"The hard work of a living democracy does not end when the votes are tallied and the winners announced; instead it offers the chance to reconcile and to advance greater security and prosperity for its people."
A conversation about the reports of major uprisings against the government that have come out of Angola this month, with Global Voices contributor Janet Gunter.
(Source: citizenreporter.org)
"American aid and economic development in Pakistan and Afghanistan have been aimed at ‘quick impact projects,’ which are intended to win hearts and minds, but which, like instant oatmeal, dissolve quickly."
Latin America’s Social Networking Market Sees 88 Percent Gain in Engagement in the Past Year
In June 2011, 114.5 million people in Latin America visited a social networking site, representing 96.0 percent of the entire online population in the region. In the past year, the social networking audience in Latin America has increased 16 percent while the total time spent on social networking sites has increased 88 percent.
Key findings highlighted in the report include:
- Latin Americans are strongly engaged with social networking. Half of the top 10 worldwide markets ranked by time spent on social networking sites are in Latin America, with Argentina leading the region at 10 hours per month in June 2011.
- The Latin American social networking audience is nearly equal in its composition of males and females, but females account for a larger share of social networking time spent (53.6 percent) compared to males (46.4 percent). This trend was most significant in Brazil where females accounted for 58.7 percent of all social networking time spent.
- People age 15-24 demonstrated the strongest engagement on social networks, accounting for nearly half (48.0 percent) of all time spent in the category. This trend was most significant in Venezuela where visitors age 15-24 accounted for 3 of every 5 social networking minutes (58.2 percent).
- Facebook.com strongly led the social networking market in Latin America, reaching more than 91 million visitors. Windows Live Profile ranked #2 with more than 35.5 million visitors in the region. Orkut held the #3 spot with 34.4 million visitors, largely driven by the site’s popularity in Brazil, while Twitter.com ranked #4 with 24.3 million visitors.
- Five of the top 10 markets ranked by Facebook.com reach are in Latin America. Facebook reached 90.9 percent of all online users in Chile, ranking as the most penetrated market in Latin America.
- In Brazil, Orkut ranked as the most-visited social networking destination, reaching 35.7 million visitors, an increase of 20 percent from June 2010. Facebook.com, which is the second largest social networking site in Brazil, witnessed strong growth increasing 192 percent to 24.5 million visitors.
- Venezuela is the only country in Latin America in which Twitter.com rises to second place in the social networking ranking. One in four online users in Venezuela visited Twitter.com in June (26.5 percent reach).
- Recently launched Google+ reached 28 million visitors worldwide in the first 33 days of its public existence (June 29, 2011 to July 31, 2011). Brazil ranked as the sixth largest market for the site globally, contributing 793,923 visitors.
Full Story and Report: Comscore
![Where is the Media Coverage of Balochistan?
From the Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO):
UNPO and the Society for Threatened Peoples hosted a parallel event on Thursday [15th September 2011] at the 18th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council titled ‘Climate of Fear: Enforced Disappearances, Extra-judicial Killings, and Arbitrary Detention in Balochistan’. Immediately prior to the event, UNPO and the Baloch community in Europe participated in a demonstration calling attention to the human rights situation in Balochistan. […]
The event, chaired by UNPO Programme Coordinator Lisa Thomas, drew attention to the disturbing level of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings currently ongoing in Balochistan, Pakistan, as noted by recent extensive reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Ms. Thomas expressed UNPO’s deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Balochistan before highlighting a few key points from the two reports. Of particular note according to Ms. Thomas is HRCP’s discovery of strong evidence indicating the complicity of Pakistan’s security forces in the enforced disappearances and killings that HRW calls a “disturbingly regular feature” of the conflict in Balochistan.
If ever there was a place ripe for citizen media, it is Balochistan. The citizens of Balochistan occupy one of the most strategically important (to NATO, Pakistan, and sundry other powers in the neighborhood) regions on earth. Flush with natural gas and enormous mineral wealth, the province is exploited by an inattentive central government while almost no resources are shared or returned to residents. Allegations continuously surface of a direct Pakistani military and intelligence service role in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Baloch activists, dissidents, and separatists.
And yet Balochistan, and the plight of its citizens, is virtually non-existent in the media ecosystem. Typing “Balochistan” into Google News reveals a paltry 1,180 results, compared with 25,200 for Pakistan and 27,500 for Afghanistan.
