News
Kidnapped in Somalia
Colin Freeman, the Chief foreign correspondent with the Daily Telegraph, talks to ABC News about what it’s like to be kidnapped in Somalia. I’ve posted a snippet of the discussion below. You can see Colin’s initial reaction upon release in the news report above. For a longer analysis of Somalia and what it’s like to […]
Events so far…
Before another week passes here’s a round up of the first event I organised for the Frontline Club. For the past month or so I’ve been finishing my time at Press Gazette – before Wilmington closed down the operation – and working part time at the Frontline, so it’s perhaps not surprising that former colleagues […]
Youth activist expelled from university
Once I wrote an innocent piece for azadliqciragi.org, an Azeri-language version of Cato Institute’s Lamps of Liberty and I don’t know how, but my dean N.A. at university got aware of it (too old and conservative to surf in Internet). Later followed what my dean called "educational conversation" between us in order to persuade me […]
Video from Kandahar
I’ve been a bit lax in writing regularly, so I thought I’d upload some video for you. First is fireworks from a wedding ceremony in southern Kandahar City this evening. There’ve been fireworks for the past 3 days, which has been quite nice in the evenings. Don’t think that this is a common occurrence. I’ve […]
TS Satyan: A life less hurried
"I have begun to despise politicians and their ways. At my age, I don’t want to photograph any of them unless Barack Obama visits India." As India goes to the polls at the start of its rather overwhelming general election, the words of TS Satyan, a revered photojournalist who has spent his life chronicling […]
I have loved every day and every assignment
The Gulf Breeze News runs a portrait of Fred Waters, a WWII serviceman who later became a war reporter. He worked for the International News Service, which morphed into United Press International, before starting a 34 year career as a foreign correspondent with the Associated Press. There are some interesting quotes in the piece I […]
‘Cabbage Revolution’ Wilts
Under stony skies, a dirge-like ballad droned from the speakers outside the Georgian parliament: an appropriate soundtrack for the seventh day of opposition protests in Tbilisi. A series of opposition leaders was greeted by polite applause as they raged against Mikheil Saakashvili, the president who has refused to offer them his head on a pike. […]
Latino acts prepare for Coachella
Growing up in a middle-class home in Mexico City’s genteel Coyoacán neighborhood, Camilo Lara watched MTV and listened to the Happy Mondays and the Charlatans "in my room, very loud." But whenever he drifted into his family’s communal living spaces or the kitchen, he’d get a shot of José José, classical music, cumbia (which the […]
More on Twitter and Moldova
You can find the latest on the progress of the dispute over Moldova’s election over at Reuters and the BBC. The government has agreed to recount the votes from the elections on 5 April. Opposition parties say this course of action takes no account of their concerns over fradulent voter lists. They are also worried […]
Call to lift Sri Lanka media ban
Reporters without borders (RSF) called on the Sri Lankan government to lift the ban on media outlets from entering the war zone in the north east of the country. "It is a disgrace that this war is being waged without independent journalists present," Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said. "With a major humanitarian crisis […]
Blog updates on Tbilisi protests
Following on from an earlier post about the unprecedented use of online tools to cover the protests currently underway in Georgia, there are now some updates on the situation available over at Global Voices Online. True, the use of blogs, micro-blogs and social networking sites perhaps pales into insignificance if compared to other countries where […]
Paraguay’s Lugo proves no messiah
Whiter-than-white politicians surely can’t sleep well. Only saints have no skeletons in their cupboard. For the rest of us mortals, rattle hard enough and something, sometime, will eventually appear. In the case of Fernando Lugo, president of Paraguay, it took eight months for his secret to come to light. When it did, it did so […]
The Greatest Uzbek
Azerbaijan, the official newspaper of Azerbaijani Parliament (Milli Majlis) has published an article titled The Greatest Uzbek – a 3,000-word panegyric about Islam Karimov, the authoritarian leader of Uzbekistan. What is interesting about the article is an honest acknowledgement of darkest moments of his life, and his authoritarian style, and a sincere admiration with all […]
Citizen media and the Tbilisi protests
We’ve heard a lot about the use of social networking sites and services such as Twitter and Facebook by political activists in the past week, but opposition protests in Georgia have also shown that they are valuable tools in the hands of student and professional journalists alike. As an editor for Global Voices Online, a site which […]
Cambodia less stable than Iraq and Afghanistan?
