The media's power is frail. Without the people's support, it can be
shut off with the ease of turning a light switch.   – Corazon Aquino

Digital Media Mash Up: October 2011, Week 4

In this Issue

Upcoming Events - In Washington, D.C. and Beyond

In the News:

Research

Upcoming Events - In Washington, D.C. and Beyond

Geopolitics of Internet Infrastructure
Tuesday, November 1, 12:30pm
Featuring: James Cowie, Renesys Corporation
About: The growth of the global Internet is still determined, in large part, by local factors: geography, politics, and the economics of interconnection and competition. We'll examine the paths along which Internet traffic flows, focusing on the emerging markets of the Middle East and Central Asia. We'll discuss ways in which the evolution of these paths dictates the choices available to information consumers, and the costs they must pay to interconnect with global information markets. A lot is at stake, as the countries that emerge as Middle Eastern regional transit hubs will play a significant role in the evolution of the region's post-oil information economy.
Location: Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor
Webcast: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast

Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance: A How-to Guide
Thursday, November 3, 2pm
Featuring: Shanthi Kalathil, international development consultant and author of the report
About: Independent media play a crucial role in underpinning good governance, and many development organizations are increasingly interested in supporting media programs. While stakeholders use the media to communicate development messages, they are sometimes less knowledgeable about how to strengthen the media sector itself as an instrument of accountability. Moreover, governance advisors are often unfamiliar with how best to provide media assistance within various political and economic environments and within a project's budget. As a result, this fundamental piece of the governance reform agenda is sometimes neglected. The World Bank's Communication for Governance and Accountability Program addresses this gap with Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance: A How-To Guide.
Location: Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy
1025 F Street NW Suite 800, Washington, DC 20004
RSVP: http://accountablegovernance.eventbrite.com/

FAILfaire NYC 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 201, 7pm
About: Tech projects for social change succeed sometimes, but more often than not, they fail. The successes are reported on, and the failures are quietly pushed under the proverbial rug. Well, it's time to bring out the failures, with a sense of humor, and with an honest look at ourselves at FAILfaire NYC 2011. FAILfaire features case studies of projects using tech in social change that have, to put it simply, been a #FAIL. Busted, kaputt. Tongue firmly in cheek, we take a close look at what didn't work and why the projects failed amidst the hype of tech changing the work - hype that we all are subjected to (and are sometimes contributors to).
Organized by: MobileActive.org - a global network of people using mobile technology for social impact. Hosted by: The The U.S. Fund for UNICEF, with participation from UNICEF's Innovation Unit
Location: U.S. Fund for UNICEF
125 Maiden Lane, New York, NY 10038-4999
Register now: http://failfairenyc2011.eventbrite.com/

In the News

Global Censorship Update

AUSTRALIA: $12,000 Fine for Insulting Australian State Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien
State parliament is set to pass new legislation making it a criminal offence to "insult" Gaming Minister Michael O'Brien. Fines of up to $11,945 will be given to anyone found guilty of upsetting the minister and his staff under the extraordinary new offence. (Herald Sun, 10/16)
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/surely-this-is-a-joke/story-f...

AZERBAIJAN: OSCE Official Hopes For Release Of Azerbaijani Activists
The media representative for Europe's main human rights and security body, the OSCE, says she is hopeful that two Azerbaijani activists who called for antigovernment protests via Facebook will be released from prison soon, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 10/24)
http://www.rferl.org/content/osce_official_hopes_for_release_azerbaijani...

BAHRAIN: Tough New Laws on Way to Combat Cybercrime
Tough new punishments for cybercrime that include 10-year prison sentences and fines of up to BD300,000 could be introduced in Bahrain soon. They are included in a new law, dealing with Internet and technology-related offences. (Gulf Daily News, 10/26)
http://gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=316348

CHINA: Censored Social Media Search Terms Show China's Concern over 'Occupy' Protests
A leaked list of search terms which the Chinese government is ordering the country's microblogging services to block has surfaced showing the regime's fear of protests following those in Wall Street. (The Next Web, 10/24)
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/10/24/censored-social-media-search-terms...

CHINA: China Vows Stricter Controls on Social Media
China will intensify controls of online social media and instant messaging tools, the ruling Communist Party said in an agenda-setting document that marks the government's highest-level reaction so far to the explosive growth of microblogs. (Reuters, 10/26)
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/10/26/us-china-internet-idINTRE79P0OJ...

CHINA: 6th Plenum Report Suggests China Will Strengthen Internet Management
The official report (中共中央关于深化文化体制改革推动社会主义文化大发展大繁荣若干重大问题的决定) from the 6th Plenum of the 17th Communist Party Congress is now public. The "Central Committee Decision Concerning the Major Issue of Deepening Cultural System Reforms, Promoting the Great Development and Prosperity of Socialist Culture" is a long, complicated and important document. Currently it is only available in Chinese. (Digicha, 10/26)
http://digicha.com/index.php/2011/10/6th-plenum-report-suggests-china-wi...

CHINA: China Reins in Liberalization of Culture
Political censorship in this authoritarian state has long been heavy-handed. But for years, the Communist Party has tolerated a creeping liberalization in popular culture, tacitly allowing everything from popular knockoffs of "American Idol"-style talent shows to freewheeling microblogs that let media groups prosper and let people blow off steam. (New York Times, 10/26)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/world/asia/china-imposes-new-limits-on...

