachatai.com.  We did a very interesting and informative podcast about the situation in Thailand, which included a discussion of the limitations on press freedom in that country.

During the interview we touched upon the “Lèse Magesté”: extremely oppressive laws that govern how you can or cannot talk about the royal family.  As a journalist, you are not allowed to criticize the royal family in publications.  Doing so would constitute a serious offense and while I can’t remember what the average sentence could be, I remember it was bad.  Jiew was extremely well versed in what a reporter or media channel could and couldn’t do in their work, even an alternative source.  To my surprise she even asked me to turn off my recorder when we got to the part about the laws regarding media and the royal family.  She explained off the record how it works and the risk that one ran by publishing anything considered critical the exalted king.  It marked, still to this day, one of the few times in the 7 year history of my program, that I’ve had to turn off a recorder for legal reasons- even just to hear a seemingly harmless explanation of the rules.

Over the years Jiew and I have of course remained in contact, whenever there’s something (and there always is) going on in Thailand or SouthEast Asia, I know I can ask her for help with information or perhaps a good source to better understand what is happening.

Unfortunately, and to my great shock and disappointment, the Thai government is now pursuing a case against her.  Claiming, I believe, a violation of the Royal Family criticism laws at her publication; they are seeking a jail sentence.  As many watchdog groups have reported, the government is clearly afraid of someone so committed to reporting what is really going on behind the dog-n-pony show Thailand puts on for the tourist masses.

And so an excellent journalist, a friend of this citizenreporter.org, and someone who has dedicated her life to making the world around us a better place faces the looming threat of being convicted of a crime that should have long been stricken from the legal books in favor of real universal human rights.  All the more reason for us to help Jiew beat this bogus charge in any way we can, so she can fight twice as hard next time to keep this from happening ever again.

(To be continued, trail posponed to February)

Journalism Under Attack in the Netherlands

Brenno
Brenno at CCC2011 near Berlin

An investigative journalist in the Netherlands has exposed major security flaws in a major government project which promised safe and easy travel throughout the country. He has been reporting the results of his work to both the public and the government. The goal was to inform the public while also pressuring decision makers to address this problem before further damage is done. The result, however, is that Brenno de Winter is now being prosecuted for his journalistic investigation. Laws that protect a journalist in such a situation? -the Netherlands doesn’t have any. How can that be? In this podcast Brenno explains the saga as he now faces jail time as punishment for having exposed massive flaws in a 3 billion euro investment (OV-Chip Card) carried out with public funds.

Follow Brenno on twitter for the latest info on the case AND the card.

Watch the Caucuses Triangle!

The much anticipated documentary “The Caucuses Triangle” is now out and up on the web for all to see.  It is a story and a journey that takes us from Azerbaijan to Armenia to Georgia, looking at youth media and the current situation in this unique region.  Director and friend of the podcast Letizia Gambini was on the podcast just a few months ago talking about the research and process of making the film. It is exciting and interesting to get to see the final product. By all means, watch, share, make use of this great film!

The Caucuses Triangle

ctrp355 Dissecting the Caucasus Triangle

Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan make up the Caucasus Triangle; a region that is not often mentioned in the mainstream news. Over the past year, Letizia Gambini has made it her business to learn all about this complex region and its many layers.

Her project, a documentary that will follow three young activists from the three South Caucasus countries, is the focus of this podcast. Together we also talk about her travels as delve into the world of culture, politics, history, conflicts and human rights in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

For more information and to follow the progress of the Caucasus Triangle project, subscribe to Letizia’s blog.

ctrp329 Iceland, The Journalist Refuge

It took an economic meltdown, but Iceland is now taking steps that will transform the country into a place where journalism and publishing in general will more protected than anywhere else in the world. How would it work? Who is behind this new law? Where in the process of making it happen are we? All this and more is addressed in this program with help from my guest Smári McCarthy of the Icelandic Digital Freedoms Society.