This cannot be explained simply as a reflection of the international media’s focus on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as both are wholly entangled with the issues in Balochistan. The Afghan Taliban are referred to as the “Quetta Shura,” named for their supposed base in Balochistan’s capitol city of Quetta. And Pakistan’s ISI, those accused of supporting terrorism and insurgents in the region, are the same intelligence services supposedly victimizing the Baloch population. There is simply no reason for the media to ignore the situation in Balochistan.
That’s where citizen media comes in to play. Citizens of Balochistan should be empowered to tell their own story. As of now their only outlet for stories lies either through international civil society organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, or through local activist or nationalist organizations with questionable motivations and interests.
Balochs should be given the equipment, training, and capacity to produce high impact journalism through whatever medium is available; video, radio, SMS, etc. Baloch voices would provide locals with the crucial information they need from their media, while also bringing the sophistication and local context needed to properly inform the international community.
Citizen media is generally small in scale (think blogs or Youtube videos), but a concentrated effort on building a vibrant citizen media community within Balochistan could then be grown into a fully-functioning, respectable, and sustainable independent news agency. This would require resources and attention from the international community, something Balochistan currently lacks, but a small spark from citizen media can quickly engulf the attention of the rest of the world (as seen in Iran, Egypt, and elsewhere).
What are some of the other ways that the critical issues at stake in Balochistan can be highlighted, understood, and responded to within the media?](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lru8zm8NqP1r2b017o1_500.jpg)
Where is the Media Coverage of Balochistan?
From the Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO):
UNPO and the Society for Threatened Peoples hosted a parallel event on Thursday [15th September 2011] at the 18th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council titled ‘Climate of Fear: Enforced Disappearances, Extra-judicial Killings, and Arbitrary Detention in Balochistan’. Immediately prior to the event, UNPO and the Baloch community in Europe participated in a demonstration calling attention to the human rights situation in Balochistan. […]
The event, chaired by UNPO Programme Coordinator Lisa Thomas, drew attention to the disturbing level of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings currently ongoing in Balochistan, Pakistan, as noted by recent extensive reports from Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Ms. Thomas expressed UNPO’s deep concern about the deteriorating situation in Balochistan before highlighting a few key points from the two reports. Of particular note according to Ms. Thomas is HRCP’s discovery of strong evidence indicating the complicity of Pakistan’s security forces in the enforced disappearances and killings that HRW calls a “disturbingly regular feature” of the conflict in Balochistan.
If ever there was a place ripe for citizen media, it is Balochistan. The citizens of Balochistan occupy one of the most strategically important (to NATO, Pakistan, and sundry other powers in the neighborhood) regions on earth. Flush with natural gas and enormous mineral wealth, the province is exploited by an inattentive central government while almost no resources are shared or returned to residents. Allegations continuously surface of a direct Pakistani military and intelligence service role in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Baloch activists, dissidents, and separatists.
And yet Balochistan, and the plight of its citizens, is virtually non-existent in the media ecosystem. Typing “Balochistan” into Google News reveals a paltry 1,180 results, compared with 25,200 for Pakistan and 27,500 for Afghanistan.
This cannot be explained simply as a reflection of the international media’s focus on the conflicts in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as both are wholly entangled with the issues in Balochistan. The Afghan Taliban are referred to as the “Quetta Shura,” named for their supposed base in Balochistan’s capitol city of Quetta. And Pakistan’s ISI, those accused of supporting terrorism and insurgents in the region, are the same intelligence services supposedly victimizing the Baloch population. There is simply no reason for the media to ignore the situation in Balochistan.
That’s where citizen media comes in to play. Citizens of Balochistan should be empowered to tell their own story. As of now their only outlet for stories lies either through international civil society organizations, such as Human Rights Watch, or through local activist or nationalist organizations with questionable motivations and interests.
Balochs should be given the equipment, training, and capacity to produce high impact journalism through whatever medium is available; video, radio, SMS, etc. Baloch voices would provide locals with the crucial information they need from their media, while also bringing the sophistication and local context needed to properly inform the international community.
Citizen media is generally small in scale (think blogs or Youtube videos), but a concentrated effort on building a vibrant citizen media community within Balochistan could then be grown into a fully-functioning, respectable, and sustainable independent news agency. This would require resources and attention from the international community, something Balochistan currently lacks, but a small spark from citizen media can quickly engulf the attention of the rest of the world (as seen in Iran, Egypt, and elsewhere).
What are some of the other ways that the critical issues at stake in Balochistan can be highlighted, understood, and responded to within the media?