CHINA: Where an Internet Joke Is Not Just a Joke
The cellphone vibrated softly, insistently, echoing off the whitewashed walls of the artist's studio. It was a Sunday morning in early April, and Wang Bo - an Internet animator better known to his legions of online fans by his nickname, Pi San - ignored the call at first. He wanted no intrusions. A compact 40-year-old with short-cropped hair and arched eyebrows that give him a look of permanent bemusement, Pi San is most famous for creating a mischievous cartoon character named Kuang Kuang, but he earns money by making animations for corporations, and he was on a deadline. Pi San had bicycled to his studio in a defunct factory building on the outskirts of Beijing that morning, hoping to finish up some work in peace. But the buzzing of the phone didn't stop. (New York Times, 10/26)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/the-dangerous-politics-of-int...

EGYPT: TV Presenter Fouda Halts Famous Show, Citing Media Freedom Restrictions
Renowned TV presenter Yosri Fouda said on Friday he had decided to halt his famous show 'Akher Kalam' for an indefinite period in protest at what he called "relentless censorship efforts." (Al-Ahram Online, 10/21)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/24747/Egypt/Politics-/Ren...

EGYPT: Egyptian Gets Three Years in Jail for Facebook Islam Insult
An Egyptian court sentenced a man to three years in jail with hard labor on Saturday for insulting Islam in postings on Facebook, the official MENA news agency. (Al-Arabiya, 10/22) reported.http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/22/173131.html?PHPSESSID=530r0sad432vsadn0e2f192nt0

EGYPT: Muzzling of Media by Egyptian Military Reaches High Point
The cancellation of a major TV show and harassment of two of Egypt's top journalists Yosri Fouda and Ibrahim Issa is leaving little doubt that Egypt's military is bent on silencing any voices of criticism backing the January 25 revolution. (Al-Akhbar, 10/23)
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/muzzling-media-egyptian-military-re...

EGYPT: Ruling Military Council Intensifies Media Clampdown
The media clampdown in Egypt is worsening. Over the past six weeks, the ruling military council has censored the press, raided news organizations, shut down broadcasts and intimidated journalists. "The military government has revived Mubarak-era repression," says Mohamed Abdel Dayem, the Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. (Pulitzer Center, 10/24)
http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/egypt-media-crackdown-press-freedom-...

EGYPT: Two Activists Summoned for Questioning by Military Prosecutor
The military prosecutor summoned two activists on Tuesday to reportedly question them about the Maspero violence, sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm. Alaa Abd El Fattah, a prominent activist and blogger, is one of them, according to his family. Fattah's father, Ahmed Seif al-Islam, says he believes his son has been asked to appear before the military prosecutor as an eyewitness to the deadly violence at Maspero on 9 October, which left 28 people dead. (Al Masry Al Youm, 10/24)
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/508106

EGYPT: Egyptian Activists Summoned by Military Prosecutor
An Egyptian military prosecutor summoned two activist bloggers for interrogation on Monday, the same day President Obama urged the head of Egypt's ruling military council to end military trials for civilians in a phone call from the White House. (New York Times, 10/25)
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/after-call-from-obama-egypt-...

EGYPT: Health Ministry Denies Referring Activist to Mental Hospital
A senior official at the Health Ministry has denied that activist and blogger Maikel Nabil was referred to the Abbasseya Mental Hospital. (Al Masry Al Youm, 10/25)
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/508288

EUROPEAN UNION: EU Politician Wants Internet Surveillance Built Into Every Operating System
"Think of the children" has become the rallying cry of politicians around the world trying to push for ever-increasing Internet surveillance powers. Since nobody wants to run the risk of being branded as soft on crimes like paedophilia, resistance to such measures is greatly reduced as a result. (Techdirt, 10/25)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111021/11554216450/eu-politician-want...

JAPAN: Freedom of Information Threatened
A government committee headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura on Oct. 7 decided to submit to the Diet in 2012 a bill to mete out severe punishment to people who leak "special secrets" related to diplomacy, national security and public order. The committee says that the purpose of the bill is to facilitate cooperation with foreign countries in sharing information. But the bill threatens to restrict the people's right to know and harm the healthy development of democracy. (The Japan Times, 10/25)
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20111025a1.html

LEBANON: Council to "Organize" Online Media
The National Audiovisual Media Council announced Monday that it will start receiving notification applications for new websites in an effort to organize the country's online media. (Daily Star, 10/25)
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2011/Oct-25/152138-council-t...

LEBANON: Lebanese State Actions Trigger Concerns over Internet Censorship
Recommendations by Lebanon's media council to register websites has raised concerns of mounting censorship less than two months after measures to speed up internet access were hailed as ushering in a new era of surfing in the country. (Al-Akhbar, 10/25)
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-state-actions-trigger-conc...

MOLDOVA/RUSSIA: Controversial Russian Blogger Escapes Prosecution in Moldova
On June 16, 2011, Eduard Bagirov, a Russia-based blogger and writer of Azeri origin, was arrested in Moldova. Eleven days later, the Moldovan prosecutor's office made the reasons for Bagirov's arrest public: he was being accused of assembling a criminal group and organizing the April 2009 mass riots in Chisinau, which are often referred to as the first "Twitter revolution." Bagirov was facing from four to eight years in prison on the charges that were formally put to him on October 12. (Global Voices Online, 10/25)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/23/moldova-russia-controversial-ru...

RUSSIA: The Russian State and Surveillance Technology
The Russian blogosphere has grown to become among the most lively in the world. It has also, predictably, attracted the attention of the country's notorious security services. Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov present the first in a series of investigations outlining how the Russian state monitors its online public. (oDRussia, 10/25)
http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andrei-soldatov-irina-borogan/rus...