There’s a report going around in Cambodia that everyone it seems can’t stop talking about: The Economist puts Cambodia in the Top 5 of countries most at risk of social unrest as the economic crisis deepens. The announcement was such a blow, it seems everyone has protested. The prime minister mentions the report every chance […]
The myth of the Moldova ‘Twitter revolution’
According to the BBC thousands of protesters descended on Moldova’s parliament building yesterday to demonstrate against the Communist Party’s victory in last Sunday’s elections. The protesters are thought to be primarily made up of students and young people who claim the results of the election were fradulent despite being approved by election monitors. Twitter Unsurprisingly […]
Scrap collectors and the crisis
The current financial crisis has found its way to unimaginable places. While most Brazilians remain optimistic – after all the crisis was created far, far away from here by economies much more dependant on the financial markets – the fact is that it has brought consequences to many people who don’t even know what the […]
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in Iztapalapa, Mexico
It wasn’t hard to imagine what the real crucifixion of Christ might have been like if you were anywhere near the populous, working-class neighborhood of Iztapalapa in Mexico City last Friday.
6,000 new jobless since December 2008
Fineko/abc.az reports that according to Arif Veliyev, the chief statistician of Azerbaijan 6,000 people have lost their jobs since December 2008. The report continues that "as of 1st February 2009 five registered unemployed persons claimed per vacancy in Azerbaijan against four ones in December and three ones in September of 2008." Keep in mind that […]
‘La Vida Loca’ captures daily reality of El Salvador’s gangs, or maras
“La Vida Loca” reflects a depressing and hopeless reality. The documentary, by photojournalist and filmmaker Christian Poveda (you can see his bio here), follows some of the members of ”la dieciocho,” the so-called 18th Street gang in a poor San Salvador neighborhood. “Little One” is a 19-year-old mother with an enormous "18," reflecting her membership in the […]
Citizen media and the Tbilisi protests
We’ve heard a lot about the use of social networking sites and services such as Twitter and Facebook by political activists in the past week, but opposition protests in Georgia have also shown that they are valuable tools in the hands of student and professional journalists alike. As an editor for Global Voices Online, a site which […]
Flak jackets for Somali journalists
The National Union of Somali Journalists issued journalists with flack jackets and helmets at a ceremony at the Hotel Sahafi in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday. 20 journalists, both independent freelancers and staff reporters, were kitted out with the gear donated by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, “These bulletproof jackets and helmets will improve […]
Keeping an eye on the Tbilisi demonstrations
Fellow Frontline Club blogger Onnik Krikorian has produced a great round up of online and social media coverage of the first day of demonstrations in Tbilisi, Georgia. April 9 is a date firmly etched in the memory of many Georgians. Any demonstration on the anniversary of the 1989 Soviet crack down would always bring out […]
Five Pirated Crews that Didn’t Fare as Well as the Americans
Yesterday the American crew of the container ship Maersk Alabama successfully fought back against Somali pirates attempting to seize the vessel. The ship’s captain was kidnapped during the fighting and now the FBI is helping negotiate his release. For Esquire.com, I surveyed five pirated crews who didn’t fare nearly so well, including: Ekawat Nava 5, […]
Cambodia less stable than Iraq and Afghanistan?
There’s a report going around in Cambodia that everyone it seems can’t stop talking about: The Economist puts Cambodia in the Top 5 of countries most at risk of social unrest as the economic crisis deepens. The announcement was such a blow, it seems everyone has protested. The prime minister mentions the report every chance […]
Inside the Pirate Lair
After a quiet start to the year, the Somali pirates are back in a big way hijacking six ships in five days. An American destroyer is currently alongside the Maersk Alabama trying to help secure the release of the ship’s captain, who is still being held by pirates in a lifeboat. Some 15 warships (sometimes […]
The myth of the Moldova ‘Twitter revolution’
According to the BBC thousands of protesters descended on Moldova’s parliament building yesterday to demonstrate against the Communist Party’s victory in last Sunday’s elections. The protesters are thought to be primarily made up of students and young people who claim the results of the election were fradulent despite being approved by election monitors. Twitter Unsurprisingly […]
The Day of Killed Journalists
Turkey commemorated the 13th Day of Killed Journalists on Monday. 62 journalists have been killed in the country to date. To mark the day, journalists gathered at the grave of the first victim, Hasan Fehmi, the editor of Serbesti newspaper, who was killed in 1909, “We expect the facilities for journalists to be developed, and […]
Slain Sri Lankan editor wins World Press Freedom Prize 2009
Lasantha Wickrematunge, the editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper in Sri Lanka who was assassinated in January 2009, has been named laureate of the 2009 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize, “Jury members were moved to an almost unanimous choice by a man who was clearly conscious of the dangers he faced but nevertheless chose to […]
Scrap collectors and the crisis
The current financial crisis has found its way to unimaginable places. While most Brazilians remain optimistic – after all the crisis was created far, far away from here by economies much more dependant on the financial markets – the fact is that it has brought consequences to many people who don’t even know what the […]