Egypt: How To Ensure Free And Fair Elections?
Yesterday in this space we discussed the upcoming elections in Egypt, and the need for international observers to work alongside local organizations to ensure the fairness and accuracy of the polls. International and local observers working together would allow reports of fraud, intimidation, and other improprieties to be more easily verified, increasing the legitimacy of the observation mission.
But what if Egypt’s military continues with its ban on foreign observers, and the burden of monitoring these critical and momentous elections is placed entirely on Egyptian citizens? What are some of the ways the observation mission can be empowered and bolstered without the presence of international monitors?
- Capacity Building - While foreigners are banned from working on the ground, they can still provide training and equipment to local observers inside Egypt. This might include holding workshops on journalism and election law, or even providing smartphones or cameras so observers can better document the process. It is important these capacity building missions remain disinterested toward political actors and election results in order to protect the safety of locals and the credibility of the observation mission.
- Tech Support - There are a variety of tools available for acquiring, publishing and distributing election observation data, such as mapping incident reports on Ushahidi or collecting mobile reports from citizens via FrontlineSMS. Those outside Egypt can work to ensure that these tools are deployed and maintained in a way that is both accessible and intuitive to Egyptian monitors working on the ground. This might come from existing media development and observation organizations, or from crowdsourcing, by activating something like the Standby Task Force (SBTF).
- Media Focus - International news agencies can target their coverage on Egypt’s elections with a special focus on the legitimacy of the polling process. Foreign press can downplay unhelpful reporting and commentary, such as Western hand-wringing over religious parties or overemphases on the role and agency of foreign powers, while focusing instead on providing meaningful context to international viewers. What are the stakes of this election? Who are the political players, and what policies are to be decided? Answering these and other questions will allow the international audience to truly understand - and respond accordingly to - Egypt’s election.
- Citizen Media - Citizens on the ground, using mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, and all manner of multimedia tools, can harness the power of the press for themselves in order to document the election process. This allows not only local civil society and monitoring organizations but individual citizens themselves to publish their findings and tell their own story to the world without relying on mainstream institutions. Citizen media is flexible enough to operate in particularly dangerous (or plainly unwelcoming) environments, such as a repressive police state. And yet, provided with the right skill sets, it is still high quality enough to deliver substantive journalism with the timeliness and impact required for monitoring this critical election.
- Education - Egyptian citizens must be educated on the specifics of the election process, including not only procedure (How do you register? Where is your polling station?) but also the issues at stake (Who are the candidates? What is their platform?) and the obligations of individuals and the government (What are your rights? How do you spot illegal campaigning or fraud?). This education can be done in a variety of ways, from using traditional social networks, such as family, classmates, and religious communities, to tapping digital social networking like Facebook and Twitter. As witnessed during the anti-Mubarak uprisings earlier this year, Egypt’s communities are more than capable of disseminating information and coordinating activities amongst the population. This power can be harnessed again to ensure a fully equipped and informed electorate on voting day.
There are several examples of where election monitoring can be conducted in less than ideal circumstances, be it in police states with no access to foreign observers or in conflict zones with very little infrastructure and media access. Here are a few:
Monitoring elections is an incredibly complex and difficult task, particularly in this case with the crucial and unprecedented post-revolutionary elections in Egypt.
What are some of the other ways both the international community and Egyptian citizens can work to ensure a free and fair election? We will continue to monitor this story closely, and your suggestions, comments, and solutions are welcomed.
//Photo by Bikyamasr.com
"[C]hanges in technology and society have made the lines between private citizen and journalist exceedingly difficult to draw. The proliferation of electronic devices with video-recording capability means that many of our images of current events come from bystanders [and] and news stories are now just as likely to be broken by a blogger at her computer as a reporter at a major newspaper. Such developments make clear why the news-gathering protections of the First Amendment cannot turn on professional credentials or status."
Judge Kermit Lipez, US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in a ruling in favor of Simon Glik, a Massachusetts man arrested for videotaping police officers with his cell phone as they detained another man. Glik was accused of illegal wiretapping, aiding the escape of a prisoner and disturbing the peace.
Matthew Ingram, GigaOm, Freedom of the press applies to everyone — yes, even bloggers.
(via futurejournalismproject)
(Source: futurejournalismproject)
Egypt's Military Junta to Announce Election Dates September 26; Foreign Observers Banned
Egypt will start parliamentary elections on November 21, Al Arabiya Television and the Al-Ahram newspaper reported on Saturday, the country’s first vote since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February after 30 years of autocratic rule.