SOUTH KOREA: Warning to Twitter Influencers Fails to Discourage Voters
The South Korean capital, Seoul, elected a new mayor on October 26, 2011. The mayoral race was a fierce battle between an elitist female candidate from the ruling party and an outsider from a democratic party who was widely supported by activists and lot of Twitter users. (Global Voices Online, 10/27)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/27/south-korea-tweeting-elections-...

SRI LANKA: Censored Website's Editor Talks about Media Control
Reporters Without Borders deplores the action of two Sri Lankan Internet Service Providers in blocking access to the independent news website Lanka-e-News and calls on them to explain themselves. If they are doing it at the government's behest, they have become accomplices to state censorship. The site has been inaccessible since 18 October. (Reporters Without Borders, 10/26)
http://en.rsf.org/sri-lanka-censored-website-s-editor-talks-26-10-2011,4...

SYRIA: US Probes Syria's Use of Internet Blocking Equipment
The US government is looking into claims that Syria restricted its citizens' access to the internet, using an American company's technology. (BBC, 10/24)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15437696

SYRIA: List of Detained Bloggers and Journalists Gets Longer Amid Pro-Regime Rallies
Reporters Without Borders is worried about Hossein Ghoureir, a blogger who has been reported missing by his colleagues and who has probably been arrested. Aged 30 and the father of two children, he has organized and participated in many Palestinian solidarity campaigns. In his blog, he condemned the war in Lebanon in 2006 and campaigned against Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights. (Reporters Without Borders, 10/27)
http://en.rsf.org/syria-list-of-detained-bloggers-and-27-10-2011,41298.html

THAILAND: Holding Intermediaries Liable for Users' Content
Earlier this month, I spoke as an expert witness in the ongoing trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the editor of Thailand's Prachatai.com website, who is being criminally prosecuted under that country's Computer Crime Act and Lesé Majesté laws. The crime involves online posts allegedly disrespectful to Thailand's monarchy, but Chiranuch herself is not accused of originating or posting the commentary. (Center for the Protection of Journalists, 10/24)
http://www.cpj.org/internet/2011/10/cpj-testifies-in-trial-of-chiranuch-...

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Blogger and Four Other Activists Continue to Boycott Trial
A verdict will not be issued until 27 November in the trial of the blogger Ahmed Mansoor and four other pro-democracy activists, a judge announced at yesterday's hearing, which is to be the last in the trial before the verdict is handed down. The five activists, who were arrested in April, are to remain in detention until then. (Reporters Without Borders, 10/24)
http://en.rsf.org/united-arab-emirates-blogger-to-appear-in-court-next-1...

UNITED KINGDOM: UK Court Upholds Its First Web Censorship Order
Back in July, we noted that a UK court ordered ISP BT to begin censoring the web, beginning with a blockade of Newzbin2, which the MPAA has been trying to destroy. After a user petitioned the court to seek alternatives to censorship, the court rejected that request and has issued a ruling giving BT just 14 days to figure out how to block users from accessing Newzbin. (Tech Dirt, 10/26)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111026/04022516521/uk-court-upholds-i...

UNITED STATES: How the Patriot Act Stripped Me of My Free-Speech Rights
Sometime in 2012, I will begin the ninth year of my life under an FBI gag order, which began when I received what is known as a national security letter at the small Internet service provider I owned. On that day in 2004 (the exact date is redacted from court papers, so I can't reveal it), an FBI agent came to my office and handed me a letter. It demanded that I turn over information about one of my clients and forbade me from telling "any person" that the government had approached me. (Washington Post, 10/25)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-the-patriot-act-stripped-me-o...

Digital Media News Affecting Activists

SKYPE: Researchers Found a Way to ID Skype Users Who Also Use Bit Torrent
A group of researchers have found a way to tie Skype users to their peer-to-peer networks in order to identify who might be responsible for sharing files on Bit Torrent and other P2P networks. The research looks at how a Skype user's IP address can be determined without the user knowing and then linked to files that are being shared through peer-to-peer networks, according to a report by IDG News Service. (Wired Threat Level, 10/21)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/researchers-identify-skype-user/

TOR: Rumors of Tor's Compromise Are Greatly Exaggerated
There are two recent stories claiming the Tor network is compromised. It seems it is easier to get press than to publish research, work with us on the details, and propose solutions. Our comments here are based upon the same stories you are reading. We have no insider information. (Tor, 10/24)
https://blog.torproject.org/blog/rumors-tors-compromise-are-greatly-exag...

International Center for Journalists' New Website Details Impact of Projects around the Globe
The International Center for Journalists recently launched its new website with more content now available. The new homepage provides updates on "Latest Developments" and "Featured Programs," which highlights recent activities of the center's work. (Knight Foundation, 10/24)
http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2011/10/24/internationa...

Researchers Release Attack Tool That Cripples Secure Websites
Researchers have released an attack tool that makes it trivial for anyone to take down websites that allow users to connect via secure connections. (Threat Level, 10/25)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/ssl-dos/

Tech in Election Monitoring: Fighting Fraud and Corruption, One Picture at a Time
Following this weekend's Tunisian elections, the world is looking to the Middle East to see how new democracies are born. But in many countries with ermerging democracies, fraud and corruption can taint the credibility of elections, and the public's trust in the fairness and validity of election results. We have long argued that technology - mobile technology in particular - can play a key role in helping to ensure fair and accurate voting processes and results. However, data has been missing to make that point more definitively. (MobileActive, 10/25)
http://www.mobileactive.org/election-monitoring-afghanistan-cameraphones

IRAN: Hillary Clinton: US Developing Technology to Stop Jamming in Iran
VIDEO: US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said America was doing everything it could to provide technology to ensure people in Iran had access to the internet. (BBC, 10/26)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15467667

Update on Digital Media Companies and Outlets

The Great Tech War Of 2012
Apple, Facebook, Google, and Amazon battle for the future of the innovation economy. (Fast Company, 10/19)
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/tech-wars-2012-amazon-apple-goog...

BLACKBERRY: What RIM Could Learn From Hamlet's BlackBerry
Meet the table. It's the 16th-century equivalent of the smartphone: a portable device that no self-respecting Renaissance businessman would be caught without. Tables were an upgrade on a centuries-old technology - wax tablets - that gave businessmen a way of quickly jotting down notes at a time when paper was pretty expensive and writing with an inkpot and quill just didn't cut it on the go. "In the 1530s, on the continent and in England it was a status symbol," says Heather Wolfe, curator of manuscripts with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. (Wired Enterprise, 10/20)
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/10/hamlets-blackberry/

FACEBOOK: The Secret Behind Facebook's Obsession with Fan Pages
Facebook's advertising machine is growing fast, and it's growing big: estimates put 2011 ad revenues at some $3.8 billion. But it's also a system that is always being tweaked as the company tries to turn its vast trough of users into more cash. (GigaOM, 10/25)
http://gigaom.com/2011/10/25/the-secret-behind-facebooks-obsession-with-...

FACEBOOK: Facebook Mobile Users 'More Engaged'
Executive tells Dublin Web Summit that 350m of social network's 800m worldwide users are accessing it via smartphone. (Guardian, 10/27)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2011/oct/27/facebook-mobile

GOOGLE: Google Eyeing Fiber Network for Europe
A Google executive said the search giant is pondering a fiber network in Europe, perhaps based on its experience building out a gigabit fiber to the home network in the U.S. Google's dedication to better infrastructure is essential to the success of many of its lines of business, and it seeks to understand what people and businesses will do with more bandwidth. (GigaOM, 10/24)
http://gigaom.com/broadband/google-eyeing-fiber-network-for-europe/

GOOGLE: Google Shows the Limits of a Free Web
Any lingering fantasies of the web as a no-man's land where content is free from the restraints of geographical boundaries probably should be put to rest. Google Tuesday morning released a treasure trove of data relating to content-takedown requests, and the numbers speak for themselves: requests are up worldwide and Google complies with the majority of them. (GigaOM, 10/25)
http://gigaom.com/2011/10/25/google-shows-the-limits-of-a-free-web/

GOOGLE: U.S. Requests for Google User Data Spike 29 Percent in Six Months
MAP: The number of U.S. government requests for data on Google users for use in criminal investigations rose 29 percent in the last six months, according to data released by the search giant Monday. U.S. government agencies sent Google 5,950 criminal investigation requests for data on Google users and services from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2011, an average of 31 a day. That's compared to 4,601 requests from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2010, the company reported Tuesday in an update to its unique transparency tool. (Threat Level, 10/25)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/google-data-requests/

WIKILEAKS: WikiLeaks Halts Publication Over Cash Flow Issues
For the second time in two years WikiLeaks announced it was suspending publication of secret documents due to financial difficulties. The site has already failed to make good on months-old claims that it has a cache of new secrets to unleash, including internal documents from Bank of America, and the new announcement would postpone their publication even longer. WikiLeaks announced on Monday that it was halting publication because it was running out of cash and needed to focus on fundraising. (Threat Level, 10/24)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/wikileaks-halts-publication/

WIKILEAKS: Wikileaks and the Dangers of Private Funding
VIDEO: Vice President and Assistant General Counsel to the New York Times, David McCraw's recent lecture at the Media Law in the Digital Age conference at Kennesaw State University touched on some of the dangers and obstacles Wikileaks faces in the realm of fundraising. (Sustainable Journals, 10/24)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HwYaK-8mS0&feature=youtu.be

YOUTUBE: YouTube's Top Channels Rival Cable Audiences
Thought online video would never match the audience numbers of traditional TV? Think again: The top five channels on YouTube get the same number of average daily viewers as the top five U.S. cable channels, I was told by a YouTube spokesperson this week. (GigaOM, 10/26)
http://gigaom.com/video/youtube-vs-cable-stats/

Digital Media in the Middle East

Middle East Firms Eye Social Media Profit Potential
From the bursts of electric violin to the furtive bodyguards accompanying Russian oil oligarchs, you could not accuse the Middle East launch of Godudu.com of being low key.
But whether the site makes as much of an impact as the bright green laser show that seared onto the distinctive sail of the Burj Al Arab hotel, remains to be seen. (BBC, 10/25)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15435768

EGYPT: Catch the Former Regime Remnants
Last April, an Egyptian court ordered the dissolution of the political organization that had ruled the nation for decades, the National Democratic Party (NDP). At the time, the verdict was considered by many, including the Egyptian blogger, Zeinobia, as one of the achievements of the revolution, and a punishment for those who contaminated the political life in Egypt during Mubarak's era. (Global Voices Online, 10/25)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/24/egypt-catch-the-former-regime-r...

EGYPT: Media Figures Plan Subscription-Based Satellite Channel
A group of independent Egyptian media workers is planning to launch the first ever satellite channel to be established through popular subscriptions, in a bid to ensure free media coverage of what they see as "repressive policies." (Al Masry Al Youm, 10/25)
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/508573

IRAN: Are Millions Of Iranians Criminals?
Yes, according to an announcement by Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taghipour, who says the use of antifiltering tools and virtual private networks (VPN) is a crime. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 10/25)
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran_internet_antifiltering_tools_censorshi...

LIBYA: Foreign Hackers and Surveillance
Since the fall of Tripoli, reporters, researchers, and former employees of the Libyan Telecom and Technology company have been uncovering and sharing details about how the Libyan government surveilled and monitored internet and phone networks. (Global Voices Advocacy, 10/26)
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/27/libya-foreign-hackers-...

TURKEY: Online Relief Efforts for Van's Earthquake Victims
As the government of Turkey started the official relief efforts, many Turkish citizens both in the country and abroad showed interest in helping those effected on the ground. As a result, within a couple of hours after the earthquake several different campaigns were launched on social networks to help with rescue and relief operations. (Global Voices Online, 10/24)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/24/turkey-online-relief-efforts-fo...

TUNISIA: Media Freedom in Question after First Post-Revolution Elections
With 90 per cent of eligible voters in Tunisia participating in a free election for the first time in 55 years on 23 October, IFEX members are calling for numerous reforms and political commitments to nurture this great yearning for democracy. Violent attacks on a Tunis TV station earlier this month have hit home the need for security, legal reform and educational campaigns. (IFEX, 10/26)
http://ifex.org/tunisia/2011/10/26/post-revolution_elections/

Digital Media in Journalism and Newsrooms

Why Your Newsroom Should Hold a Hackathon - And How To Pull It Off
Hackathon (n.): "an event when programmers meet to do collaborative computer programming." In a newsroom, the definition is a little different: an event where engineers, designers, editors, reporters and producers combine their various backgrounds to quickly create much-needed story-telling tools. (10,000 Words, 10/21)
http://www.mediabistro.com/10000words/why-your-newsroom-should-hold-a-ha...

Don't Think of It as a Newspaper - It's a Data Platform
Many newspapers and other traditional media entities still think of themselves as delivering their content in a specific package, although most are trying hard to build an online readership as well, or experiment with iPad and Facebook apps (not to mention paywalls). But few are thinking about their businesses in radically different ways - as content-generating engines with multiple delivery methods, or as platforms for data, around which other things can be built. (GigaOM, 10/21)
http://gigaom.com/2011/10/21/dont-think-of-it-as-a-newspaper-its-a-data-...

How a Journalist Uses Social Media
I spoke to Anthony DeRosa, who is the Reuters Social Media Editor. As part of his mission, he helps Reuters journalists and editors use social media tools to monitor news, report news, and find leads. Anthony has contributed his writing to Reuters, Gawker, Mediaite, BrandChannel and IFC. Anthony is currently the editor in chief of the SB Nation Tumblr. SB Nation is the largest and fastest-growing network of fan-centric online sports communities, founded by Jerome Armstrong. In this interview, Anthony talks about how social media has impacted his life, how it's created new jobs, which social networks he's paying attention to, and more. (Forbes, 10/24)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2011/10/24/how-a-journalist-uses...

How to Use Google Refine for Your Next Data News Story
So after months of phone calls, emails and a lot of patience, you finally got your data set from a government agency. Before daydreaming about how you're going to win a Pulitzer with the amazing stories you'll write, you'll notice the data set is be messy and hard to figure out.
Google Refine allows you to clean the data before you actually start working on it and drawing conclusions. (ijnet, 10/24)
http://ijnet.org/stories/how-use-google-refine-your-next-data-news-story

Journalism Goes Opensource at Mediafabric in Prague
Mediafabric 2011 saw over 250 guests arrive from five continents this weekend in Prague to explore new ideas at the intersection of journalism and open technology. The one day conference and two day hackathon was organised by Sourcefabric, a Czech not-for-profit promoting open source tools for journalists. (Sourcefabric, 10/24)
http://www.sourcefabric.org/en/community/news/785

Can AP Apply a 99-Cent-Song Business Model to the News?
Is it possible to create a culture for licensing news? This is the question at the heart of a new project begun by The Associated Press, announced last April by AP CEO Tom Curley. Called The News Licensing Group, the AP, with its membership, has created a separate company to explore how tagged content can not only be tracked but also monetized. (Citizen Media Law Project, 10/24)
http://www.citmedialaw.org/blog/2011/can-ap-apply-99-cent-song-business-...

Bridging the Pay Gap: Only 14% of News-Reading Tablet Owners Pay for Content
News publishers have a slightly better chance of getting people to pay for news on tablets than on the desktop Web, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, but still find a majority unwilling to pay. (Poynter, 10/25)
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/mobile-media/150778/bridgin...

Journalism and Philanthropy Sites Cover Release of New Report on Nonprofit News and Sustainability
Last week, Knight Foundation released a new report offering a detailed look at some of the country's leading online local nonprofit news ventures. (Knight Foundation, 10/25)
http://www.knightfoundation.org/blogs/knightblog/2011/10/25/journalism-a...

As Occupy Wall Street Evolves, News Sites Find It "A Great Opportunity for Web Journalism
Foster Kamer does not enjoy covering protests. Kamer, a senior editor at the New York Observer, recounted a recent conversation he had with Jack Shafer, the Reuters media columnist, about this very issue. "He was talking about how he abhorred protest coverage," Kamer told me in a recent phone conversation. "And I found that to be the case with a lot of alt weekly editors. That was my experience with [Village Voice editor] Tony Ortega. Any time we covered a protest it would drive him up the [gosh darned] wall. The thinking was: 'So people are angry about something - what next?' And so the instinct I've been trained to have, always - and I think it's a lot of reporters' instinct - is that protests are generally a non-news item." (Nieman Journalism Lab, 10/25)
http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/10/as-occupy-wall-street-evolves-news-site...

Why Don't Some Media Pros Get Social Media?
Unfortunately, too many journalists and PR people are either ignoring or trashing social media when they should be taking notice of the many new opportunities that social media's created for media professionals. No, we're not needed as gatekeepers anymore. But that doesn't mean that there isn't still much for us to do. Here are five new roles for media professionals in social media. (Online Journalism Review, 10/25)
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/201110/2026/

New Approaches for a New Era
How the Seattle Times and Wichita Eagle are revamping their newsrooms to achieve a more digital focus. (American Journalism Review, 10/26)
http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=5172

Data Journalism: "Data Is the New Oil"
"Journalism has a problem. In fact, several problems!" started the moderator of the session on Data Journalism, Wilfried Runde. Referring to Clive Humby who claimed already in 2006 that data might be our new oil, the head of Deutsche Welle's new media department stressed that today's mass media have to compete with microblogging in swiftness or with social media in topicality and relevance. (DW World, 10/26)
http://training.dw-world.de/ausbildung/blogs/fome2011/page/2/

When Secrets Aren't Safe With Journalists
BRAVE journalists have defied court orders and have even been jailed rather than compromise their ethical duty to protect sources. But as governments increasingly record their citizens' every communication - even wiretapping journalists and searching their computers - the safety of anonymous sources will depend not only on journalists' ethics, but on their computer skills. (New York Times, 10/27)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/opinion/without-computer-security-sour...

Digital Legal Issues

European Parliament Gets It Right on Net Neutrality Say Digital Liberties Groups
Civil liberties groups have broadly welcomed a resolution by the European Parliament's Industry Committee on Thursday that puts pressure on law-makers to come up with tougher rules in favor of net neutrality. (PC World, 10/21)
http://bit.ly/sFI1o6

Court Requires Fired Social Media Employee to Return Usernames and Passwords
Defendant was hired to be plaintiffs' "video and social media producer," with responsibilities that included maintaining social media pages in connection with the online marketing of plaintiffs' products. After she was terminated, she refused to tell her former employers the usernames and passwords for various social media accounts. (Internet Cases, 10/23)
http://blog.internetcases.com/2011/10/23/social-media-username-password-...

Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference

Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference
Transcripts and summaries of the conference. (Rightscon.org, 10/25)
https://www.rightscon.org/news/

Internet Freedom and Responsibility
Remarks by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Michael H. Posner. (Human Rights.gov, 10/25)
http://www.humanrights.gov/2011/10/25/live-silicon-valley-human-rights-c...

Internet Role in Human Rights Gets Spotlight
Technology titans and political activists gathered here on Tuesday to find ways to ensure that the Internet is used as a tool for human rights instead of as a weapon of oppression. (AFP, 10/26)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jQuLqxjaNLV8NlaFnILYO...

The Googleberg Press
THE first Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference, which has been going on yesterday and today in San Francisco, is rightly proud of itself for having brought over several prominent Arab online activists. (Disclosure: I moderated a panel there.) But the real heavyweight is Google, which has 20 people listed as attending, of whom no less than nine are speakers. (The Economist, 10/26)
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/10/internet-and-human-rights

Around the Blogosphere

Upgrading the Airwaves
Radio often seems like a lost art. Enthusiasm for mobile technologies and online resources overshadows more traditional, low-tech broadcasting methods. But by no means has radio been left behind. Community radio stations around the world are using new technologies to enhance their broadcasts so listeners can have more control over the programs, engage more fully with the content, and work towards fulfilling community information needs. Listener outreach and participation help radio broadcasting stay relevant, connect listeners to a broader information network, and provide a platform for community discourse. (NDI Democracy Works, 10/19)
http://www.demworks.org/node/305

LIBYA: After Gaddafi, How Can We Use ICT4D to Support the Recovery in Libya?
After 40 years of rule, Colonel Gaddafi is gone. While there is room for a conversation about NATO's actions, whether they're an example of Responsibility to Protect doctrine, and normative questions of supporting violence. In the immediate though, history tells us that the more effectively we can help Libya achieve a stable political and economic situation, the more likely we are to see a stable peace. This is an area where emerging mobile technology and crisis mapping could prove valuable to the development and peacebuilding communities. (TechChange, 10/20)
http://techchange.org/2011/10/20/after-gaddafi-how-can-we-use-ict4d-to-s...

You Are Not Your Name and Photo: A Call to Re-Imagine Identity
At some point in the last few years, "identity" became a nasty word. It's not just identity theft, identity politics or identity requirements. It's everywhere - maybe especially on the web. (Wired Epicenter, 10/20)
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/10/you-are-not-your-name-and-photo-a...

LEBANON: Al-Akhbar's Recent UN Tribunal Coverage Likely Based on Pure Speculation, Not Actual Reporting
On October 11th, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published a story by Omar Nashabe entitled "STL's Cassese: Resignation Likely Sign of Infighting, Not Ill Health." In the piece, Nashabe (who is the paper's judicial affairs editor) claimed that the previous day's resignation of Antonio Cassese from the presidency of the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was "likely prompted by a power struggle between prosecutor Daniel Bellemare and STL judges," and not by health issues, as Cassese had originally said. (Qifa Nabki, 10/22)
http://qifanabki.com/2011/10/22/al-akhbars-recent-un-tribunal-coverage-l...

In Search of the Other: Decoding Digital Natives
This is the first post of a research inquiry that questions the ways in which we have understood the Youth-Technology-Change relationship in the contemporary digital world, especially through the identity of 'Digital Native'. Drawing from three years of research and current engagements in the field, the post begins a critique of how we need to look at the outliers, the people on the fringes in order to unravel the otherwise celebratory nature of discourse about how the digital is changing the world. In this first post, I chart the trajectories of our research at the Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore, India) and Hivos (The Hague, The Netherlands) to see how alternative models of understanding these relationships can be built. (DML Central, 10/24)
http://www.dmlcentral.net/blog/nishant-shah/search-other-decoding-digita...

Calling the Anti-Net Neutrality Bluff
One of the key arguments used by companies who want to see the end of net neutrality is that with growing use of high-bandwidth services like video on demand, or video telephony, there isn't enough bandwidth to go around, and that other services will suffer as a result. This leads them to call for differential pricing, charging more for such services. Really, though, this is just a ploy to give them an opportunity to sell premium services to companies and to make IP services as complicated and opaque as mobile or fixed line - providing them with even more ways of locking people into expensive and unused plans. (Open Enterprise, 10/25)
http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2011/10/calling-the-ant...

Setting the Record Straight on the Slactivism Debate
There's been a long and heated debate in the nonprofit community about the value of clicktavism - where people click a link to take an action such as signing a petition or liking a nonprofit's page on Facebook. Some vocal folks in the community think that's bogus and not real activism. I get it. I have written on Frogloop expressing my own concerns about social media's role in making a real impact on social change. (Frogloop, 10/25)
http://www.frogloop.com/care2blog/2011/10/25/setting-the-record-straight...

What Counts? Need for more Data Transparency & Africa Tech Market Research
A few months ago I did some due diligence on a potential investment innovative healthcare venture in East Africa. As part of this I sourced some data from a no. of sources including the IMF, world bank etc. However getting more granular data like current prices of medicines and what firms were manufacturing and distributing was really hard. Turning to Government for this data at the highest levels took a ton of time as most of them were too busy, the lower level Government employees were much less help. I also didn't want to fork out $1,000 for a report written by US consulting firm who may not paint an accurate picture on the data in Africa. In short it was just too hard to get recent and relevant micro data. Even some of the macro data from sources such as the IMF was outdated. When it comes to technology and today's fast changing world, more data quicker is better and often unleashes innovation when the organization that has access to it opens it up. (Afrinnovator, 10/25)
http://afrinnovator.com/blog/2011/10/25/need-for-more-data-transparency-...

It's Time to Admit that Journalists Are Human Beings
The recent furor over NPR host Lisa Simeone's involvement in a Washington-based offshoot of the "Occupy Wall Street" protests has drawn attention again to the issue of whether journalists should be allowed to have - and express - their opinions about social issues. Some believe that "transparency is the new objectivity," in the words of author David Weinberger, and that this is appropriate in an age when the web allows for a multiplicity of voices. Former Slate media critic Jack Shafer also falls into this camp, and says the days of asking journalists to pretend that they are automatons without opinions should be coming to an end. (GigaOM, 10/26)
http://gigaom.com/2011/10/26/its-time-to-admit-that-journalists-are-huma...

Etc.

Global Forum for Media Development Quarterly Newsletter
A Funder's Perspective | A Talk with USAID's Troy Etulain; A First in Africa: Nigeria Media Use Voice-Activated Text in Election Coverage; 'Cameras Everywhere:' Video, Human Rights and Media; India's Tribal Citizens Use Cell Phones to Produce Local News; Here to Stay: The Cost of Institution Building; Cool New Tools | Mobile Media Toolkit; Forward Thinker | James Deane on Reaching Donors; Eye on Results | Susan Philliber on Assessing Cell Phone Networks; Tech Corner | Amy Webb on 'The Group'; Tomorrow's Journalism | Aidan White on Good News, Finally
http://www.icfj.org/files/gfmdinsider/quarter32011full.html

Why Computer Voices Are Mostly Female
To most owners of the new iPhone, the voice-activated feature called Siri is more than a virtual "assistant" who can help schedule appointments, find a good nearby pizza or tell you if it's going to rain. She's also a she. (CNN, 10/21)
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female-computer-voices/ind...

RUSSIA: Social Media Raise Curtain on Staged Event in Moscow
At about 4 p.m. on Thursday, Russia's president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, stepped into a packed lecture hall at Moscow State University's venerable journalism department. Applause washed over him, proof that progressive, social media-savvy young people still look to him as a standard-bearer. Except - it wasn't. (New York Times, 10/22)
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/europe/staged-event-in-moscow-cr...

MediaShift Idea Lab: FrontlineSMS Gives Radio Listeners a Voice Through Text Messages
"Almost everyone who has listened to the radio within the last few years has heard a DJ call for the audience to send in a text message - whether to request the next song, respond to the latest news or to comment on the needs of their communities. Media outlets everywhere are using SMS to engage audiences in innovative and creative ways, especially as they are increasingly reliant on audiences to be their eyes and ears. The combination of broadcast and interactive, text-driven response is being used to affect a wide range of reporting and audience engagement practices. (FrontlineSMS, 10/24)
http://www.frontlinesms.com/2011/10/24/mediashift-idea-lab-frontlinesms-...

CUBA: Stop Spamming Cuba
An American company last month began sending thousands of unsolicited text messages a week to cellphones in Cuba under an $84,000 annual government contract. That's dumb. (LA Times, 10/24)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-cuba-20111024,0,3770...

Free Speech in the Digital Age
Remarks by Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership, Los Angeles, California (U.S. State Department, 10/24)
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/rm/2011/176075.htm

UN Commission Sets Global Broadband Targets
The Broadband Commission for Digital Development has agreed on a set of four 'ambitious but achievable' new targets that countries around the world should strive to meet in order to ensure their populations fully participate in tomorrow's emerging knowledge societies. (Media Network, 10/25)
http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/un-commission-sets-global-broadband-tar...

Four Ways Public Media Use Crowdsourcing to Spark Digital Innovation
Public media aren't all about fundraisers, public service announcements and emblazoned tote bags. They are transforming into pioneers of the digital age by tapping into their most critical resource - the public. (ijnet, 10/25)
http://ijnet.org/stories/four-ways-public-media-use-crowdsourcing-spark-...

Times Change; Dominant Tech Firms Change
An amusing tongue-in-cheek post from Adam Thierer looks back at the internet titans of the mid-90s (merely a decade and a half ago), and wonders if they should have been regulated for antitrust problems at the time. (Tech Dirt, 10/25)
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111022/23590416468/times-change-domin...

SOUTH AFRICA: 50+ Prominent South African Journalists on Twitter
The rapid uptake of Twitter by the general public is often ascribed to celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Lady Gaga, and Demi Moore. In South Africa, with the most followed users being mainly celebrities, the situation is similar. Though this may be true, less recognised, however, is the role the media has played in publicising Twitter. From the New York Times' Nick Kristof to CNN's Anderson Cooper, journalists have taken to Twitter with a gusto. (Memeburn, 10/26)
http://memeburn.com/2011/10/memeburns-50-most-prominent-south-african-jo...

Networks Understanding Networks
VIDEO: Center for Civic Media director Ethan Zuckerman speaks on Understanding Media as an Ecosystem in relation to the Arab Spring. (MIT Center for Civic Media, 10/26)
http://civic.mit.edu/blog/andrew/video-networks-understanding-networks-w...

Modern Algorithms Crack 18th Century Secret Code
Computer scientists from Sweden and the United States have applied modern-day, statistical translation techniques - the sort of which that are used in Google Translate - to decode a 250-year old secret message. (Wired Science, 10/26)
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/copiale-cipher-crack/

Will Social Media Make Us Anti-Social? A Talk With Gary Shteyngart
Not everyone sees the rapid advance of social media and digital technology as an unalloyed good. For a different view of where technology is taking us, we called Gary Shteyngart, author of the best-selling novel Super Sad True Love Story. The novel is set in a dystopian New York City in the not-too-distant future. The US economy has collapsed. The Chinese are circling, eager to collect on their US debt. Demonstrators have taken over Central Park. Yet most people seem far more concerned with monitoring their social status on their electronic devices than with the state of society. (The Atlantic, 10/26)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/will-social-media-ma...

BURMA: Interview with Burmese Blogger Zarganar
VIDEO: Reporters Without Borders is posting a video interview with the comedian and blogger Zarganar, who was freed from Myitkyina prison on 12 October under a government amnesty. (Reporters Without Borders, 10/26)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfvZ1f0AnDI&feature=player_embedded

Pakistan: Political Satire Becomes Internet Sensation
A recent song released on YouTube, by a group of young men from Lahore, has become an Internet sensation. The song's lyrics are heavily loaded with political satire, something that is rarely witnessed in Pakistan in recent years. (Global Voices Online, 10/26)
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/10/26/pakistan-political-satire-becom...

5 Things My 4-year-old Taught Me about Technology
One of the great things about being a parent is that you get to see how kids use technology. I have a 4 year-old daughter who loves to mess around with my phone, watch videos on YouTube and play Angry Birds. (GigaOM, 10/26)
http://gigaom.com/2011/10/25/5-things-my-4-year-old-taught-me-about-tech...

Mary Meeker: Web 2.0 Requires Economy 2.0
Mary Meeker's Internet trends presentation at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco on Oct. 18 was generally lauded for highlighting two key trends in the technology space: the rapid growth of mobile platforms and the increasingly global nature of the Internet. However, largely ignored were Meeker's distressing predictions about the future course of the U.S. economy. (Washington Post, 10/26)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/mary-meeker-web-20-...

Hackers Targeted U.S. Government Satellites
Hackers interfered with the operation of two U.S. government satellites in 2007 and 2008, according to a report to be released next month from a congressional commission. (Threat Level, 10/27)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/10/hackers-attack-satellites/

Research

Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance: A How-To Guide
Media development seeks to support and promote a pluralistic, editorially independent and financially sustainable media sector. An independent media sector buttresses key governance goals such as voice, accountability, and transparency -- not through dissemination of messages about these issues, but through its very existence. (World Bank, October 2011)
http://bit.ly/psrjQP
CIMA will be holding an event to present the report on November 3, 2011.
RSVP here: http://accountablegovernance.eventbrite.com/

Akami State of the Internet Quarterly Report
Each quarter, Akamai publishes a quarterly "State of the Internet" report. This report includes data gathered across Akamai's global server network about attack traffic, average & maximum connection speeds, Internet penetration and broadband adoption, and mobile usage, as well as trends seen in this data over time. (Akami, October 2011)
http://www.akamai.com/stateoftheinternet/