Al-Ahram quoted Egypt’s election commission head, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, as saying voting for the lower house, the People’s Assembly, will be held in three stages starting on November 21 and ending on January 3. Voting for the upper house, the Shura Council, will begin on January 22, 2012 and finish on March 4.
These dates aren’t confirmed, they’re only leaks to regional media outlets. A spokesmen for the military says only that the official dates will be announced on September 26.
The legitimacy of these polls, with history as a guide, are to be rightfully questioned. Reuters reports that some efforts are being made to ensure a free and fair election:
The [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] has said the judiciary will oversee the vote to ensure a free and fair poll. A member of the council said in July the election will be held in three stages to make it easier for monitors to oversee voting.
One question is the role that international media and election monitoring organizations will play in the transition to credible democracy. Although Egypt’s revolution was successful in overthrowing the Mubarak regime, Egyptians still live under a military junta accustomed to total domination of society, including within the judiciary offered as one of the primary election monitors.
In July, the junta announced that there would be no foreign observers allowed to monitor the upcoming elections, citing the need to protect Egypt’s sovereignty. During Egypt’s last elections (under the Mubarak regime), fraud and election improprieties were widespread and well-documented, as Patrick Meier wrote back in May:
Another report submitted on December 5, 2010 was even more specific: “Buying out votes in Al Manshiaya Province as following: 7:30[am] price of voter was 100 pound […]. At 12[pm] the price of voter was 250 pound, at 3 pm the price was 200 pound, at 5 pm the price was 300 pound for half an hour, and at 6 pm the price was 30 pound.” Another report revealed “bribe-fixing” by noting that votes ranged from 100-150 Pounds as a result of a “coalition between delegates to reduce the price in Ghirbal, Alexandria.” […]
Additional incidents mapped on the Ushahidi platform included reports of deliberate power cuts to prevent people from voting. As a result, one voter complained in “Al Saaida Zaniab election center: we could not find my name in voters lists, despite I voted in the same committee. Nobody helped to find my name on list because the electricity cut out.” […]
Reports also documented harassment and violence by thugs, often against Muslim Brotherhood candidates, the use of Quran verses in election speeches and the use of mini buses at polling centers to bus in people from the National Party. […]
As thoroughly and specifically as these incidents are documented, their validity can still be questioned due to the fact that they come singularly from Egyptian activists. Activists are burdened with incentives and interests that might tarnish the quality of their reporting, whereas international organizations (such as the Carter Center or Democracy International) don’t come with these same biases and fallibilities.
Until full trust and credibility is restored to Egypt’s government and civil society institutions - including the judiciary - then impartial, international observers must be allowed to monitor the upcoming elections.
(Source: juancole.com)
“If it works in Africa, it’ll work anywhere.”
Via White African comes this video from Shimba Technologies showing off their new app, MedAfrica. The app allows users in Kenya, where a population of 40 million has access to only 7,000 doctors, to receive medical advice and make contact with medical specialists even with the country’s deficit of infrastructure.
This is a good example of the “Developing World = Developer’s World” concept in the development field. Kenya presents a host of challenges to technology developers, from lack of infrastructure (electricity, broadband, etc) to vast distances between communities. But by overcoming these challenges to produce something like MedAfrica, the developers have not only solved the immediate problem but have also produced a stronger, more resilient product.
As Mbugua Njihia says in the MedAfrica presentation, “if it works in Africa, it’ll work anywhere.” If you can produce an application that provides medical access and services to citizens in a developing country/emerging market context, then that product is easily scaled to more developed/industrialized countries.
Emerging markets provide lucrative business opportunities for technology developers, but they also provide the unique advantage of ensuring that the product is exceptionally suited to almost any environment, developed or otherwise. This benefit of working in developing countries cannot be overstated.
With the proliferation of mobile and internet applications providing services to citizens worldwide, the ability to deliver efficient, high-impact results regardless of location or infrastructure will become a critical benchmark for new applications. Indeed, developers looking to maximize the strength and universality of their product may eventually take on a more provocative framing of Njihia’s truism: “If it doesn’t work in Africa, it might as well not work at all.”
Wall Street. September 17. [Photos: @julpepitone]
Al Jazeera is not the only media outlet with Occupy Wall Street coverage. I did a little digging and found these articles on the Wall Street protest:
